Welfare

A total of 144,128 COVID Winter Hardship Payments have been made to low-income families by the Scottish Government. The payments are available to families with children receiving Free School Meals on the basis of low income, with £14.41 million given to households as part of the Scottish Gover

More than 77,000 Scottish Child Payment applications have been received since Social Security Scotland started taking applications on November 9. The new benefit, which is unique to Scotland, will give qualifying parents and carers £40 every four weeks for each child under six.

A new service has been launched for Scots to calculate their benefits entitlement in a bid to address the financial hardship facing many families. The online tool is the first to fully integrate devolved benefits, including the new Scottish Child Payment which opens next week.

The decision by the UK Government to freeze Local Housing Allowance rates could put tenancies at risk across Scotland, housing minister Kevin Stewart has warned. Mr Stewart has written to the UK Government his expressing disappointment at secretary of state for pensions Thér&eg

Shocking new analysis from Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) shows that Universal Credit will fall below its 2013 value in real terms if plans to end the £20 uplift are not reversed.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to retain the £20 increase in Universal Credit ahead of a Westminster debate today.

Parents across Scotland have been applying early for the new Scottish Child Payment that will open on Monday 15 February. Social Security Scotland is taking applications ahead of the new benefit’s introduction to help manage demand. 56,000 applications were received between Monday 9 November a

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation the Adult Disability Payment. This consultation asks questions on whether the draft regulations will achieve the aims of Adult Disability Payment, and also seeks feedback on certain policy approaches.

Thousands of families of disabled children in Scotland have received an additional £200 to help heat their homes this winter. More than 13,000 families of a disabled child, on the highest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance for Children, have had a Child Winter Heating Assistanc

Housing minister Kevin Stewart has written to secretary of state for work and pensions Thérèse Coffey to urge her to reconsider the decision to freeze Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates for the coming financial year. The Scottish Government said the decision on LHA rates, which i

Families of children with a disability or long term health condition living in Dundee City, Perth and Kinross and the Western Isles will be able to apply for the Scottish Government's Child Disability Payment from summer 2021. This new benefit will be available across Scotland from autumn 2021.

A staggering £170 million was unlocked for people in Scotland during 2019/20 thanks to the work of the country's Citizens Advice network, according to new annual figures show. A total of 59 Citizens Advice Bureaux (CABs) and associated national services delivered the gains through social secur

The Scottish Government has provided people who need it with over £540 million in payments since launch in September 2018 up to 31 March 2020, according to a financial report from Social Security Scotland. From 1 September 2018 to 31 March 2020, benefits were delivered that support low in

People struggling to make rent payments are continuing to benefit from support funding from North Lanarkshire Council. The targeted support is available to council tenants who find themselves falling into rent arrears due to waiting times for Universal Credit payments and those who have seen their i

Funding to help people pay for food, heating, warm clothing and shelter during the winter is part of a new £100 million support package. The fund will help those on low incomes, children and people at risk of homelessness or social isolation cope with winter weather and the economic impact of