Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Cost of Living

Wednesday 22 October 2025 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 0 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Ministerial commitment to a child poverty strategy forthcoming.
  • Labour Government aims to fight child poverty with all efforts.
  • Focus on ensuring Scotland's children are not subject to poverty.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Ben Lake PC Ceredigion Preseli
Economy Children & Families
Context

In the context of efforts to reduce living costs in Scotland, Ben Lake raised concerns about specific policies affecting child poverty. He noted that Scotland is unique within the UK for its current government type and child poverty rate.

Question

Scotland is the only part of the United Kingdom where child poverty is falling, and it is also the only part of Great Britain with a non-Labour Government. I am sure the Minister agrees that the rest of the UK deserves better, so will she be calling on the Chancellor to scrap the two-child cap in the upcoming Budget?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Kirsty McNeill)

A child poverty strategy is on the way and will be released in due course. I can underscore our commitment to fighting child poverty with every breath we have. That is what Labour Governments have always done, and it is what this Labour Government will do, too.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific request for the removal of the two-child cap was not addressed directly

How: Commitment To Child Poverty Without Specifics

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Q2 Brian Leishman Lab Alloa and Grangemouth
Scotland Benefits & Welfare Children & Families
Context

Referencing an upcoming march in Edinburgh, Brian Leishman highlighted the issue of food insecurity affecting one in six adults in Scotland, approximately 1.2 million people.

Question

This weekend, thousands of people will march in Edinburgh to say that Scotland demands better. We are right to do so, because the Poverty Alliance says that one in six adults in Scotland—around 1.2 million people—are living in food insecurity. What are the Scotland Office and the wider Labour Government doing to end food insecurity for Scots?

Answer from The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Kirsty McNeill)

Our commitment to ending poverty is clear. We have had a clear focus on living standards; work is increasingly now paying; and we are focusing on ensuring that none of Scotland’s children is subject to the poverty that the hon. Member so vividly describes.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific measures for food insecurity were not addressed directly

How: Focus On General Living Standards And Child Poverty

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