John Swinney says eradicating child poverty 'will become more challenging' after UK Spring Statement

First Minister John Swinney has said the UK Government’s Spring Statement choices would make eradicating child poverty in Scotland “more challenging”.

The UK chancellor’s statement on Wednesday revealed that a Universal Credit benefit will be halved and jobs will be slashed in the civil service, on top of sweeping welfare reforms which were announced on March 18.

The Scottish Government has estimated that the latest announcements will knock approximately £400m off of Holyrood’s block grant by the end of the decade.

All of these announcements have been made against the backdrop of a stagnating and deteriorating economy. GDP growth is expected to stagnate at 1% this year, and annual CPI inflation is forecast to rise from 2.5% in 2024 to 3.2% in 2025.

At FMQs on Thursday, Swinney was asked for the Scottish Government’s response to these announcements.

“The Scottish Government is concerned by a number of details within the UK Government’s Spring Statement,” Swinney said.

Not least of which, he said, is the assessment that has emerged from Work and Pensions, which claims the measures contained within the Spring Statement are “likely to drive 250,000 people into relative poverty”.

The First Minister said that include 50,000 children.

Swinney added that the cuts to welfare “have a direct impact on Scottish budget” with the Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) estimating that Scotland will see its block grant from Westminster adjusted to remove £455m in 2029/30.

In the face of what Swinney called a “shameful litany of broken manifesto promises” from Labour leaders at Westminster, he said the Scottish Government will ensure it puts its focus into the necessary work to eradicate child poverty in Scotland.

“That will become more challenging as a consequence of the spring statement because we are once again, as we found with the last Conservative Government, swimming against the tide of rising poverty levels as a consequence of UK Government decision making,” Swinney said.

“We’re seeing reducing levels of child poverty in Scotland, but that pattern will be challenged by prevailing decisions taken by the spring statement.”