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Inquiry into Child Poverty and Parental Employment
Background
The Scottish Government has set out its plans to tackle child poverty.
Tackling child poverty is complex. The Government has provided some detail of its plans in the Best Start, Bright Futures - Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-2026.
There is a big emphasis in this plan on fair work as a route out of poverty and improving income from work is part of that. As Best Start Bright Futures states: "Work offers a sustainable route out of poverty for many families and has a strong role to play in a balanced approach to tackling poverty."
Focus of the inquiry
We are looking at how the Scottish Government is working with local authorities, employers and other partners. We want to understand how they are supporting parents find suitable jobs or move into better paid work.
Key themes of the inquiry include:
- the Scottish Government’s ‘parental employment offer’ and the policies and delivery plans connected to it
- local approaches and the extent to which they are targeted at those most at risk of poverty
- employment needs
- childcare needs
- housing needs
- transport needs
We know that some families face greater barriers than others. The Scottish Government has identified six ‘priority groups’. We are keen to get a more detailed picture of issues specific groups face and what might work to support them. The priority groups are as follows:
- mothers aged under 25
- minority ethnic families
- lone parents
- parents whose youngest child is under one
- parents with three, or more, children
- disabled family members
We realise that different solutions may be needed in different parts of Scotland and we would like to understand how needs and required approaches might differ in rural and urban areas.
We also want to focus on how best to support parents to increase their income from employment. We recognise that this is only part of the picture, but we want to hear about issues around in-work poverty, why some parents are working less than they would ideally like to and how the Government policy could help turn this around.
Your Views
The Committee ran a call for views to hear different perspectives on child poverty and parental employment.
The call for views closed on 5 April 2023.
The Scottish Parliament Research Centre (SPICe) have produced a summary paper of the submissions received.
Read the summary of responses (379KB, pdf) posted 19 May 2023
Meetings
25 May 2023
On 25 May 2023, the Committee held an evidence session focussing on affordable and flexible childcare policy. The Committee took evidence from:
- Irene Audain, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Out of School Care Network
- Jonathan Broadbery, Director of Policy and Communications, National Day Nurseries Association
- Graeme McAlister, Chief Executive, Scottish Childminding Association
- Matthew Sweeney, Policy Manager, Children and Young People, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 25 May 2023
Read the meeting minutes, 25 May 2023
Read the Official Report of the meeting, 25 May 2023
Following the meeting on 25 May, the Scottish Out of School Care Network provided some additional information.
Read the additional information (97KB, pdf) posted 27 June 2023
8 June 2023
On 8 June 2023, the Committee held an evidence session focussing on affordable and flexible childcare delivery. The Committee took evidence from:
- Beverley Isdale, Chief Executive, First 4 Kids
- Susan McGhee, Chief Executive, Flexible Childcare Services Scotland
- Rami Okasha, Chief Executive Officer, Children's Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS)
- Kirsty Ramage, Project Leader, Bellsbank Project
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 8 June 2023
Read the meeting minutes, 8 June 2023
Read the Official Report of the meeting, 8 June 2023
15 June 2023
On 15 June 2023, the Committee held evidence sessions focussing on education and training and on employability programmes. The Committee took evidence from:
- Kenny Anderson, Director, Scottish Wider Access Programme
- Jackie Galbraith, Principal and Chief Executive Officer of West Lothian College, Colleges Scotland
- Sharon McIntyre, Head of Career Information Advice and Guidance Operations, Skills Development Scotland
- Keith Robson, Senior Public Affairs Manager, The Open University, Universities Scotland
and then from:
- Marion Davis, Director of Policy, Communication and Strategy, One Parent Families Scotland
- Sarah McCulley, Falkirk Council Representative, Scottish Local Authorities' Economic Development (SLAED)
- David Stewart, Regional Development Manager, Fedcap Scotland
- Philip Whyte, Director, Institute for Public Policy Research Scotland
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 15 June 2023
Read the meeting minutes, 15 June 2023
Read the Official Report of the meeting, 15 June 2023
Following the meeting on 22 June, Universities Scotland, Fedcap Scotland and the Institute for Public Policy Research provided some additional information.
