Welfare

In a year blighted by the Covid-19 pandemic, 88 struggling households from across the Lothians, Lanarkshire and Edinburgh are almost £800,000 better off thanks to the hard work of an award-winning welfare benefits advice service. Last year, Melville Housing Association’s two dedicated we

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced that more than 2,000 jobs will be created with Social Security Scotland over the next 12 months. The Scottish Government has also revealed that disabled people will benefit from a ground-breaking new advocacy service that will support access to Scotland&r

The Scottish Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to oppose the £20 cut to Universal Credit by the UK Government.

Legislation that will lead to increased vital support to more than 19,400 children and young people to help their families heat their homes this winter has been laid in the Scottish Parliament. The legislation extends the eligibility for the Child Winter Heating assistance to young people aged 16 to

Low income families will benefit from a £320 uplift before Christmas as part of the Scottish Government’s commitment to tackling child poverty. Eligible families with children in school will receive payments of £160 per child in October and December. Two Bridging Payments of £

Scotland’s Child Disability Payment will open for new applications across the country from 22 November 2021. The roll-out follows a successful pilot launched in July across Dundee City, Perth & Kinross and the Western Isles council areas.

Hairdressers, shelf stackers and carers will be among those working families facing the biggest overall drop in their benefits income since 2010 when the cut to Universal Credit goes ahead next month, according to new research by UK children’s charity Action for Children.

More than 108,000 children have benefited from the Scottish Government’s new Scottish Child Payment according to the latest official statistics. The figures highlight how many families and children received the payment from introduction in February to 30 June 2021.

The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish governments have written a joint letter to the UK Government calling for a reversal of plans to cut the £20 uplift to Universal Credit. The £20 increase to the benefit was introduced during the coronavirus pandemic, but is due to end on October 6.

Social security expenditure in Scotland will total £5.2 billion in 2026-27, according to the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s latest forecast report. The amount spent is projected to increase by £1.5bn over the five years due to a variety of reasons including an increase in benefits pr

A total of 413 parliamentary constituencies across Great Britain will see over a third of working-age families with children hit by the planned £1,040-a-year cut to Universal Credit and Working Tax Credit on 6 October 2021. According to a new report published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation,

Members of the Highland Council's Corporate Resources Committee have praised the exemplary work of the council’s Welfare Support Team after they were presented with a comprehensive report highlighting the strong performance from the team in assisting Highland residents. According to the report

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) has joined forces with housing association representatives in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to call on the UK Government to extend the £20 uplift in Universal Credit (UC) payments.  In October, the government is planning to

The UK Government must complete and publish a full assessment of the impact on renters of their decisions to freeze Local Housing Allowance and cut Universal Credit, which risk pushing many households into poverty, problem debt, and homelessness, according to a number of housing groups.

The majority of people in Scotland back keeping the £20 per week increase to Universal Credit until at least the financial situation created by Covid is more stable, polling for Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has found.