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SNP Conference: Winter payments of £100 for low income families in Scotland - BBC News

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Low income families will receive payments of £100 before Christmas, under a new scheme to be announced by Nicola Sturgeon.

The grants will be made to households in receipt of free school meals.

It is part of a £100m fund set up to help low-income Scots this winter which will be unveiled at the SNP conference.

Ms Sturgeon, the SNP leader, will say the cash will help struggling households "pay their fuel bills and make sure children don't go hungry".

The fund will also be used to help to get older people online and help the homeless.

The action comes in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis, which has seen many lose their jobs or have their incomes cut.

The BBC's political correspondent Glenn Campbell said the money was coming from so-called "Covid consequentials" - a share for the Scottish government of the extra money being spent by the Treasury.

The first minister will say the pandemic has shown that it should no longer be accepted that problems with poverty and inequality are "inevitable or insoluble".

On Saturday the

SNP pledged to extend free school meals to all primary school children if they retain power after the Holyrood elections in May.

But Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, who announced a similar policy in September, has questioned why the SNP were waiting until 2022 to implement the programme.

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Ms Sturgeon is expected to stress that Scotland does not have to be independent for an SNP government to "start doing the right things".

But she will complain that Westminster's control over much of the social security system north of the border makes it harder for ministers to act.

Opposition parties have accused Ms Sturgeon of prioritising an independence referendum over dealing with the pandemic and domestic policy.

Struggling families

Following Covid-19, Ms Sturgeon will insist her party wants to rebuild the country "with kindness, compassion, fairness, equality and enterprise at its heart - and not one made in the image of Boris Johnson and his band of Brexiteers".

She will state: "We must make sure we are working to the right plan, with all the tools we need to do the job."

In February, the Scottish government is bringing in a £10 week a payment for children in low income families - with Ms Sturgeon to say that Scotland is the "only part of the UK" to take such action.

It will be paid to families with children aged under six and could support up to 194,000 children this financial year.

Scottish Labour was among those warning that the wait to receive the payment risked leaving families in financial hardship.

Ms Sturgeon will tell the conference: "I know that for families struggling now, February is still a long way off.

"So I am announcing today a £100 million package to bridge that gap, and help others struggling most with the impact of Covid over the winter months."

She will say the cash grant will be available for families receiving free school meals.

"The money will be paid before Christmas and families can use it for whatever will help them through the winter," she adds.

"That could be food, new shoes or a winter coat for the kids.

"Families will know best what they need. That's not for government to decide.

"Initiatives like this are not just about providing practical help to those who need it most - they are an expression of our values and of the kind of country we are seeking to build."

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SNP Conference: Winter payments of £100 for low income families in Scotland - BBC News
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