The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has praised the SNP Government for making greater strides than the UK Government in improving children’s health over the last year. The RCPCH last year issued a series of recommendations to improve child health across the UK. The “State of Child Health: One year on” report commends the SNP Government’s policies designed to cut child poverty and boost health visitor numbers, including the Child Poverty Act’s defined poverty reduction targets. The same report also criticises the UK Government’s “piecemeal” and "disjointed" policies as well as cuts to public health spending that are disproportionately affecting children’s services. Commenting, Kenneth Gibson MSP said: “This report is an independent endorsement of actions the SNP Government is taking to give every child the best possible start in life. From the Baby Box and transformative investment in childcare, to improving our schools and narrowing the attainment gap, many policy initiatives we are taking are working to make that ambition a reality. “The SNP’s Child Poverty Bill builds on the work we are already doing to strengthen our fight against child poverty. This is despite having one arm tied behind our backs in the face of a decade of Labour and Tory austerity that has driven child poverty rates up 30% and is set to push a further one million more children across the UK into poverty by the end of the decade.
“The challenges we face in Scotland are not unique, but it is how we respond to these challenges that matter. Clearly, the Tories cannot be trusted with our children’s future and the RCPCH’s damning criticism of their record on children’s health must not be ignored.” A copy of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s (RCPCH) “State of Child Health: One year on” report can be found here:
The Austerity Generation: The Impact of a decade of cuts on family incomes and child poverty - CPAG:
Child poverty in Britain set to soar to new record, says the Institute of Fiscal Studies which forecasts that 37% of children will be in relative poverty by 2022 and see all progress made in the last 20 years undone.
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