Reflections on the Budget(s)

I'm a single parent from Scotland and I've been a participant with Changing Realities for over a year now. I have been very thankful to be involved in many different ways including being a speaker at the House of Lords in London and meeting the First Minister with a small group of parents at Bute House on two occasions. Also, I recently had the pleasure of being asked to be one of a small handful of speakers at the SNP conference in Aberdeen to share our perspectives as part of upcoming Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026-31.

Like many other parents who eagerly awaited the UK Autumn Budget announcements, I have to admit it still felt disappointing despite some welcome announcements.

Despite the chancellor's attempt to tackle rising energy costs, energy costs still continue to rise, in particular electricity. I'm disappointed that the government has not chosen to scrap the unfair Standing charges which disproportionately affect lower-use households like myself. Instead, they chose to scrap levies placed on energy bills - which means the average household will see their costs fall by approximately £150 a year. For my household, this equates to £7 per month in savings which will be swallowed up by rising costs over the next year. It all feels so counterproductive. The reality is that the cost of living is impacting families up and down the country. Naively, many of us felt that everything would just go back to normal eventually but energy, petrol, food and taxes continue to rise while income, for many, remains the same.

The Scottish government rightly argues this levy does not fully offset the amount bills have risen by since Labour came to power. As electricity is seen as more universal, when the government wants to cost their policies, they choose this area. Yet that is somewhat perverse as it means we see a relative increase in electricity costs compared to gas, when the whole policy driver is to move people off gas. As someone who is all electric, it's really not only frustrating but illogical.

Also, the Chancellor claimed her budget would mean an extra £820m for the Scottish government over the next three to four years. This was a very welcome announcement. I do applaud the government's decision to finally end the unfair two child limit, and this will be a welcome relief for parents affected by this cruel policy where it unfairly punishes children. The treasury estimates that 95,000 children in Scotland will now benefit from this change. The Scottish government has long called for this policy to be ended and had promised to "mitigate" it with a new payment for affected families from next March. This would have cost about £155m in 2026-27 and more in the years after that, according to the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

In essence, it means Scotland's finance secretary will no longer have to find the money from within her own budget, freeing most of it up to be spent on other things. Since the FM is making child poverty a priority, one possibility (one can hope) is could this surplus be used on measures such as raising the Scottish Child Payment? The FM has already said that he would use this £155m to tackle child poverty. I've had the pleasure of meeting the First Minister John Swinney twice now in regard to the child poverty strategy along with other CR participants. From my discussions with him around extending the SCP, he felt the SCP was at its current 'limit' and has been vocal that increasing it could potentially reduce the incentive to work - a point I've since challenged him on.

Whilst I feel the SCP is not a complete solution to tackling child poverty in Scotland, increasing and extending its reach could help thousands more families stay afloat. There has been suggestions by some that increasing Scottish Child Payment could reduce incentives for parents to work. I have previously challenged this assertion, and Government evidence shows SCP does not negatively affect labour market participation at scale. The First Minister has said he will continue to work alongside Changing Realities in the coming months. . If our relationship continues to strengthen further, I'm hoping that this next Budget as well as future ones, will make meaningful strides in tackling child poverty.

Scrapping the two-child limit in Universal Credit is a necessary step towards meeting the UK Government’s manifesto commitment to reduce child poverty but we are still in the midst of a cost of living crisis where housing costs and bills are still too high, and incomes are still projected to fall over the Parliament. For progress to be truly felt by families, living standards desperately need to improve to help people feel more positive about their future prospects.

In January, the Scottish budget will fall just four months before May's Holyrood elections. I’ve been trying to remain positive since the UK Autumn Budget, especially given that the Scottish Government now have this extra £155m to spend on tackling child poverty. Whether that would mean increasing the Scottish Child Payment or something else is not yet clear. He further reiterated that the test for this budget will be whether or not it lowers family bills, including energy bills. I, for one, would welcome these changes as living standards are at breaking point for families up and down the country.