---

Child Poverty in Scotland

I agree with my right hon. Friend. I am sure that the Executive will do the right thing—apologise and allocate the resources to the disabled people and their families in Scotland. Work can provide a route out of poverty, but only if there are good-quality jobs with decent career paths and reliable incomes above the poverty line. Many children living in poverty in Scotland come from households in which at least one parent is working. To continue to reduce child poverty, we must tackle the problem of low pay, promote job retention and create advancement. The tax and benefit system is an important safety net. As a minimum, we must make sure that no one in full-time work is living in poverty; that applies not only to parents, but to young single adults, who are the parents of tomorrow. Our report on child poverty in Scotland emphasised the importance of simplifying the welfare system, which is still too complicated. Child tax credits have been a key factor in reducing child poverty, but the process of claiming them is complex, and we know that many people do not claim the money to which they are entitled. The tax and benefit system must be flexible enough to respond to the changing needs of families and must make it easy for people to move into work, when they find a job, without losing out. During its inquiry, my Committee had difficulty in obtaining disaggregated poverty statistics for Scotland. In some cases, only UK-wide figures were available. We urge the Government and others to publish a breakdown of statistics whenever possible. My Committee was concerned by the evidence that we received that children living in the severest poverty in Scotland may not have fully benefited from the recent reductions in child poverty rates. The poorest children are not helped if the Government meet their targets by reaching only those just below the poverty line—a strategy that would also endanger the Government’s longer-term targets for the total eradication of child poverty. That view is shared by Save the Children and many other organisations. Major progress has been made in reducing child poverty in Scotland during the past 10 years, and my Committee wants to see that progress continue in the next 10 years. We intend to ensure that child poverty remains high on the political agenda in Scotland and throughout the UK. During our inquiry, it was brought to our attention that debt is a major contributory factor to poverty in Scotland and in the United Kingdom. We were astonished to learn that our financial institutions, moneylenders, and building societies charge interest rates of up to 100 per cent., and impose very high penalty and service charges. I passionately believe that there should be a cap placed on the banks and financial institutions, and that the courts should be given powers to decide whether banks and building societies are charging fairly those who are most vulnerable, needy and poor in our communities. It is sad to note that financial institutions are exploiting the most vulnerable in our society. I hope and wish that the Government will seriously concentrate on tackling that problem. We are not talking about loan sharks, but about legal moneylenders that are exploiting poor people in our society. It is nice to see many members of my Committee here today. I am grateful for the kind words of the hon. Member for Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale (David Mundell); I am not sure whether they were good for my political career. The hon. Gentleman is a very important member of my Committee. As you will know, Mr. Deputy Speaker, the Conservative party spent more than £1 million on Scotland in the general election, which produced one Conservative Member. The hon. Gentleman is therefore the most expensive member of my Committee, and the most expensive Member of the House, so I am grateful for his kind words. Once again, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak, Mr. Deputy Speaker.