The Scottish Child Payment will give eligible families £10 a week for every child under 16 by the end of 2022. For a family with two children under the age of 16 this is an additional £1,000 a year.  It makes Scotland the only part of the UK to introduce an extra payment for the children of low income families..

The payment will be introduced early for all families with children under six. 170,000 children will benefit from early introduction which will start in early 2021. This is a more than a year earlier than the timescale outlined in the Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.

Scotland is the only UK country to have set statutory income targets to end child poverty in the Child Poverty Act, with the Scottish Government also having brought forward its Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan. The Scottish Government has already spent £527 million across all government policies to support low income families with children.

Joan McAlpine MSP said:

“This new benefit shows that the SNP committed to helping people in Scotland, and to tackling the alarming levels of child poverty. The SCP will go some way towards mitigating against continuing benefit cuts from the UK Government. If we didn’t have those UK Government cuts pushing families into poverty, the Scottish Child Payment could do much more and have more reach.

“UK benefit cuts will be an annual £3.7 billion in Scotland by next year. We cannot stand by and let that happen. We need more powers to ensure we are not fighting poverty with one hand tied behind our back. Where the Scottish Government do have powers, we will use them to do things differently.

“Already the SNP Government are making a real difference to thousands of families across Scotland with the new Best Start Grant, increases to the value of the School Clothing Grant, nearly doubling funded provision of Early Learning and Childcare, and delivery of 50,000 warm and affordable homes.”

Notes:

• The SCP will be a monthly payment administered by Social Security Scotland alongside the existing programme of devolved social security benefits. There will be no cap on the number of children in eligible families. Of all children in poverty, almost 60% live in a family where a child is under six. The early years in a child’s life are key for long-term outcomes.

The scheme helps provides financial support to low income households, saved families in Dumfries and Galloway an estimated £166.7 a week in March. 

Between 2013/14 and the end of 2018/19 the SNP Government invested over £1.4 billion into the Council Tax Reduction Scheme – recently extending the scheme to include higher band households who fall below average earnings up to a maximum of £25,000 net income.

The move has helped support an extra 54,000 households in Scotland – a third of them pensioner households.

Commenting, SNP MSP Joan McAlpine said:

“In the face of huge cuts from the UK Tory government, the SNP has managed to help almost half a million households every year with their council tax bill.

“Just under 80% of those households are totally exempt from council tax thanks to the scheme.

“In March alone, the Council Tax Reduction scheme has helped 13250 households in Dumfries and Galloway – saving local families an estimated £166.70 a week in March.

“I would encourage anyone who thinks they might be eligible for a reduction in their council tax to get in touch with their local Citizen’s Advice Bureau for advice.”

Citizens Advice Dumfries: 0300 303 4321

Statistics here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/council-tax-reduction-scotland-annual-report-2018-19/

 SNP MSP for South Scotland Joan McAlpine has welcomed news from the Scottish Government that a study into South West Scotland’s transport network will be published at the end of this month, after asking the Scottish Government for an update on the progress of the Strategic Transport Projects Review. Ms. McAlpine previously campaigned successfully  for a Transport Summit in Dumfries in August 2016 which was chaired by the Deputy First Minister John Swinney and attended by then Transport Minister Humza Yousaf.

Joan McAlpine asked Cabinet Secretary for Transport Michael Matheson to comment on how the SNPs manifesto commitments to better link Dumfries to the central belt via the motorway and improve the A75 might be implemented following the review.

Mr. Matheson announced that the South West Transport Study will be published in draft format by the end of June and says that the study will be used to feed into a ‘detailed assessment of options to link Dumfries to key markets including the central belt’. He also provides an assurance that these options for Dumfries form part of the selected areas for consideration in the Strategic Transport Projects Review. 

Joan McAlpine MSP said:

“I welcome the news that the results of the South West Transport Review will feed into a wider programme of work to improve the face of transport in Dumfries and Galloway, and this is something I have taken a strong interest in for some time.

“Dumfries is the regional capital of South West Scotland – the only part of the country not considered a “city region” for economic development purposes. People in surrounding areas need to access Dumfries for work, education, health and social services as well as cultural, social and sporting activities.

“Presently, the region is not well connected with slow, intermittent rail links and no dual road links. The A701 and A709 which link Dumfries to the M74 are in need of upgrading and have single lane traffic, at points controlled by traffic lights. This is unacceptable.

“Linking Dumfries and its satellite communities better to the central belt, by both road and rail, will in my view have the most significant economic benefit to the whole region. “

This is the second strategic review – the first was published in 2008.  The new review will consider future investment in all transport modes including the strategic road and rail networks as well as active travel, island connectivity, ferries and buses.

Speaking on the background of the STPR, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity Michael Matheson said:

“The Scottish Government is fully committed to building a sustainable transport system that supports our economy and helps deliver inclusive growth.

“Work is already underway on the review of the National Transport Strategy which will set out a shared vision for a future of our transport system and the second Strategic Transport Projects Review will build on that by identifying the infrastructure required to make this a reality.”

The Trump administration want the UK to accept lower food safety standards than exist within the European Union, allowing US products such as chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef to be sold in the UK – undercutting our own food producers.

The US ambassador this week confirmed that a future trade deal would require access to “the entire economy”, potentially impacting other sectors such as the NHS.

There are also concerns that Scottish products, such as Scotch Beef, Scotch Lamb and Scotch Whisky, could lose their protected status after Brexit – allowing cheap-knock offs to be sold.

Commenting, Ms Joan McAlpine said:

“Scotland has top-quality food safety standards, in line with the rest of the EU, protecting consumers and our world-renowned Scottish produce.

“But that’s now under threat, with the Tories planning to sell out Scottish food producers as part of a damaging back-room trade deal with Donald Trump.

“As a member of the EU, local products like Scotch Beef and Lamb have been protected from cheap market knock offs – we can’t allow the Tories to take a take a wrecking ball to our booming food and drink sector here in Dumfries and Galloway.

“The UK government’s shambolic approach to Brexit leaves them in an exceptionally weak bargaining position – with Tory leadership contenders competing to be the most reckless with our economic future.

“There’s a real danger that, if Brexit happens, the next Prime Minister will be absolutely desperate to sign whatever damaging trade-deal Trump demands.

“Scotland voted overwhelmingly against Brexit – and the threat of selling out Dumfries and Galloway’s food producers shows exactly why we need to stop it.”

Notes: https://inews.co.uk/news/uk/us-ambassador-nhs-healthcare-services-on-table-for-post-brexit-trade-deal/

The meeting has been arranged after Ms. McAlpine raised concerns with Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport Jeane Freeman about Dumfries and Galloway being the only local authority in Scotland not to have a specialist epilepsy nurse, despite figures from Epilepsy Scotland which suggest that over 100 children are currently living with the condition across the region.

The health board is currently conducting a comprehensive service needs analysis and has agreed that engaging with families will be an essential part in working towards meeting the needs of families dealing with epilepsy.

Commenting, Joan McAlpine MSP said:

“I am pleased that the local health board are willing to meet with parents and discuss concerns about the lack of a specialist epilepsy nurse for Dumfries and Galloway. I am fully supportive of the local families who are working hard to change this for the benefit of others dealing with this condition across the region.”