NICOLA Sturgeon has told why she has ruled out topping up Child Benefit by £5 a week to tackle poverty.
The First Minister said it was because most of the money would go to people who do not need it.
Ms Sturgeon was asked by Labour leader, Richard Leonard, why the SNP wouldn’t support the proposal backed by Poverty Alliance and the Child Poverty Action Group.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/15897163.City_s_shame__Child_poverty_in_Glasgow_area_by_area/
Ms Sturgeon said: “I have looked carefully at the campaign to top up child benefit, as has Angela Constance, and I respect many of the organisations that are making the case for that.
“However, one of the issues is that, if we go down that road, £7 out of every £10 that we would spend on the policy would go to families who do not live in poverty.
“As Richard Leonard knows, I am an advocate of universal benefits but, when we are looking at topping up an already universal benefit to specifically target families in poverty, the question is whether that would be the best way to do it.”
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