A continued commitment to partnership working across Perth and Kinross to support further reductions in the numbers of children and families locally affected by poverty will be the focus of next steps by Perth and Kinross Council, NHS Tayside and other Community Planning partners.
The seventh Local Child Poverty (LCPAR) Report will be considered at the Council meeting on Wednesday 29 October 2025 alongside the Action Plan for the year ahead.
Notably this latest report reflects that the number of children living in relative poverty in Perth and Kinross reduced from 5,750 in 2023 to 5,155 in 2024, a 2.5% drop which now ranks the Council area as seventh (up from tenth the previous year) nationally for lowest child poverty rates in Scotland.
Councillors will also hear that there are positive signs that local action to tackle poverty is having an impact including in housing, employment and training support and progress in reducing the poverty-related attainment gap in children and young people's education.
The report goes on to set out specific ongoing challenges to reducing child poverty in Perth and Kinross, from housing costs, the current national two-child benefit cap to barriers to employment in relation to transport and childcare, particularly in rural areas, and greater emphasis on targeting interventions and monitoring service delivery so that the support needed to help families lift out of poverty can keep being effectively directed.
The Action Plan for 2025 to 2026 sets out three key areas where further partnership working will need to be focussed: work, dignified living (maximising the support available to families to lead dignified lives and meet their basic needs) and supporting the next generation to survive and thrive. This work will be subject to independent scrutiny by the Perth and Kinross Anti-Poverty Task Force.
Council Leader, Councillor Eric Drysdale said: "We are committed as a Council to tackling child poverty in Perth and Kinross, together with our partners.
"The reduction in the numbers of children living in relative poverty over the past year is news we should all welcome, however the negative impacts of poverty, short and longer term, cannot be underestimated and we will continue to strive to minimise child poverty and do all we can to ensure children and young people can live their lives well and are in a position not only to survive but thrive as the next generation of our communities."
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