Nicola Sturgeon

]The Scottish child payment will increase to £20 per week from April, Nicola Sturgeon has announced.

The First Minister said More Than 100,000 children under the Age Of six would benefit from the payments.

The Scottish Government is aiming to expand the payment to all under-16s by The End of 2022, with More Than 400,000 children and their families eligible.

Ms Sturgeon said The Move was " the boldest and most ambitious anti-poverty measure anywhere in the UK".

She told the SNP conference that it would involve " Hard Choices elsewhere in our budget" but said eradicating Child Poverty was " essential" to Scotland's future.

The new child benefit was Set Up as part of the new Social Security Scotland agency in the previous Holyrood term, with more welfare powers being devolved to Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon to double it from £10 to £20 per week ahead of May's Holyrood Election - at a point when statistics suggested Child Poverty levels in Scotland had been " gradually rising" even prior to the pandemic.

At that time, the First Minister said it would take until The End of 2022 to get The System fully up and running and delivering monthly payments, with a " bridging" system in place in the meantime.

However in her SNP conference speech, She Said cash would be committed in the Scottish Government 's next budget to start payments from April of next year.

She Said : " That means the doubled payments will reach over 100,000 children Under Age six in just four months' time.

" Delivering it isn't easy. It will involve Hard Choices elsewhere in our budget. But it is a choice we in the SNP - in partnership with The Greens - Are opting to make.

" Poverty scars too many childhoods. It deprives too many children of the chance to make The Most of their education and Enjoy Life to the full, and it robs of Our Country of far too much potential.

" Eradicating Child Poverty is essential if We Are to build The Strongest foundation for Scotland's future. "

Ms Sturgeon also pointed to the doubling of free childcare hours and The Delivery of 200,000 baby boxes as evidence her government is " determined to lift Scotland out of poverty".

She Said the budget would include " significant" extra funding for the NHS, along with £30m to help GPs increase Primary Care services in communities

Much of The Speech focused on the Covid-19 pandemic, with Ms Sturgeon telling delegates that the Omicron variant is " causing profound concern".

She urged people to get vaccinated, saying This Was " The Most precious gift we can give this Christmas".

The SNP leader also spoke about her goal of holding a new independence referendum, having said on Sunday that she did not know how the new Covid variant could affect her plans.

She told delegates that " in The Course of The Next year, I will initiate The Process necessary to enable a referendum before The End of 2023".

And She Said The Party would " set out afresh the positive case for independence" with a focus on how it could allow Scots to " repair the damage of Covid in a way that aligns with our values and priorities as a nation".

Ms Sturgeon wants to secure an agreement with UK ministers to hold a binding referendum, as happened in 2014, but has been repeatedly rebuffed by Downing Street.

She Said Prime Minister Boris Johnson should agree to " let The People decide" if he had any confidence in his arguments against independence.

However, a UK government spokesperson said " this is not The Time for divisive constitutional arguments".

They added: " Now More Than ever, people in Scotland want to see the UK and Scottish governments Working Together to protect lives, jobs and recover from The Effects of Covid-19 on our economy and public services. "

Source of news: bbc.com