On 28 April, in our third webinar for the Campaign for Social Science’s Devolution Hub, we invited experts to offer insights, based on their research in the social sciences, about different policy approaches to poverty across the four UK nations. Specifically, they were asked to consider the questions of “How have the four UK nations sought to tackle child poverty through devolved social security and welfare? And what might they learn from each other?”
The event was chaired by Professor Mairi Spowage, Professor of Practice and Director of the Fraser of Allander Institute at the University of Strathclyde. The webinar was delivered in partnership with the Safety Nets project, a landmark study (funded by the Nuffield Foundation) exploring the extent of devolution of social security within the UK and the realities, risks, and opportunities this poses for families with dependent children.
We began by hearing from Dr Mike Brewer, Deputy Chief Executive of the Resolution Foundation, who has been heavily involved with the Safety Nets project. He explained why the research is so critical in improving public understanding of how and why social security systems vary across different parts of the UK, and the impact this brings for low-income families and carers in receipt of benefits. Those policy divergences bring with them questions about fairness, but they also offer potential for learnings about what works (and what doesn’t). This is what Safety Nets is helping to unpack together with its Experts by Experience panel to put the academic research on policy systems into a real-world context.
We then heard from four panellists, each reflecting on policy interventions in a different nation of the UK. Kicking off, Dr Ciara Fitzpatrick, Senior Lecturer at Ulster University School of Law and the Social Justice Institute, offered her insights on Northern Ireland’s policy around free school meal (FSM) provision. There is no universal entitlement (unlike in the other three UK nations where this exists for some years at primary school level), but there is access to free school meals on a means-tested basis for children in families with an income level below £15,390 (significantly higher than the means-tested level adopted in other nations). This has led to a situation where 24% of children in Northern Ireland who are in poverty are not entitled to FSMs (according to analysis carried out by CPAG on the Households Below Average Income Data 2021/22 – 2023/24). Northern Ireland is also the only UK nation with no FSM provision outside of school term time. Findings emerging from Workstream 2 of the Safety Nets project, which seeks to better understand how devolved policies are experienced on the ground, has indicated strong feelings of unfairness and spatial injustice amongst social security recipients. In terms of FSM entitlement, there was disbelief that not every child in the UK is granted the same access. In her presentation, Ciara also emphasised the fact that a central pillar in the recently published UK wide child poverty strategy was the expansion of FSM to those households in UC, but only in England, which serves to expand the diverging policy picture.
From a Scottish perspective, Dr Hayley Bennett, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Co-Director of the Centre on Constitutional Change at the University of Edinburgh, began by emphasising that Scotland is on-course to miss its target of reducing child poverty to below 10% by 2030/31. Currently, nearly one in five children are living in poverty in Scotland, and around three-quarters of these are from a working household. The Scottish social security system, Hayley argued, is blurred and fragmented, and is also a heavily politicised policy space – especially in the context of the current election campaign. She highlighted that how the Scottish Government raises and spends its money is under heavy scrutiny, especially in relation to the economic performance gap.
Dr Jed Meers, Senior Lecturer at York Law School at the University of York, examined the topic from an English standpoint. He began by considering the policy of council tax support, which he argued is running out of runway as a policy in terms of its sustainability. Unlike elsewhere in the UK, council tax support is localised and this has led to huge variations between neighbouring local authorities. Safety Nets has been exploring the arguments about renationalising support mechanisms. Meanwhile, the ‘new kid on the block’ of support is the Crisis & Resilience Fund, launched this month, which could mark a truly new approach towards crisis / welfare support in England. It signifies a greater focus on community coordination and resident involvement, and it is also expected to be used more proactively than some of the measures it replaces. Finally, Jed gave a cautious welcome to the new socioeconomic duty coming into force in England which will require employers to reconsider not only who they hire but also how they define talent, potential and success. The equivalent duty has been in force in Scotland and Wales for a number of years, with some positive impacts observed.
Finally, from Wales, we heard from Dr Sioned Pearce, Lecturer in Social Policy at Cardiff University. Wales has higher levels of poverty than the rest of the UK, with lower employment rates, lower earnings, lower household incomes and higher levels of relative child poverty. The Welsh Government’s child poverty strategy has given a much-needed framework and scaffolding for social security in the country, and it has led to some improvements – there are now lower levels of children missing out on essential items in Wales (10%, compared to 11% in Scotland and 14% in England). Nevertheless, Sioned argued, the next Welsh Government might well seek to do more by sharpening the strategy’s focus with fewer objectives and arguing for more power over social security in Cardiff Bay rather than Whitehall.
We also had a lived experience reflection from Zahida, a member of Safety Nets’ ‘Expert by Experience’ panel. She emphasised two key points. Firstly, that poverty is an incredibly stigmatising label, and that it is unconscionable for children to be treated differently according to where they might live or the circumstances of their birth. As Zahida put it, their feet grow at the same rate, they need the same nutrition, and as such they should not be left without the bare essentials. Secondly, she made the point that children are not in poverty in isolation – they are in poverty because their whole household is in poverty, and that this then prevents children from living a healthy, happy fulfilled life. She ended by calling for a more holistic plan which addresses the causes and consequences of poverty for all who are affected.
Whilst it was clear that the four nations and their governments are on different journeys around social security, it was also clear that this has led to huge potential for real-time learning about which policies are proving to be effective. Equally though, the frustration and confusion of social security recipients when they see different arrangements in place across the UK, sometimes for reasons which might feel arbitrary or political, cannot be underestimated. The work Safety Nets are doing to understand and reflect this is extremely valuable – not just to academics, but to policymakers as well.
The full webinar is available to watch below.