SCOTLAND’S Commissioner for Children has launched a stinging attack on the UK Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, accusing him of turning his back on children dying younger and suffering mental health problems because of poverty.

In a letter to newspapers including The National, Tam Baillie wrote: “Earlier this week UK Children’s Commissioners issued a dire warning to the UK Government on its approach to child poverty. In response to our report, the Government said it made ‘no apology’ for the efforts it was making”.

Baillie continued: “When the UK Government says ‘no apology ’, to me it means no apology for more children being plunged into poverty, no apology for them dying younger, no apology for their educational attainment being badly affected, and no apology for their poor mental health.” The Government, says Baillie, has “crass disregard” for the “best interests” of children.

The commissioner’s stance was backed by the Scottish Government. A spokesman said: “The shocking reality of the UK Government’s austerity agenda has led to unacceptable levels of child poverty in Scotland with 210,000 children now living in relative poverty after housing costs were paid. These figures are completely inexcusable.

“We believe the UK Government should call a halt to their proposed £12 billion future cuts which will only put more children into poverty. In 2013-14 350,000 families in Scotland relied on tax credits to boost their incomes with 500,000 children benefitting from this support. For this lifeline to be cut will only have a further devastating impact on children.

Latest figures show around 2.3 million children in the UK live in poverty. The report by the Commissioners warned the £12bn worth of cuts being made to welfare by the Government would disproportionately affect children.”

The group of Children Commissioners from Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland also criticised Duncan Smith for abolishing the Child Poverty Act. The move, announced on Wednesday, changes how the Government defines poverty and alters targets around eradicating child poverty.

Responding to the Commissioner’s letter, a UK Government spokesman said: “Eradicating child poverty is an absolute priority for this government, but it is simply not enough to tackle the symptoms without also tackling the underlying causes.

‘‘The current child poverty measure is a poor test of whether children’s lives are genuinely improving. Our new approach will focus attention on making meaningful change to children’s life-chances that reflect our conviction that work is the best route out of poverty.

“With substantial tax-raising powers on the way to the Scottish Parliament, there will be scope to make greater decisions on spending in Scotland, whilst continuing to benefit from sharing the risks and resources with the rest of the UK.”

The Government spokesperson also said children living in relative poverty in Scotland are at their lowest levels since the 1980s. However last month it was revealed that the number of UK children classed as living in relative poverty remained unchanged over the course of the last two years.

Earlier in the week, Alison Garnham from the Child Poverty Action Group said the Prime Minister needed to act urgently to prevent “his legacy being the largest rise in child poverty in a generation”.

The UK Government was criticised by disabled groups yesterday after leaked documents from the Department for Work and Pensions detailed plans to cut disability benefit by £30.

An internal departmental paper claims Employment Support Allowance payments of up to £102.15 a week do not “incentivise” sick or disabled people to find a job.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of mental health charity Mind, said: “If these proposals go ahead, they would cause significant additional pain for vulnerable people, with very limited gain.

Full details of the plans are expected to be announced in Chancellor George Osborne’s emergency budget on Wednesday. It is expected to be one of the key cuts in what will be a particularly savage budget from the Chancellor.

The Scottish Government spokesman added: “Despite challenges from the UK Government we are tackling poverty head on. We have invested £296 million in welfare mitigation measures and around £329m over two years to expand free early learning and childcare, including extra provision for disadvantaged children, while our work to encourage employers to pay the Living Wage is also helping to increase income levels in Scotland.

‘‘And we have appointed our first independent adviser on poverty and inequality who will be looking at what more we can do to address inequalities.”