2025 kicks off the start of the long road to the Scottish Parliament 2026 elections.
In sixteen months-time, Scots will decide the make-up of the next Scottish Government in a vote that will define a generation. Throughout this year, we will continue to amplify the voices of the children, young people and families we support on a range of key issues they face and will launch the next step in our Transforming Lives campaign.
Already this week, we have heard from the First Minister John Swinney MSP and Anas Sarwar MSP, leader of the Scottish Labour Party as they set out their plans for 2025.
In a speech in Edinburgh on the Scottish Budget, the First Minister reaffirmed his commitment to eradicating child poverty as the top priority for his government. As an organisation that witnesses the impacts of poverty on children, young people and families, we warmly welcome the First Minister’s commitment.
The First Minister spoke plainly about the consequences of not passing his government’s budget and how if the budget fails to pass, the people this will affect are everyday Scots and those living in poverty – not the MSPs who will vote against it. The threat of the budget failing to pass no longer seems as high as it was just a few days ago with the announcement from Anas Sarwar MSP that Scottish Labour will abstain in the budget vote, effectively guaranteeing the First Minister’s budget will pass.
While we welcome the First Minister’s commitment to eradicating child poverty, we still wait for more information on his plans to scrap the two-child benefit cap. We also hoped that the First Minister would have recognised in his speech the significant impact the UK Government’s forthcoming rise to National Insurance Contributions will have on our essential sector and we are disappointed that this wasn’t the case.
In his New Year’s speech in Glasgow, Anas Sarwar MSP also spoke about the need for a multidisciplinary approach to eradicating child poverty. We completely agree. If we truly want to eradicate child poverty in Scotland, it will need strong partnership across all aspects of Scottish society.
However, we are concerned about Mr Sarwar’s language around welfare support. includem supports many families whose main source of income is social security. In our new (soon to be launched) report on Family Finances, we recorded 57% of those who responded to our survey as having social security as their main income. There is no denying that the Scottish Child Payment is playing a significant role in combatting poverty for families across the country. And although we agree that not one single benefit or payment is the answer, Mr Sarwar could have used the opportunity to reaffirm his 2021 support to doubling the Scottish Child Payment.
Finally, the First Minister told us to make our voices heard, so we want to take this opportunity to do just that.
On behalf of the children, young people and families we support we:
This year will be another busy year for us as we continue our vital work of supporting children, young people and families across Scotland, and amplify their voices on key issues. We look forward to meeting and discussing our work with partners across the sector and beyond
If you’d like to find out more about our work, we are always happy to chat. You can do so at publicaffairs@includem.co.uk
