Swinney urged to act after 250,000 charity parcels given to Scots

First Minister John Swinney has been warned his government's flagship Scottish Child Payment is not enough to stop children having to resort to foodbanks - despite a leading charity seeing a small drop in the number of emergency parcels it handed out

The Trussell Trust said its foodbanks provided 262,479 food parcels to people in Scotland between April 2023 and March 2024 - with this down from 262,827 the previous year.

The latest total included 86,013 parcels for children, as well as 176,466 that were supplied to help adults put food on the table.

But the Trussell Trust noted 156,262 (60%) of the packages it handed out in Scotland in 2023-34 went to families with children - with this up from just 21% five years ago.

The charity also reported a 22% increase in the number of parcels for households with someone of pension age in them compared to 2022-23.

There were 52,700 people in Scotland who came to the Trussell Trust for help for the first time last year - with the data also showing 75% of those seeking help from a food bank did so because of low income or debt problems.

£40 per week

With new First Minister John Swinney already having made plain his determination to tackle child poverty, Trussell Trust bosses said the Scottish Government needs to increase the level of the Scottish Child Payment from its current rate of £26.70 a week to "at least £40 a week".

It is also challenging Holyrood ministers to pay more cash into the Scottish Welfare Fund - which provides emergency grants to those in need - and to mitigate the two child cap on some benefits, with the Trussell Trust pointing out families with three children or more are much more likely to need to use a food bank.

In addition the Scottish Government is being called on to reverse cuts to spending for affordable housing which were included as part of this year's Holyrood budget.

'This is not right'

Polly Jones, head of Scotland at the Trussell Trust, said: "Our new First Minister is responsible for a flagship poverty policy that is not preventing children from needing food banks.

"We need the new First Minister to increase the Scottish Child Payment to at least £40 a week if he is to meet statutory targets to reduce child poverty from 25% to 10% by 2030."

Ms Jones added: "Right across Scotland people are being left with no option but to turn to charitable, volunteer-run organisations to get by and this is not right.

"Everyone in Scotland should be able to afford the essentials - to buy their own food and heat their homes.

"We need urgent action from all levels of government to prevent our children growing up believing it is normal to have a food bank in their community, let alone needing help from one."

'Heartbreaking figures'

Labour's social justice spokesperson Paul O'Kane said the "heartbreaking figures" from the Trussell Trust highlighted the "failure" of governments at Holyrood and Westminster.

The Labour MSP added: "It is a disgrace that so many Scots are struggling to put food on the table, as Scotland struggles to meet its child poverty reduction targets after years of SNP inaction.

"John Swinney has pledged to make tackling child poverty a priority - but as finance secretary he slashed funding for councils doing vital work to prevent food poverty."

'Simply unforgivable'

However SNP social justice spokesperson, David Linden blamed the UK Government, saying: "It is clear that Westminster is failing the people of Scotland."

The MP added: "The Westminster-made cost-of-living crisis, coupled with the UK Government's austerity agenda and cruel benefit sanctions, have left Scotland's most vulnerable seeking food parcels from charities and food banks. This is simply unforgivable.

"This is the legacy of 14 years of consecutive Conservative rule - something the people of Scotland did not vote for."

Mr Linden said the Scottish Government was "doing all it can with the limited powers available to them" as he questioned the impact Labour would have, saying Sir Keir Starmer's party was "committed to the same fiscal spending as the Tories, and in favour of policies such as the two-child cap and rape clause".

'Top priority'

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: "This data shows Scottish Government policies have helped to slow the pace of demand for food parcels, with Scotland the only part of the UK not to see an increase in the number of parcels distributed through the Trussell Trust network last year.

"Eradicating child poverty is the First Minister's top priority and I'm encouraged that these figures show a 3% drop in the number of parcels for children distributed by Trussell Trust food banks in Scotland.

"Modelling published in February estimates that this Government's policies will keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty in 2024-25, with relative poverty levels 10 percentage points lower than they would have otherwise been.

"This latest research demonstrates the crucial impact the Scottish Child Payment has made for families on the lowest incomes, but the number of struggling households remains too high and the UK Government must act urgently to fix the fundamental flaws with Universal Credit that are driving destitution and food bank use."

Hear the latest news on Clyde 1 on FM, DAB, smart speaker or the Rayo app.