New £70m fund fights child poverty

Thousands live in deprived areas

A new £70m fund will help the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children in Scotland.

First Minister Henry McLeish unveiled plans for the Children's Change Fund in Glasgow at the launch of the first social justice report.

It showed that 70,000 youngsters in Scotland had been taken out of poverty since 1997.

It says the executive is on target to meet its goals of achieving full employment, securing dignity in old age and eliminating child poverty.

Henry McLeish: "Making a difference"

But the Scottish National Party has criticised the executive, saying that the targets set by ministers were too easy.

The Tories dismissed the objectives as "nebulous" and said that pensioners felt they were no better off.

Launching the report on Monday, Mr McLeish said: "Last year we set out our strategy for tackling poverty and injustice and we committed ourselves to ambitious goals.

"This first annual report shows we are now moving from strategy to action - and action that is making a difference."

He also unveiled details of the Children's Change Fund, which will be made available from 2002.

We think much more could be done to include communities as area partners in the struggle for social justice

Damian Killeen, Poverty Alliance director

Mr McLeish said: "This is our new commitment to tackling child poverty and deprivation.

"It will bring extra focus to our support for children who are most in need by supporting integrated services and innovative approaches for the most vulnerable. Our aim is to promote inclusion and improve the life chances of children across Scotland."

The social justice report claims that the number of children in low-income households fell by 70,000, or 18%, between 1997 and 1999.

The number of children in workless households fell from 19% to 16%.

Tackling inequalities

They also say that 27,000 young people were helped into a job by the New Deal and 185,000 pensioners were lifted out of poverty by the minimum income guarantee.

An executive spokesman said: "An extra £6bn is being injected into Scottish services over the next three years, targeted to help tackle inequalities.

"Health spending will increase by 15%, education by 17% and the social justice and housing budget by 20%."

Scotland Office minister Brian Wilson was also at the launch.

"My presence emphasises the fact that our assault on poverty is a team effort between the government and the Scottish Executive," he said.

The executive has promised to fight poverty

Poverty Alliance director Damian Killeen welcomed the report, which he said would allow the Scottish Parliament to hold the executive to account.

However, he said: "Whilst the executive is listening in an active way, we think much more could be done to include communities as area partners in the struggle for social justice.

"As a next step, we would urge the executive to accept and incorporate in their next annual report a community report produced by disadvantaged communities."

Mr Killeen also called for the implementation of a minimum income standard to reduce the "wealth gap" that existed in Scotland.