A WEALTH tax on Scotland’s 10 richest families could raise 30,000 children out of poverty at a stroke, according to a new report.

In analysis for Tax Justice Scotland, an alliance of trade unions, community groups, academics and charities, the STUC found that a levy of only 2 per cent on assets worth £10 million or more could net as much as £492m from Scotland’s 10 wealthiest families alone.

The report found that those families bask in a staggering combined wealth of £24.7bn, eclipsing the £24.5bn owned by Scotland’s poorest 28 per cent — more than 1.5m people — while £7.7bn, along with 220,000 acres of land, lies in the hands of just one man, Danish clothing retailer Anders Holch Povlsen.

The analysis concluded that if that tax take was ploughed into Scotland’s public services, it could boost the teaching workforce by over 20 per cent, recruiting 11,600 newly qualified teachers, or be used to grow nursing numbers by over 17 per cent by taking on 12,900 newly qualified nurses.

According to the report, if targeted more explicitly at slashing poverty, it could be similarly transformative, with enough to offer £1,000 to every Scottish household in extreme fuel poverty, or double the Scottish Child Payment — a move it argues would “lift more than 30,000 children out of poverty.”

Backing the study, which challenges politicians at both UK and Scottish levels to “act to better tax property wealth,” STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said: “This research lays bare the shocking concentration of wealth in Scotland.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. Politicians across the UK should be in no doubt that it’s their dithering and delay that is deepening the crisis within our communities and public services.

“The powers to make a radical change to our tax system are at their disposal. The excuses must end.

“Scotland can work for everyone, not just the richest few.”

Tax Justice Scotland member and head of Oxfam Scotland Jamie Livingstone said: “With the Scottish election fast approaching, all political parties have a clear choice: defend a broken system that protects the richest while short-changing critical priorities or back a fairer one that delivers a fairer, greener and more prosperous country for all of us.”

The Scottish government was contacted for comment.