More than one in five children in Renfrewshire are living in poverty, new figures have revealed.
Data produced by the End Child Poverty Coalition shows that 23.3% of local kids were found to be living in deprivation in 2021/22 - an increase of nearly 4% on the previous year.
The latest figures also found that nearly two-thirds of children hit by poverty in Renfrewshire were from working households.
Jack Clark, spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats in Renfrewshire, said it was "heartbreaking" to see child poverty continue to rise in the area.
He told The Gazette: "What makes the figures even more shocking is that two-thirds of children living in poverty in our area are from working households.
"This is a failure of both of Scotland's governments to get a grip on the problem.
"We have a Conservative government in Westminster fixated on culture wars and trying to hold itself together.
"While in Holyrood we have an SNP/Green government which is focused solely on independence and picking fights with Westminster."
Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said tackling poverty and protecting people from harm is one of three critical missions for the Scottish Government.
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She added: "This year and last we have allocated almost £3 billion to support policies to tackle poverty and the ongoing cost of living crisis. We have continually urged the UK Government to also take urgent action and match our ambitions to tackle poverty.
"We have a range of actions in our Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan and our five family payments could be worth over £10,000 by the time an eligible child turns six - over £8,000 more than families in England and Wales."
A UK Government spokesperson said: "There are nearly two million fewer people, including 400,000 fewer children, in absolute poverty than there were in 2009/10 - proving our commitment to helping the most vulnerable.
"We are providing a £94billion package of immediate cost of living support worth around £3,300 per household. But in the long-term, the best route out of poverty is through employment, which is why we are boosting our childcare offers to help more parents to re-enter and progress in work."
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