Welfare

The Scottish Campaign on Welfare Reform (SCoWR) has written to political candidates across Scotland to ask them to commit to using new powers to create a fairer social security system. Set up in 2006 to highlight the concerns of a diverse coalition of organisations in Scotland about the UK governmen

The Scottish Government should have a single department responsible for both new tax and welfare powers due to be devolved, according to Reform Scotland. With welfare expenditure currently divided between two departments, HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Reform Scotland believes

Justine Tomlinson Tenants of supported accommodation will not be subject to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) cap on housing benefit until April 2017 after the UK government introduced a year-long exception.

Alex Neil A new delivery agency will be set up to administer social security payments worth £2.7 billion when they are devolved to Scotland, social justice secretary Alex Neil announced today.

Members of The Highland Council’s resources committee have welcomed the considerable involvement and work carried out by council staff on issues relating to welfare reform and have agreed to support the potential role of local authorities as financial assessment delivery partners for Scotland’s

David Orr Housing associations in England have delayed or cancelled plans to build new sheltered accommodation units due to proposed cuts to housing benefit.

Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon has called on the UK government to “immediately” announce an exemption for women's refuges and other types of supported accommodation.

Alex Neil Social justice secretary Alex Neil has called for “urgent clarification” from the UK government around the proposal to restrict housing benefit for tenants in supported and women’s aid refuge accommodation.

The introduction of Universal Credit will leave millions of working families worse off but will eventually encourage more people to work, a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has said. The single payment, which combines six benefits including housing benefit into one monthly paym

Judges in the Court of Appeal have declared the so-called bedroom tax discriminatory following legal challenges made by the family of a seriously disabled teenager and by a domestic violence victim. One case was brought by “A”, a single mother whose three-bedroom council house had a panic room t

Mary Taylor The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) is calling on the UK government to urgently rethink upcoming changes to Housing Benefit which could cost the social housing sector hundreds of millions of pounds a year and put the health and wellbeing of vulnerable tenants at risk.

Iain Duncan Smith The ‘bedroom tax’ is forcing people to cut back on food and essential items while burdening them with large personal debts, an official government study has revealed.

Hugh Henry Paying the housing element of Universal Credit direct to landlords and the immediate abolition of the ‘bedroom tax’ are needed if Scotland is to create a welfare system which treats claimants with dignity and respect, MSPs have said.

Jon Sparkes At Crisis we know it is possible for homeless people to find and sustain meaningful employment, and in doing so to rebuild their lives. But new research we have published finds that the conditionality and sanctions regime instead makes it much harder for homeless people to find work.

Jon Sparkes Crisis is calling for reform of how benefit sanctions work for the most vulnerable as new research by the charity reveals how the regime is leaving people homeless, hungry and destitute and making it even harder for them to find work.