ANTI-POVERTY organisations, charities and unions are calling on the SNP government to “do the right thing” and commit to doubling payments made to families in need in this year’s budget.

The letter, co-ordinated by the End Child Poverty coalition, urges ministers to use the upcoming Programme for Government to commit to doubling the Scottish child payment, the £10 per week per child benefit for low-income families.

The group warned First Minister Nicola Sturgeon that if Scottish ministers fail to double the payment now, then “more and more children will be pulled into poverty and the opportunity to meet the interim child-poverty targets will be missed.”