Committee News Release
CFIN 01/2003
Thursday 25 October, 2001
FINANCE COMMITTEE CALLS FOR ‘STEP CHANGE’ BY EXECUTIVE TO ADDRESS CHILD POVERTY IN SCOTLAND
The Executive needs a ‘step change’ in its approach if its ambitious child poverty targets are to be met, according to a report issued today by the Finance Committee.
The report was considered and agreed by the previous Finance Committee during Session 1, but is being published by the current Finance Committee. It highlights a number of concerns the Committee had about the way in which the eradication of child poverty is targeted by Scottish Executive funding.
Convener of the Finance Committee this session, Des McNulty MSP said:
"Last session, the Finance Committee undertook two cross cutting expenditure reviews – on regeneration and child poverty. This approach has proved to be an invaluable tool for examining how issues which cut across departmental remits are being tackled by the Executive as a whole.
The MSP who led the reporter group which conducted the review in the last session, Alasdair Morgan, MSP said:
“Last session, our Committee was concerned that the arrangements for monitoring progress towards reducing inequality for children in poverty were problematic. In fact, the Committee found it almost impossible to track spending in this area.
“We therefore concluded that the Executive’s strategy needs a step change to make further progress, to deal with the problem of persistent poverty.”
The report is the result of the previous Finance Committee’s review into
the level and effectiveness of Scottish budgetary allocations aimed at meeting
its objectives of abolishing child poverty within a generation.
The Committee also recommends that:
• the Executive gives higher priority to anti-poverty programmes by continuing to target additional spending through end-year flexibility and any in year allocations to these programmes
• the Executive reviews the workings of allocations of core funding for health and local government to ensure that adequate reporting systems exist to audit expenditure on cross-cutting priorities, such as child poverty
• the Executive gives urgent consideration to the impact of the method used to measure ‘relative need’ (currently based on previous ‘met need’, rather than a ‘thoroughgoing needs’ assessment) and to the adoption of more appropriate needs weighting for local government and the NHS allocations
• ‘Closing the Opportunity Gap’ should in future be organised around the key client groups highlighted in the Social Justice Annual Report, rather than by ministerial portfolios, with all new spending proposals fully costed.
Background
In considering this inquiry, the Committee received guidance from six different organisations and took informal oral evidence from four ministers as well as commissioning external research. The Committee also received numerous written submissions from a wide range of organisations and individuals.
The Committee’s remit was:
“To consult the relevant organisations and individuals to identify and examine those budgets and programmes across Scottish Executive departments which provide funding specifically targeted at improving the position of children in poverty; to examine whether there is adequate co-operation; to identify any scope for removing barriers to effective co-operation; and to assess whether the individual programmes are meeting or are likely to meet the policy objectives.”
Report on Cross-Cutting Expenditure in relation to Children in Poverty
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