Read the additional information from Universities Scotland (111KB, pdf) posted 27 June 2023
Read the additional information from Fedcap Scotland (105KB, pdf) posted 21 September 2023
Read the additional information from the Institute of Public Policy Research (122KB, pdf) posted 30 June 2023
22 June 2023
On 22 June 2023, the Committee held evidence sessions focussing on fair and family friendly working. The Committee took evidence from:
- Jack Evans, Senior Policy Advisor (Scotland), Joseph Rowntree Foundation
- Lynn Houmdi, Co-Creator and Programme Manager, Making Work Work, The Challenges Group Founder, Flexible Working Scotland
- Nikki Slowey, Director and Co-Founder, Flexibility Works
- Jane van Zyl, Chief Executive Officer, Working Families
- Marek Zemanik, Senior Public Policy Advisor, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
and then from:
- Andrea Bradley, General Secretary, Educational Institute of Scotland, Scottish Trades Union Congress
- Karen Hedge, Deputy Chief Executive, Scottish Care
- Louisa Macdonell, Scotland Director, Business in the Community
Read the meeting minutes, 22 June 2023
Read the Official Report of the meeting, 22 June 2023
Following the meeting on 22 June, Flexibility Works provided some additional information.
Read the additional information (109KB, pdf) posted 29 June 2023
29 June 2023
On 29 June 2023, the Committee held an evidence session with employers focussing on examples of good practice. The Committee took evidence from:
- Helen Herd, Head of Human Resources and Rachel Hunter, Director of Enterprise Support, Highlands and Islands Enterprise
- Harvey Tilley, Chief Operating Officer and Heather Melville-Hume, Senior HR Manager, Independent Living Fund Scotland
- Andy Wood, People Services Lead, The Wheatley Group
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 29 June 2023
Read the meeting minutes, 29 June 2023
Read the Official Report of the meeting, 29 June 2023
7 September 2023
On 7 September 2023, the Committee held an evidence session with employers focussing on transport. The Committee took evidence from:
- Paul Finch, Strategy Manager, Nestrans and Vice Chair for Transportation, Society of Chief Officers of Transportation in Scotland (SCOTS)
- Mick Hogg, Regional Organiser, National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT)
- Paul White, Director, Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) Scotland
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 7 September 2023
Read the meeting minutes, 7 September 2023
Read the Official Report of the meeting, 7 September 2023
14 September 2023
On 14 September 2023, the Committee held an evidence session with the Scottish Government. The Committee took evidence from:
- Shirley-Anne Somerville, Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice
- Natalie Don, Minister for Children, Young People and Keeping the Promise
- Graeme Dey, Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans
- Neil Gray, Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy
- Jane Duffy, Unit Head, Post School Qualifications
- Matthew Farrell, Head of Strategy, Finance and Performance
- Julie Humphreys, Deputy Director, Tackling Child Poverty and Financial Wellbeing
- Ann McKenzie, Unit Head, Tackling Child Poverty Policy Unit
- Aidan Grisewood, Interim Director, Economic Strategy
Read the agenda and meeting papers, 14 September 2023
Read the meeting minutes, 14 September 2023
Read the Official Report of the meeting, 14 September 2023
Report
The Committee published its report, Addressing Child Poverty Through Parental Employment on 23 November 2023.
The Scottish Government responded to the Committee's report on 22 January 2024. You can read the response at the following link:
Scottish Government Response to the Addressing Child Poverty Through Parental Employment Report (300KB, pdf) posted 23 January 2024
Engagement
On Tuesday 23 August 2022 we visited Rutherglen to hear some initial views on this issue. What we heard is summarised in the following note:
Read a note of the visit (234KB, pdf) posted 07 September 2022
The Committee asked for views from Local Employability Partnerships. We received the following 5 responses:
Falkirk Council, 18 July 2022 (115KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
Midlothian Council, 19 August 2022 (105KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
Glasgow City Council, 26 August 2022 (108KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
East Renfrewshire Council, 13 September 2022 (98KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
Perth and Kinross Council, 14 September 2022 (120KB, pdf) posted 07 November 2022
On 13 January 2023, the Committee undertook a visit in North Ayrshire where it met with Local Employability Partnership members, delivery organisations, parents and employers. What we heard is summarised in the following note:
Read a note of the meeting (198KB, pdf) posted 30 January 2023
On 19 and 20 January 2023, the Committee visited Benbecula and Uist where it met with local infrastructure organisations and service delivery partners, parents, employers and teachers.
Read a note of the meeting (123KB, pdf) posted 07 February 2023
Timetable
Autumn 2022
We gathered information from Local Employability Partnerships and attended a focus group on employability programmes hosted by the Glasgow Local Employability Partnership.
January 2023
In January 2023 we undertook visits to North Ayrshire and Uist.
February to April 2023
The Committee ran a national call for views to hear the views of people across Scotland and was interested in hearing the views and experience of individuals, employers and organisations who provide support.
Post-Spring 2023
Hold evidence sessions
Autumn 2023
Report findings