Reform Scotland was delighted to host a discussion about how to better combat child poverty in Scotland.
The recent Programme for Government stated that eradicating child poverty was the “single greatest priority for this Government“. Few would dispute the government’s good intentions, or claim this ambition was the wrong place for ministers to expend energy and deploy resources. But it is also crucial that policies are examined for their effectiveness and we do better at understanding outcomes as well as celebrating inputs.
Former Scottish Government Social Justice Minister, Des McNulty, wrote in his recent paper, published by Reform Scotland, that the Scottish Government’s strategy on addressing child poverty had narrowed in focus with too much emphasis on meeting legislative targets, at the expense of empowering local government and its partners to deliver holistic, integrated preventative programmes.
This and other issues were discussed by Des McNulty, alongside Emma Congreve, Deputy Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute and Stephen Sinclair co-Director of the Scottish Poverty and Inequality Research Unit (SPIRU) in conversation with Chris Deerin, Director of Reform Scotland.
This event was held via Zoom on Thursday 26 September and can be watched back below: