Last week a joint statement on child poverty was published from Public Health Scotland, the Faculty of Public Health, the Royal Society for Public Health and the Scottish Directors of Public Health and the importance of taking a UK wide approach to tackle child poverty. COSLA Children and Young People Spokesperson said:
“Local Government remains committed to the national mission to eradicate child poverty and COSLA recognises the vital contributions that local authorities and their partners make in achieving this ambition. Child poverty is an issue that impacts many, exists in all council area and cuts across many important areas of work.
“Pressure on core council budgets as well as increased ringfencing and directed funding has an impact on the local services, activities and interventions that can be delivered to tackle child poverty. Despite this, local authorities continue to provide a range of key services to combat child poverty for example funded Early Learning and Childcare, free school meals and employability support.
“COSLA welcomes the statement recently published by Public Health Scotland which raises key issues Local Government continue to highlight.”