Humza Yousaf accused of setting up 'talking shop' after creating new anti-poverty group

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Humza Yousaf has set up a new ministerial group to reverse rising child poverty levels.In a leaked note of an anti-poverty summit he convened, the First Minister also insisted “brave decisions” had to be made on spending to tackle the scourge.Labour MSP Paul O’Kane said: “Child poverty in Scotland is stuck at shamefully high levels and every day the SNP delay taking action is a betrayal.“It’s right that the government makes this a focus, but talking shops and photo-ops aren’t enough.“We need urgent and meaningful action to lift children out of poverty and address this national scandal head on.”Around 250,000 children in Scotland live in poverty and the First Minister has said making steep reductions is his top Government priority.He recently staged a summit in Edinburgh which invited experts and stakeholders to share ideas.His note of the meeting claimed participants were able to put “politics aside and listen to the call for brave decisions to be made to prioritise breaking the cycle of poverty in Scotland”.He wrote that he had asked his Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers about how they will deliver statutory child poverty targets.The new Ministerial Group will be led by Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville and further summits will take place in 2024 and 2025.Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: "The SNP have been in power for 16 years but a massive 1 in 4 kids are living in poverty."If this issue could be solved by yet more summits and working groups, then there has been plenty of time for them to do that."Humza Yousaf's government is a lot better at generating reports and recommendations than it is at generating good jobs and educational opportunities for those in Scotland's most deprived areas.