THE Scottish Government will increase the Scottish Child Payment to £25 a week by the end of 2022 and will spend £10 million a year to “mitigate the UK Government benefit cap”.

During an update in the Scottish Parliament on tackling child poverty, Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said the devolved benefit will rise to £25 a week.

She said: “We will double the ‘game-changing’ Scottish Child Payment to £20 in just over a week and extend the payment to children under 16 by the end of this year.

“However, I am pleased to announce that we will go further still, and will also increase its value again to £25 per week per child by the end of 2022.”

It is hoped that the measure will help the Scottish Government meet targets agreed back in 2017 that less than 10% of children should be living in relative poverty by 2030, and less than 5% should be in absolute poverty.

While setting out the Government’s updated child poverty strategy, Robison said the increase is "expected to lift 50,000 children out of poverty". 

While making her announcement, Robison referenced the UK Government’s removal of the £20 uplift to Universal Credit last year and other “ongoing impacts of welfare cuts including the benefit cap and two-child limit”, saying that these issues posed “a very significant risk” to the Scottish Government’s goals.

Robison also slated Rishi Sunak's Spring Statement that was made on Wednesday, saying it "was a missed opportunity to give families the immediate support they need in the face of a cost of living crisis”.

She said: “In this plan, our Government will go further in its support in order to provide the support families need now, and to drive progress toward the interim targets set.

"We will double the game-changing Scottish Child Payment to £20 in just over a week and extend the payment to children under 16 by the end of this year.

“However, I am pleased to announce that we will go further still, and will also increase its value again to £25 per week per child by the end of 2022.”

Robison also said that the level the child payment benefit will reach by the end of 2022 “is five times higher than the £5 payment we were being asked to introduce less than five years ago”.

She said: “Over 400,000 children will be eligible, with the payment expected to lift 50,000 children out of poverty in 2023/24. This is backed by investment of £225 million in 22/23, rising to £445 million in 23/24.

“As a result of this increase, by the end of 2022, our package of five family benefits for low-income families will be worth over £10,000 by the time a families’ first child turns six, and £9,700 for second and subsequent children.”