A document which outlines the eight principles that will guide Scotland’s new social security system is to be considered for approval by the Scottish Parliament. Created by people with experience of the existing social security system, the newly-published ‘Our Charter’ outlines in
Welfare
Social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has announced the appointment of Dr Sally Witcher as chair of a new body tasked with scrutinising the Scottish social security system. The Scottish Commission on Social Security will provide independent and expert scrutiny of the Scottish social secu
Low income families and carers will benefit from four new benefits being introduced by Social Security Scotland this year. The four new payments will follow the successful launch last year of the Carer’s Allowance Supplement and Best Start Grant, Pregnancy and Baby Payment.
Scottish ministers are on course to invest over £125 million in 2018-19 to mitigate the worst impact of UK Government welfare reforms and to protect those on low incomes, social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has revealed. The announcement follows new figures which found that, as a
Hillhead Housing Association has successfully gained National Standards accreditation for the provision of Information and Advice for our welfare rights service. The Scottish Legal Aid Board conducted a review of the Association on behalf of the Scottish Government as part of the accreditation/reacc
Scotland’s councils paid out almost £57 million in grants towards housing costs for those claiming housing benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit in a six month period, new figures have revealed. Official statistics from the Scottish Government have shown that during the period 1 Apri
Renfrewshire Food Bank will receive £30,000 funding to reduce the impact of Universal Credit after councillors agreed to a new three-year financial assistance plan. The funding follows the introduction of Universal Credit in Renfrewshire in September 2018.
Jamie Hepburn Almost 5,000 people are being supported towards employment through a new employment service that removes the threat of sanctions.
A new Universal Credit portal has been launched which allows registered social landlords and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to quickly and efficiently share information for benefit claims, continues to expand to those in the sector. The Universal Credit Landlord Portal (UCLP) allows soci
Mike Dailly Govan Law Centre (GLC) has called for a new resilience strategy to challenge the adverse impact of Universal Credit in Scotland.
(from left) Kevin Nixon (area manager), Gillian Robertson, Laura-Anne Hamilton, Samantha King, Geraldine McKenzie, Lisa-Marie Brown, (housing officers), Kim Goode (senior caseworker), Martin Docherty-Hughes MP West Dunbartonshire MP Martin Docherty-Hughes joined housing staff from Bellsmyre and Cord
MPs have called on the UK Government to urgently reassess its benefit sanctions regime after a new report found that the evidence that the policy is achieving its aims is at best mixed, and at worst showing a policy that appears “arbitrarily punitive”. A Benefit Sanctions report published by the
Almost half of those in receipt of Universal Credit in Scotland have chosen for their payments to be paid in a different way when offered the choice by the Scottish Government. While Universal Credit is reserved to the UK Government, Scottish Ministers have used devolved powers in this area to enabl
Shirley-Anne Somerville A total of 306,305 low income households in Scotland have been helped to pay for essential items such as food and heating through emergency grant funding since 2013.
Sally Thomas The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) has said that a House of Commons committee’s report into the “unacceptable” hardship caused by Universal Credit echoes many of its own concerns with the policy.