(1)A local authority and each relevant Health Board must, as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each reporting year, jointly prepare and publish a report (a “local child poverty action report”).
(2)A local child poverty action report must describe any measures taken in the area of the local authority during the reporting year by—
(a)the local authority,
(b)each relevant Health Board,
for the purpose of contributing to the meeting of the child poverty targets.
(3)A local child poverty action report must also describe any measures that—
(a)the local authority,
(b)each relevant Health Board,
proposes to take for the purpose of contributing to the meeting of the child poverty targets.
(4)Subsection (3) does not apply in relation to a local child poverty action report prepared for the reporting year beginning with 1 April 2030.
(5)A local child poverty action report must, in particular, describe any income maximisation measures taken in the area of the local authority during the reporting year to provide pregnant women and families with children with—
(a)information, advice and assistance about eligibility for financial support, and
(b)assistance to apply for financial support.
(6)A local child poverty action report must, in particular, describe any measures taken during the reporting year, or which are proposed to be taken, in the area of the local authority in relation to children living in households whose income is adversely affected, or whose expenditure is increased, because a member of the household has one or more protected characteristics.
(7)In this section—
“relevant Health Board”, in relation to a local authority, means a Health Board constituted under section 2(1)(a) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 whose area—
is the same as the area of the local authority, or
includes all or part of the area of the local authority,
“reporting year” means a financial year falling within the period of a plan prepared under section 9(1).