The Scottish Government is consulting on the next stage of its Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan, covering 2026-31. They have set out four key themes:
- Increasing earned incomes by supporting and providing opportunities for parents and carers, to enter, sustain and progress in work.
- Reducing the costs of living and maximising incomes from social security to allow families to live dignified lives and meet their basic needs.
- Delivering holistic and whole family support to improve outcomes and wellbeing and enable families to better engage with other services that directly increase their incomes.
- Supporting children and young people to reach their full potential and to break the cycle of poverty in the longer term.
Key summary of our position
Through our participatory work with children and young people, the research evidence we have generated and our policy and practice knowledge, we understand and recognise the strong impact of poverty on the likelihood of a child or young person coming into conflict with the law and being exposed to a myriad of adversities, and the impacts this can have on their ability to transition away from harmful behaviours.
Alongside holistic family support, CYCJ’s response identifies the need for a greater rights-respecting, trauma-informed approach for children and young people in conflict with the law in order for them to reach their full potential and break the cycle of poverty. This includes the continued provision of education opportunities throughout any period of offending and limiting the need for disclosure of past offences to future employers/ education providers to only where it is absolutely necessary.