MSP Gillian Martin welcomes the doubling of Scottish Child Payment

Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin has welcomed the First Minister’s announcement that the Scottish Child Payment will be doubled from April 2022.

The announcement will see more than 3,000 eligible children across Aberdeenshire receiving £20 per week per child from spring next year, with more than 106,000 children across Scotland immediately benefitting from the increased payment.

Since the launch of the Scottish Government payment on February 15 2021, £868,400 has been issued in payments to families in Aberdeenshire.

It is now expected that over 400,000 children could be eligible for the doubled payment by the end 2022, which is when the benefit, which is unique in the UK, will be extended to children under the age of 16.

Commenting Gillian Martin MSP said: “I am delighted that more than 3,000 children across Aberdeenshire will have their Scottish Child Payment doubled in just four months’ time.

"This will give £20 per child per week to 3,070 children in the north-east - four times the amount originally demanded by campaigners.

“The Scottish Government’s national mission to tackle child poverty is absolute - with £868,400 having been provided to families across Aberdeenshire since February, and almost £32 million across Scotland as a whole.

“The doubling of the Scottish Child Payment to £20 is the type of bold action that makes a real difference to people’s lives and shows how focussed the Scottish Government is on meeting Scotland’s Child Poverty targets.”

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