Scottish parliament elections: Children’s charities welcome parties’ focus on supporting not punishing families

A coalition of Scottish children’s charities, including Children 1st and Children in Scotland, has welcomed the focus on family support as opposed to blaming parents in the Scottish parliamentary election campaign, ahead of tomorrow’s poll.

The group, which also includes Arberlour , Barnardo’s, Childline Scotland, Save the Children and the Scottish Out of School Care Network, said all the political parties had moved away from an “ignore them, then blame them” approach in their manifestos.

Children in Scotland policy and parliamentary officer Paula Evans said: “We hope that the commitments made by all of the parties to give more support to families and parents will result in a cmoprehensive strategy that maps support provisions across Scotland, consults parents and families on the type of support they need and provides joined-up and stable funding in order to achieve it.”

Tomorrow’s elections, which will decide who governs Scotland for the next four years, are unlikely to result in an overall majority for any party. The Scottish National Party is tipped to win the most seats, but would then have to form a coalition government.

Scottish election manifestos:

Labour

SNP

Liberal Democrats

Conservatives