Centre for Public Policy

On Monday 17 March 2025, more than 200 attendees from the third sector, government, academia and beyond came together in the University of Glasgow’s Bute Hall to discuss public debt and child poverty.

The conference marked the first day of Debt Awareness Week in the UK. Despite ambitious child poverty targets, 1 in 4 children continue to grow up in poverty and the burden of debt on families continues to widen inequality.

The day looked at child poverty and public debt broadly and built on research undertaken by Aberlour Children’s Charity with the University of Glasgow’s Professor Morag Treanor that sheds light on the consequences of public debt, such as Council tax and rent arrears, which 'exacerbate poverty and effectively trap families in a cycle of financial hardship'.

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville; Nicola Killean, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland; Professor Nicola McEwen, Director of the Centre for Public Policy; and SallyAnn Kelly OBE, Chief Executive of Aberlour, all spoke at the event.

They were joined by a cross-party panel of politicians, who discussed the key issues during a live recording of the Centre for Public Policy’s Spotlight podcast. 

^{Left: Nicola Killean, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland; Right: Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville}

Emergency council funding and investment in early years from Scottish Government

Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice Shirley-Anne Somerville shared the measures that the Scottish Government is taking, including increasing emergency funding for councils in Scotland to reduce the impact of school meal debt on families, investment in early years funding and more support for parents entering employment.

“Social security is a fundamental human right that offers support any of us could need at any time in our lives” the Cabinet Secretary said, reminding those present that tackling child poverty would require working in partnership across all levels of government. 

‘A more humane and less punitive system’ 

Professor Morag Treanor, who delivered a keynote speech at the conference, is a leading specialist in interrogating data to expose how child poverty is caused and how it might be eased.

She said:

“Public debt recovery must be overhauled to help families out of poverty instead of driving them deeper into debt. Designing a more humane and less punitive system is morally the right thing but, on a purely practical level, child poverty will never be properly tackled until the public debt crisis is tackled.

“That’s why we’re calling on politicians to tackle public debt reform as a matter of urgency, especially for families who are on the brink.” 

^{Professor Morag Treanor delivers a keynote speech}

Workshop on poverty, policymaking and public debt

The Centre for Public Policy delivered a workshop at the conference building on its new anti-poverty project, which challenges policymakers to make solutions for people not systems.

The Centre’s Dr Claire MacRae and Dr Thomas Rochow worked with attendees to explore how decisions at different levels of government can have unintended consequences on people living in poverty. Attendees used their own experience and knowledge to discuss possible solutions to more joined up policymaking in Scotland. 

^{Dr Claire MacRae and Dr Thomas Rochow from the Centre for Public Policy delivered a workshop on poverty, policymaking and public debt}

Professor Nicola McEwen, Director of the Centre for Public Policy, said:

“We are really pleased to see so many people from the third sector, government, academia and beyond coming together at the University of Glasgow to discuss this incredibly important and challenging policy issue.

“The Centre for Public Policy was established to shine a light on policy challenges. We work with the policy community to share learning from research and work towards more effective policy outcomes.”

^{Professor Nicola McEwen delivered closing remarks at the conference}

LISTEN - Spotlight podcast: Child Poverty and the Public Debt Crisis

The Centre’s Associate Director, Professor Kezia Dugdale hosted a political panel discussion which was recorded for the Centre’s Spotlight podcast - asking all the major parties in Scotland what we can expect to see from them in the run up to the election on the issues of poverty, public debt and the multi-level governance challenges at play.

It included Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville; Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP; Cllr Blair Anderson; Miles Briggs MSP; and Paul O’Kane MSP.

^{The political panel was recorded live for the Spotlight podcast}

Aberlour calls for more understanding, communication and discretion

Aberlour’s Chief Executive SallyAnn Kelly OBE believes there must be communication between public sector organisations and more empathy for families, particularly women with children, in debt.

She said: “The public sector must recover debt differently, in a more compassionate, empathetic way that will help families escape poverty, not risk making their financial situation even worse.

“More understanding, communication and discretion in pursuit of this debt will cost nothing while the rewards, for children, their families, and our country, would be priceless.”

^{Aberlour’s Chief Executive SallyAnn Kelly OBE opened the conference}

Find out more

Thank you to everyone who joined us at the conference.

If you would like any further information, please contact public-policy@glasgow.ac.uk.

Stay in touch with the Centre for Public Policy and sign up to our mailing list. 

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First published: 26 March 2025