SCOTTISH LABOUR leader Kezia Dugdale pledged to heed the call of anti-poverty campaigners and families yesterday in agreeing to use potential new powers to tackle child poverty by increasing child benefit.

Speaking at the Scottish Labour conference in Perth, Ms Dugdale said that the Child Poverty Bill now going through Holyrood “should take meaningful action to combat poverty.”

Currently 220,000 Scottish children live in poverty. Scottish Labour says its plans to increase child benefit by £240 a year by the end of this parliament would mean up to 30,000 fewer children living in poverty once the changes are fully implemented.