Local Child Poverty Action Report and Children's Scorecard 2025
Perth and Kinross Council · 29 October 2025
Back to Perth and Kinross Council — 29 October 2025 and its agenda
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Our vision is a Perth and Kinross where everyone can live life well, free from poverty and inequality __________________________________________________________________ Committee or Board: Perth and Kinross Council Date of Meeting: 29 October 2025 Report Title: Local Child Poverty Action Report and Children’s Scorecard 2025 Report Number: 25/276 Report Author: Margaret Lynch, Poverty Officer Organisational Lead: Greg Boland, Strategic Lead -Strategic Planning, People and Performance 1. Purpose 1.1 The purpose of the report is The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017 requires Perth and Kinross Council and NHS Tayside to publish a Local Child Poverty Action Report (LCPAR) annually. This is the 7th report, presenting: • An update on actions taken during 2024/25 • The new Child Poverty Action Plan for 2025/26 • Progress against the Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022–2026 • The Children’s Scorecard 2025 1.2 Arrangements have been made to share the report with the Community Planning Partnership board members, the Anti-Poverty Task Force and the Integrated Joint Board. 2. Recommendations It is recommended that the Council: 2.1 Note the report. Confirm continued commitment to the strategic aims of the Child Poverty Strategy set out in the Local Child Poverty Action Plan 2020/21l: • Raise awareness of the causes and consequences of child poverty • Foster social cohesion and reduce stigma • Reduce the negative effects of poverty on children and families • Enable children and families to prepare for a life free from poverty
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2.2 Reaffirm commitment to the objectives of the Perth and Kinross Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022–2026 and work with NHS Tayside and Community Planning Partners to: • Provide opportunities and support to enter, sustain and progress in work • Maximise support for families to lead dignified lives • Support the next generation to survive and thrive • Deliver a one-Council, whole-family, whole-community approach to poverty mitigation and prevention in Perth and Kinross. 3. Structure of report 3.1 This report is structured as follows: • Background / Main Issues • Proposal • Conclusion • Appendices – Child Poverty Delivery Plan and Children’s Scorecard 4. Background/Context 4.1 The LCPAR follows Scottish Government guidance, with a strategic focus, evidence-based reporting, and case studies. It provides a review of what has been done to tackle child poverty in the last year, and what is planned for the year ahead. 4.2 The LCPAR is accompanied by the Children’s Scorecard which measures progress on child poverty against 31 local indicators and assesses service responsiveness to those issues raised by parents from the Priority Family groups in the research which informed the development of the Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-2026. 4.3 Perth and Kinross Council, in partnership with NHS Tayside and Community Planning Partners, has adopted a whole-systems, place-based approach to tackling child poverty. The strategy is informed by lived experience, aligned with national frameworks like Best Start, Bright Futures, United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), and Scotland’s Promise to Care. The Council’s whole systems approach emphasises: • Relationship-building • Local agency • Multi-level collaboration This fosters dignity, resilience, and long-term change. 4.4 Governance has been strengthened through the Anti-Poverty Task Force, Poverty Board and the Poverty Working Group. The Poverty Working Group provides operational support. The Children’s Scorecard continues to track progress and service responsiveness.
