The Glenrothes and Central Fife constituency has the worst child poverty figures in Scotland outside Glasgow, a new report has revealed.
Local MP Lindsay Roy reacted with shock and dismay after the new statistics published by the Campaign to End Child Poverty revealed that in 2012, 27% of youngsters in the constituency are living in poverty.
Only parts of Glasgow recorded worse figures in the up-to-date report produced for the coalition of anti-poverty and children’s charities, which shows the latest rates of child poverty across every local authority, constituency and council ward.
Overall the figure for Fife was 20%, with Gordon Brown’s Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath constituency at 22%, Dunfermline and West Fife (Thomas Docherty) at 16% and North East Fife (Sir Menzies Campbell) at 12%. Within Glenrothes and Central Fife, the Buckhaven, Methil and Wemyss Villages area, 38% of children are now said to be living in poverty, almost four in every 10.
And with projections indicating that the number of children growing up in poverty will rise significantly as benefit and welfare cuts bite, there is little prospect of any improvement in the short term.
Mr Roy said: “It is truly awful that more than a quarter of youngsters in my constituency are living in poverty and these new figures have shocked and dismayed me.
“Tragically, things are set to get worse, not better. The UK Government’s welfare and benefit cuts will hit many families already struggling to survive and the inaction of the Scottish Government is inexcusable.
“Alex Salmond and Co are obsessed by their focus on separation rather than supporting Scottish families in poverty, who couldn’t care less about independence but are desperately concerned about how they can afford to feed their children.
“My office is already dealing with several cases from worried parents who just don’t know how they are going to make ends meet, and I fully expect next year’s figures to make even grimmer reading.”
John Dickie, speaking on behalf of the Scottish members of the Campaign to end Child Poverty, said: “Low-income families both in and out of work, have, to some extent, been protected through recession by benefits and tax credit support.
“But the hidden picture is far more sinister as the ripping away of the support is forecast to drive tens of thousands of children into poverty across Scotland in the coming years (one estimate is that at least 65,000 more youngsters will be living below the breadline by the end of the decade).”
Mr Dickie said it is now “vital” that the Scottish Government and councils focus their resources on delivering the Scottish Child Poverty Strategy.
“They must build on the welcome investment they have made in the Scottish Welfare Fund and replacement of council tax benefit and ensure low-income families are prioritised for support in every budget decision they make.
“We urge collaborative working to ensure that children in Scotland don’t have their childhoods blighted by growing up poor.”
Mr Roy continued: “The dreadful prediction that child poverty is set to get much worse is a shocking indictment on 21st century Britain.
“It comes at a time when the rich get tax cuts, major multi-national companies avoid paying their fair share of taxes on proceeds earned in this country, power companies are allowed make huge profits at the expense of poor householders.
“This is at a time when state help for the neediest is being slashed and more and more people are being forced to turn to the growing number of food banks in order to eat.
“Unfortunately, the coalition cares more for the haves than the have-nots and Holyrood is equally culpable for getting its priorities so completely wrong.”