East Lothian Labour
8,580 families in the East Lothian constituency could see their incomes boosted by Scottish Labour’s plan to top up Child Benefit by £240 per year.
Under Labour’s plan the new social security powers of the Scottish Parliament could be used to top up Child Benefit and lift around 30,000 children in Scotland out of poverty by 2020.
Figures published by local Labour MSP Iain Gray confirm that there are currently nearly 14,500 children in his East Lothian constituency who would benefit from Labour’s plan to top up Child Benefit.
The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has backed Labour’s support for an increase to Child Benefit and called on other parties in the Scottish Parliament to do the same.
Iain Gray MSP said:
“Scottish Labour’s plan would see Child Benefit increase by £240 per year by the turn of the decade, increasing by £13 a month next year, before rising to £20 per month in 2020.
“The SNP’s Child Poverty Bill -; now in the Scottish Parliament -; should include Labour’s plan to top up Child Benefit for over 8,500 families in my constituency.
“If the Nationalists won’t do it we will seek to amend the law ourselves. Labour’s plan would mean starting to reverse the fall in the value of Child Benefit that families have seen over the past five years.
“And it would send a strong message, that Scotland will not allow hard working families in East Lothian to bear the brunt of the Tories’ hard Brexit.”