Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with (a) the Scottish Government and (b) the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding for the voluntary sector in Scotland to help reduce child poverty.

Tackling child poverty is a shared priority across all parts of the UK. I am a member of the Child Poverty Taskforce, which is confronting the wide-ranging and deep-rooted causes of child poverty. The Child Poverty Taskforce will collaborate with the Scottish Government on our common goal to reduce and alleviate child poverty. The Taskforce will work with the Scottish Government in developing the UK-wide strategy, to be published in spring next year, to improve children’s lives and life chances now and address the root causes of child poverty in the long-term.

I have had a number of discussions with Scottish Government Ministers since my appointment, as have many of my Ministerial colleagues, including the Prime Minister. T o establish collaboration on the development of a UK-wide Child Poverty Strategy, the co-chairs of the Child Poverty Taskforce met with the First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice earlier this month. We look forward to continuing our partnership to build consensus for action and deliver sustainable change for all children across the UK. The Taskforce is also engaging directly with voluntary sector organisations from across the UK.

The Chancellor will set out overall fiscal and spending plans in her Budget on 30 October and the Spending Review in the spring.