Calls for free bus tickets for poorer kids in Edinburgh

The councillor leading the campaign to eliminate child poverty from the Capital urged Lothian buses to step in and help amid calls for the entire city to play its part.

The city’s child poverty action unit will present its first report to the Scottish Government in June – including a list of aims to reduce the number of children living in poverty. In Edinburgh, an average of 22 per cent of children live in poverty, while in some parts of the Capital, it’s as high as 35 per cent of youngsters living in relative poverty.

The cross-party action unit also includes teachers, PSAs, nurseries, mental health and public health experts, input from housing, family support and social workers – as well as young people themselves.