Welfare

Ashley Campbell Housing delivery, homelessness, standards and much more - as we enter 2018, CIH Scotland policy expert Ashley Campbell explores what to look out for.

More than one million calls to the Universal Credit helpline have been abandoned without claimants getting an answer within a 12-month period, according to new statistics. Figures obtained by Labour MP Jim McMahon through a parliamentary question, and reported by ITV, show that 1.3 million calls wer

Government changes to Universal Credit which will make it easier for direct payments to be made to landlords have been welcomed by the Residential Landlords Association (RLA). The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has confirmed to the trade body that landlords will no longer need tenants’ con

Legislation to set up a Scottish social security agency passed its first hurdle at the Scottish Parliament yesterday as MSPs unanimously agreed the general principles of the Social Security (Scotland) Bill. During the debate, cross party consensus was given for an additional principle in the Bill re

Jeane Freeman The Scottish Government has repeated its commitment to allow Scotland’s new social security system to be open to independent scrutiny.

Changes are needed to ensure that the Scottish Parliament can scrutinise the detail of how Scotland’s new social security system will operate, according to a report issued by Holyrood’s social security committee. The committee’s report follows consideration of the Social Security Bill, which p

A new group is to be established by Stirling Council to ensure residents on Universal Credit continue to be supported. Universal Credit was piloted in Stirling in May 2015 for a small percentage of residents, and fully implemented in June this year for anyone of working age on a low income in or out

Peter Steele recently met with 11 housing associations across Glasgow over the course of a week. Some of the key themes and challenges they face are highlighted in Mobysoft's latest blog. The impact of Universal Credit has been felt by Scottish RSLs (Registered Social Landlords) and other institutio

Graeme Brown The director of housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland, Graeme Brown, has raised concerns over the future sustainability of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) after new figures revealed that the average value of payments made via the scheme has increased by more than 25%.

Dr Philippa Whitford MPs will this week continue to put pressure on the UK government to “tackle the flaws” in the roll out of Universal Credit before it forces “more into poverty”.

The UK government has announced significant changes to Universal Credit including scrapping the seven day waiting period before a person can apply. In the Autumn Budget announcement yesterday Chancellor Philip Hammond responded to the increasing pressure from MPs, charities and the housing sector by

The poorest in society are being hit the hardest by changes to tax, social security and public spending reforms, a new report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has revealed. Ahead of next week’s budget, the EHRC has published its independent report on the impact that changes to al

Jeane Freeman A Scottish Government survey of those with direct experience of the benefit system has shown that three out of five respondents rate the current UK welfare system as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.

Sally Thomas The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) is calling for the UK government to act urgently on Universal Credit as the implementation of the policy is pushing tenants into debt and poverty as well as jeopardising the financial sustainability of housing associations.

Concerns have been raised that more people could lose their homes after the cost of a typical two-bed private rental property rose by 4.4% in the last year. Nationally the average rent on a two-bed property is £643 this year up from £616 in 2016 and the charity says that people will struggle to co