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4.5 The latest figures show 5,155 children (19.2%) living in relative poverty in Perth and Kinross, down from 5,750 (21.7%) the previous year. This marks a 2.5% reduction, widening the gap with the Scottish average to 3.8%. Perth and Kinross now rank 7th nationally for lowest child poverty rates, up from 12th position which was held in recent years. This indicates that local action has been effective in reducing child poverty beyond that driven by measures taken by the Scottish or UK Governments. 4.6 This year the Children’s Scorecard takes a deeper dive into the statistics around delivery and performance. It reports on the analysis of data from 2018 – 2022 and 2022 – 2024 to mirror the periods of the two Child Poverty Delivery Plans of the Scottish Government, and the Child Poverty Delivery Plan for Perth and Kinross. It reports on indicators which measure progress in poverty and inequality, income maximisation, dignified living and survive and thrive – the 3 workstreams of the Child Poverty Delivery Plans of the Scottish Government and Perth and Kinross. Positive signs include: - • The drop in the number of children in poverty because of housing costs from 2501 in 2022 to 1959 in 2024. (Relative poverty is calculated before housing costs by the UK Government and after housing costs) by the Scottish Government, therefore we can calculate how many children experience poverty because of housing costs). • Strong delivery around affordable housing via the Affordable Rents policy and the increase in the supply of affordable housing. Perth and Kinross Council is ranked 7th out of all Scottish local authorities for per capita increase in housing stock between 2018 and 2024. • Since 2018, 2042 people have progressed into employment because of their participation in Council funded or operated employability schemes and the pay gap between Perth and Kinross and Scotland closed. Between 2018 and 2022 and by 2024, Perth and Kinross had a positive pay gap with Scotland of £3.10 above the national average. • Since 2022, Perth and Kinross Council’s Welfare Rights Team and Perth Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) delivered £25.2 million in client financial gain. When compared with peer local authorities, Perth and Kinross is amongst the top performers for Scottish Welfare Fund grant accessibility and support. • The Not in Employment, Education and Training (NEET) rate for 16 – 19- year-olds declined from 6% in 2018 to 4% in 2024; Perth and Kinross has an employment rate of 61% for young people aged 16 – 24 which is 8 points above the Scottish average. • In terms of child development – post Covid-19 recovery for 4 – 5-year- olds has been good for those who were babies at the time of the pandemic. • Education and Learning has delivered exceptional performance around narrowing the poverty-related attainment gap at a time when most authorities have seen widening gaps at all levels.
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4.7 However, challenges remain such as: • Housing costs push nearly 2,000 children below the poverty line. • 590 families are affected by the two-child benefit cap. • The Gender pay gap remains static at 15.6%. • Transport and childcare barriers to employment persist, especially in rural areas • Targeting interventions and monitoring service delivery to ensure that efforts to support parents to progress into work, attain dignified living conditions and wellbeing support is reaching Priority Families and those in most need. • Information on correctives actions are included in the LCPAR Plan for 25/26 and the Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022 – 2026, however the next iteration of the Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026 – 2030 will have to pay keen attention to these challenges. 5. Proposals and Next Steps 5.1 This report details work undertaken in 2024/25 in fulfilment of the 2024/25 Local Child Poverty Action Plan and sets out the Action Plan for 2025/26. 5.2 The Local Child Poverty Action Plan for 2024/25 comprises workplans for three key areas: Work - Providing opportunities and support needed to enter, sustain, and progress in work (employability and skills, housing, connectivity, childcare and economic opportunity) Dignified Living - Maximising the support available to families to lead dignified lives and meet their basic needs (person-centred support, social security, and income maximisation) Survive and Thrive - Supporting the next generation to survive and thrive (next generation). 5.3 This work will be subject to independent scrutiny by the Anti-Poverty Task Force who will provide additional expertise from across Perth and Kinross which will inform the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Child Poverty Delivery Plan and the development of future annual Local Child Poverty Action Plans. 5.4 In the course of 2025/26 we will undertake further research with parents, children and young people from Priority Family Groups, and consult with other key stakeholders to review the Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022 – 2026 and develop a further iteration of the plan for 2026 – 2030. 6. Conclusion 6.1 We know that 5,155 children across Perth and Kinross are living in poverty. The negative impacts of poverty cannot be underestimated, both in the short and the longer term. This report sets out the Councils continued commitment to tackling child poverty in the area.
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It demonstrates our understanding of child poverty in Perth and Kinross, the key areas of focus and the actions that we will continue to progress with our partners to ensure that child poverty is minimised and that all our children are supported to live well. 6.2 The Poverty Working Group will continue to oversee and monitor progress towards delivery on commitments in the Child Poverty Action Plan 2025/2026 and will report on the same to Perth and Kinross Council in the next LCPAR report in 2026. 6.3 The Poverty Board will provide scrutiny of the implementation of the Local Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-2026 and each annual Child Poverty Action Plan. 6.4 A new Child Poverty Delivery Plan will be proposed to Perth and Kinross Council in 2026. 7. Appendices • Appendix 1 – Local Child Poverty Action Report, 7th Edition 2024/25 with Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022 – 2026 and Children’s Scorecard 4th Edition 2025.