Scottish Budget: Shona Robison - "eradicating child poverty is our top priority" - video Dailymotion

Scottish Budget: Shona Robison - "eradicating child poverty is our top priority"

Transcript

00:00We have heard people, and we are acting. This is a budget for Scotland by Scotland, and

00:06that is why I encourage all members to give it their support.

00:14Eradicating child poverty is our top priority. Policies such as the game-changing Scottish

00:20child payment and expanded funding for early learning and childcare are action in the face

00:27of need, but we want to go further. The budget will invest almost £800 million more in social

00:34security benefits in 2025-26, putting money directly into people's pockets and ensuring

00:41benefits rise by inflation.

00:44We recognise that having a warm, safe and affordable place to live is critical to tackling

00:51child poverty. Far too many families are still in temporary accommodation. Shirley-Anne Somerville

00:56has told me about the conversations that she has had with mums who feel the pain of

01:00bringing up their kids in inadequate accommodation. That is why we are going to ramp up action

01:07on housing by investing £768 million in affordable homes. That enables more than 8,000 new properties

01:16for social rent, mid-market rent and low-cost home ownership to be built or acquired this

01:21coming year, and it returns spending to a higher level than it was two years ago.

01:29Given the scale of the housing challenge, I will look at all the levers available for

01:33me to deliver. That is why I can confirm today that we will be working with the City of Edinburgh

01:38Council to unlock more than 800 new net zero homes at its grant and development site.