Welfare

Around six million people with disabilities in the UK will receive their one-off £150 disability Cost of Living payment from 20 September, the government has confirmed this week. Those being paid a qualifying disability benefit will be paid automatically from 20 September, with the vast majori

Prepayment meter customers on Universal Credit could see the value of their payments effectively wiped out by soaring energy costs, new analysis from Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has found. Around 470,000 households in Scotland are prepayment meter customers, paying for their energy in advance. Th

The First Minister has chaired the Scottish Government Resilience Committee to discuss urgent steps to mitigate the growing cost emergency which is affecting people and businesses. Ministers assessed the current situation and likely scenarios in the months ahead and agreed a number of immediate acti

Automatic repayments to the UK Government and others owed by people claiming benefits should be put on hold to help households struggling with huge financial pressures during the cost of living crisis, MPs have said. With inflation set to peak at its highest level for 40 years, the report from the c

Investment of up to £300,000 will help support money and welfare advice services in some of Scotland’s most remote locations.

People in Aberdeenshire, City of Aberdeen, Fife, Moray, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, and South Ayrshire are now able to apply for Adult Disability Payment. This means Adult Disability Payment is now available in 13 council areas ahead of opening nationwide on 29 August. It is the twelfth and most

Over 7.2 million payments of £326, worth a total of £2.4 billion, have already been made to help households in the first week of the UK Government’s Cost of Living support rollout.

A record investment of almost £8.5 billion was committed to support low-income households between 2018-22, with almost £3.3 billion benefitting children, a new report on child poverty has revealed. The fourth annual progress report on child poverty, published yesterday, shows that all of

As the cost of living crisis deepens, Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) is urging people to check what social security benefits and other funds they are entitled to but not currently receiving. One Musselburgh pensioner, Helen Simpson, has revealed she didn’t know she was entitled to Pension

People living in Angus, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire can now apply for the Adult Disability Payment. The new Scottish Government benefit replaces the UK Government’s Personal Independence Payment and provides financial support to people aged between 16 and state pension age, who are

More than eight million households across the UK will get a cash payment from July to ease the cost of living pressures, as work and pensions secretary Thérèse Coffey set out detailed plans today.

A guaranteed annual winter heating benefit of £50 will be paid for the first time in February 2023 to around 400,000 low income households.

The roll-out of new devolved social security benefits is going well but there is still a lot to be delivered, according to the latest report from the Auditor General. New and complex social security benefits such as the Scottish Child Payment have been launched despite the challenges of the pandemic

More than £3.25 million has been issued in disability payments to children and young people since the launch of the Child Disability Payment. It is estimated that as of 31 March 2022 a total of 3,050 children and young people were in receipt of the payment.

New research from Action for Children paints a sobering picture of the impact of the £20-a-week cut to Universal Credit on some of the UK’s poorest families amidst the soaring cost of living crisis.