John Swinney's focus on child poverty is welcome, but charity needs more money

“His recognition that the government 'must do more' is welcome. But while reforming public services so that vulnerable families can easily access support is essential, those services must first be available and adequately funded.

“The harsh reality is that ministers are lagging behind in providing funding for the childcare, housing and employment measures that the Government has already committed to and that families so desperately need.

The Scottish Government's approach to tackling child poverty is the right one. The Scottish Child Payment alone has lifted between 40,000 and 60,000 children out of poverty. But we need to see a gradual change in the speed and scale of action.

“The challenge facing government and opposition alike is that there is no credible path to eradicating child poverty that does not involve further serious investment in social security, childcare, affordable family housing and measures to support parents in accessing decent jobs.”

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), another major anti-poverty charity, said the Scottish Government was “diagnosed the right problems” to tackle poverty, but “action falls far short of what is needed”.

“Both the Scottish and UK governments say they want to alleviate poverty among people in Scotland, but it is worrying that the current policy debate barely captures the scale of the problems facing households,” added Chris Birt, JRF's deputy director for Scotland.

Mary Glasgow, chief executive of Children 1st, welcomed the focus on child poverty but said the charity was “deeply concerned that drastic cuts in public spending will push many children and families already in crisis even further into the abyss”.

“The First Minister's recognition of support for the whole family is positive, but he lacks clarity and concrete plans to make this a reality and to meet the need with the necessary resources.”

Jamie Livingstone, chairman of Oxfam Scotland, called on the Scottish government to consider tax increases in the budget published in December, saying otherwise there was a risk that the government's programme would be “full of half-empty and disappointing promises”.

“The commitments to clean heating systems for homes and increased support for low-income families are encouraging, but due to this year's emergency cuts we will continue to face the same predictable gap between commitments and funds,” he said.

“Scottish ministers must use the powers they have been given to introduce far-reaching tax reforms that target prosperity, raise their ambitions and turn their promises into progress.”

The Scottish Government later released a statement on free school meals, saying it remained “committed to extending free school meals to primary schools nationwide”.

The spokesman added: “We are already implementing this offer in primary schools 1 to 5 and the next phase of the rollout will be for pupils in primary years 6 and 7 who receive the Scottish Child Payment.

“However, the current financial situation means that universality cannot be achieved by 2026.”