Welfare

The Scottish Government has called on the UK Government to take "immediate action" to end homelessness, with social justice secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville pressing on the Prime Minister's stated ambition to eradicate the crisis. In a letter addressed to work and pensions secretary Pat McFadden, M

The homelessness charity Crisis has hit out at proposals from Policy Exchange to overhaul England's social housing system, warning that the recommendations amount to "divisive rhetoric" that will worsen the country's housing crisis rather than solve it.

Ayrshire Housing’s Financial Wellbeing Team last year helped tenants access more than £1.3 million of benefits they were previously missing out on. The housing association’s Annual General Meeting heard how the team had supported 318 households across Ayrshire to gain benefits they

The Conservative Party's plans to cut Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to help meet defence spending commitments risk pushing more households into hardship and homelessness, the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has warned. The party has said it would make defence spending hit 3% of GDP by 2029/30 t

Across Scotland, 321,885 children are benefiting from Scottish Child Payment as of March 2026, according to newly published statistics.  Launched in February 2021, the Scotland-only benefit is a weekly payment of £28.20, paid every four weeks to every eligible child under 16 within a

Housing secretary Màiri McAllan has called on the UK Government to reverse the freeze on vital housing support and lift tens of thousands of children out of poverty across the UK. Local Housing Allowance has been frozen by the UK Government for a second year, while the cost of living has cont

The Scottish Government is to commit more than £111 million to updated plans to eradicate child poverty. Bringing Hope, Building Futures aims to help keep approximately 100,000 children out of poverty in 2026-27.

The gap between what councils in England pay out in housing benefit and how much the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reimburses them is projected to cost local government nearly £4 billion between 2017/18 to 2029/30, new analysis reveals.

People may be missing out on social security support they are entitled to due to stigma around social security, new research shows. Independent research commissioned by Social Security Scotland found that while nine in ten (91%) people agree anyone could need financial support when their circumstanc

The Scottish Child Payment has supported more than 241,000 parents and carers since its launch five years ago, helping put over £1.3 billion into the pockets of low-income families. An increase to the payment for children under one will be introduced during 2027/28, estimated to benefit around

Housing secretary Màiri McAllan has called on the UK Government to reverse its decision to extend the freeze on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, warning that the policy is driving homelessness, worsening child poverty and placing unsustainable pressure on councils. In a letter to UK Housi

Over 1.5 million winter heating payments, including more than a million payments to older people, have been made so far this winter.

Plans to limit the Scottish Child Payment to the first two children in a family have been unveiled in a new social security policy paper published by the Scottish Conservatives today.

More support will be available to families and households to help cover the cost of life’s essentials and to deal with emergencies. First Minister John Swinney has confirmed that £10 million originally earmarked in 2025-26 to support the two-child limit mitigation payment in Scotland wil

Carers and disabled people have had their benefit awards safely and securely transferred to Social Security Scotland from the Department for Work and Pensions after a multi-year project.   More than 700,000 benefit awards have been successfully moved over to the Scottish system, meaning every d