PEOPLE IN MORAY can get involved in shaping the Scottish Government’s vision for ending child poverty.
A Scottish Government consultation is currently under way on proposals for a new Child Poverty Bill that will run until the end of this month.
The Bill will be introduced next year and is part of the approach to tackling poverty and inequality in Scotland.
Revealing that after housing costs are taken into account more than one in six children in the Moray area are living in poverty, Communities, Social Security and Equalities Secretary Angela Constance said: “It is absolutely heartbreaking that one in six children in Moray are living in poverty.
“This is simply unacceptable in a modern, thriving country like Scotland which is why we need to take action to tackle child poverty.
“We are committed to giving children the best possible start in life and have offered parents more and better-paid jobs and greater security but we need to do more to address the deep-rooted inequalities that exist, especially in education and health.
“This consultation and the Bill takes our ambitions to the next level. It will allow us to refine our approach to tackling child poverty and ensure it best meets the needs of people in Scotland.
“We have already received some good responses but with so many people affected by poverty, I would encourage people and organisations in Moray to get involved.
“This consultation builds on other steps we have underway to tackle poverty and inequality through the Living Wage, free school meals, expanding early learning and childcare funding and addressing the attainment gap through the Scottish Attainment Fund.
“We will continue to work with local governments, businesses and the third sector, and most importantly with people who experience poverty, so we can strive towards equality of opportunity for everyone in Scotland and end the cycle of poverty once and for all.”
The estimate of child poverty in Moray is a measure of relative poverty after housing costs which comes from End Child Poverty figures for 2013 (http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/poverty-in-your-area/).
People can take part in the consultation at: https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/social-justice/consultation-on-a-child-poverty-bill-for-scotland
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