£10m to fight child poverty

Benefit cap cash to be spent on crisis

- NICK FORBES, PA SCOTLAND

Millions of pounds that had been earmarked to offset the two-child benefit cap in Scotland will now be spent on tackling child poverty, the Scottish Government has announced.

A total of £10 million has become available following the UK Government's decision to scrap the cap from April 2026.

In the run-up to next week's budget, the Scottish Government has announced the majority of the funds will be split between programmes that provide emergency financial support to families.

This includes £5.5m for the Scottish Welfare Fund, which provides people on low incomes with emergency grants if they are facing crisis or homelessness.

Just over half-a-million pounds will go to Aberlour Children's Charity and £1.5m to Children First, to provide extra emergency support for families in crisis.

Meanwhile, £1.5m will be given to the Corra Foundation to distribute additional emergency funds, while a further £1m will support government schemes aimed at tackling child poverty.