Scottish Welfare Fund

Local authorities received 121,090 applications for Discretionary Housing Payments from April 2020 to February 2021 and had spent or committed to spend £74.2 million, according to new figures on the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF). Discretionary Housing Payments are awarded by local authoriti

The amount paid out in crisis grants to people in need increased by more than three quarters in the early stages of lockdown, according to the latest Scottish Government figures. The Scottish Welfare Fund awarded £5.2 million in crisis grants between April and June 2020, up 77% on the sam

People on low incomes will be eligible to receive a new £500 grant from the Scottish Government if asked to self-isolate. The new Self-Isolation Support Grant will help those who would lose income if they needed to self-isolate, such as those unable to carry out their work from home.

Councils in Scotland could have spent £5.8 million more to help people over lockdown if it were to match the increased Scottish Welfare Fund provided by the Scottish Government at the outset of the crisis, according to a new report.

Shelter Scotland has reiterated its call for an extension to the current eviction protections amid a 40% increase in applications for crisis grants. New figures from the Scottish Welfare Fund show there were 21,709 applications for crisis grants in June 2020, and a total spend of £1,310,8

A 37% increase in applications for crisis grants from the Scottish Welfare Fund highlights the need for an extension to the current protections against eviction, according to Shelter Scotland.

A 59% increase in applications for crisis grants in Scotland in March shows that low-income families are struggling to cope with the impacts of the coronavirus crisis, social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has said. Monthly Scottish Welfare Fund figures show that crisis grant applic

Governments must not lose sight of the underlying reasons behind the increasing reliance on welfare, Shelter Scotland has warned after new statistics revealed an increase in awards by the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Angus Council’s online benefits calculator has helped residents to identify and confirm benefits totalling £3.4 million in the first critical week of the coronavirus lockdown. The calculator continues to be used to help families across Angus, identify b

A coalition of anti-poverty charities is today calling for a significant boost to the Scottish Welfare Fund to protect people in poverty.

The amount given in crisis grants increased by more than a third in one quarter as low-income families were provided with more than £3 million to cover emergencies.

The Scottish Government spent over £100 million to mitigate the effects of UK Government austerity during 2019, new figures have revealed. Social security secretary Shirley-Ann Somerville has claimed that the money could have been better spent on more anti-poverty measures.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) has responded to the new figures which revealed that applications for crisis grants from the Scottish Welfare Fund increased by 12% in the quarter until June compared with the corresponding period last year. Jeremy Hewer, SFHA policy lead, said:

Campaigners are calling for an increase to the Scottish Welfare Fund budget after new statistics released show a rising number of Scots are accessing emergency cash to help pay for food or heating.

New figures released by the Scottish Government's annual Health Survey have indicated that more people living in Scotland have been worried about running out of food in the past year.