General Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 12 December 2024.
Emma Roddick
Scottish National Party
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is tackling child poverty, including in the Highlands and Islands region. (S6O-04108)
Shirley-Anne Somerville
Scottish National Party
The Scottish budget for 2025-26 outlines plans for wide-ranging investment to drive further progress in our national mission to eradicate child poverty. In addition to continued investment in the likes of the Scottish child payment, that includes our increased investment in affordable housing supply, investment to expand breakfast clubs and expanding free school meals to pupils in primary 6 and 7 who receive the Scottish child payment.
Importantly, we have also committed £3 million to develop the systems that are required to mitigate the two-child cap, with the Child Poverty Action Group estimating that scrapping the cap could lift around 15,000 children in Scotland out of poverty.
Emma Roddick
Scottish National Party
I note that today is Christmas jumper day, which gives us an opportunity to reflect on what more we can do to ensure that no child grows up in poverty in Scotland. As the Cabinet secretary noted, a number of last week’s budget announcements, including the scrapping of Labour’s two-child cap and the expansion of free school meals, will help to lift thousands of children out of poverty. Can the cabinet secretary outline what more we could do, and how much further we could go, if this Parliament had the powers of a normal, independent country?
Shirley-Anne Somerville
Scottish National Party
Emma Roddick raises an important point. It highlights the fact that, under some of the most challenging budget settlements since devolution, we as a Government are committing more than £3 billion in 2024-25 to policies that tackle poverty and protect people as far as possible during the cost of living crisis.
Emma Roddick is also right to point out that we could do so much more if we had the full economic and fiscal powers of an independent nation, because only with independence would we stop having to mitigate United Kingdom Government policies. This year, we are spending £134 million to mitigate the bedroom tax, the benefit cap and other policies, while we spend nearly £500 million on the Scottish child payment. Next year, we will have to mitigate the scrapping of the universal winter fuel payment while, unfortunately, the two-child cap is retained at the UK level.
While the UK Government makes decisions, we will take action, but with independence we could do so much more.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
