UP TO 210,000 children in Scotland will still be left in poverty despite the Scottish government doubling child benefit payments, Labour warns.

Scottish Labour said that tackling child poverty in Scotland is “the challenge of a generation” and that doubling the benefit was a “crucial first step.”

The Scottish government doubled its child payment last week from £10 to £20 per week per child from April 2022.

But Scottish Labour warned that the move did not go far enough and called for more action in the upcoming budget.

Scottish Labour’s social security and social justice spokeswoman Pam Duncan-Glancy said that the recent increase, while welcome, still missed Scotland’s statutory targets on ending child poverty.

“Tackling the scale of child poverty in Scotland is the challenge of a generation,” she said.

“If we miss our statutory child poverty targets, not only will we be breaking Parliament’s commitment to do it, we’ll be catastrophically failing children across the country. 

“Doubling the Scottish Child Payment this year is a crucial first step, but it won’t go far enough. 

“The SNP must make sure the fight against poverty runs through every part of this budget, and pledge to build on this year’s increase by doubling the payment again to £40 per week by April 2023. 

“We have the powers in Scotland to take a different path to the cruel cuts of the Tory government, but the SNP must move faster and go harder to end poverty. 

“We need to seize this moment to get on track to tackle child poverty once and for all.” 

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “This year’s Budget is expected to be challenging as a result of the continued pressure facing our public services, with substantial reductions to our funding from the UK government, despite the continuing impacts of the pandemic.

“However, Scottish Ministers will ensure all investment is focused on helping people across the country.”