SNP ministers must tackle child poverty “at its root” and accept a new spending plan aimed at training unemployed and low-wage workers, Labour warned today.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar made a series of demands from the SNP government as he pointed to the £110 million in funding that was freed up by scrapping the two-child benefit cap.

He said: “The SNP is falling short on its legal and moral obligation to reduce child poverty, having barely moved the dial after nearly two decades in government.”

His proposals include £60 million of funding per year for Scotland’s colleges to train parents who are out of work or in low-paid jobs.

Spending plans also include up to 5,000 more apprenticeship training places in “key growth sectors,” as well as a new Training Maintenance Allowance for college courses which are not currently supported by Students Awards Agency Scotland funding.

Scottish Labour claims these plans could lift up to 30,000 children out of poverty and would be covered by funds freed up by the government’s scrapping of the two-child cap.

It accused the SNP against using this money to “paper over the cracks” rather than fix “underlying causes of poverty.”

Mr Sarwar said: “The number of children in Scotland living in poverty is a national scandal.

“The Labour government is lifting thousands of children in Scotland out of poverty and freeing up millions of pounds in the Scottish Budget.”

He said: “The SNP cannot simply use this money to paper over the cracks of a broken system and weak economy that are trapping families in poverty.”