Welfare

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has today outlined five key recommendations for Scotland’s newly devolved disability assistance payments.

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has called on the UK Government to scrap the “fundamentally unfair” benefit cap after the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the policy.

A contract to design Scotland’s new social security assessments system has been awarded as figures revealed high satisfaction levels with the new service. The Deloitte contract, worth £2.3 million over two years, will focus on design of the assessment centre network across Scotland, incl

The Scottish Government has done a good job of delivering its first set of devolved benefits but the real challenge is still to come, a new report has warned. Carers and new parents successfully received payments in 2018 and the country's new benefits agency, Social Security Scotland, was set up, bu

Housing and homelessness charity Shelter Scotland said the underlying causes of poverty must be tackled as new figures revealed nearly a third of a million low income households accessed emergency funding to help with the costs of essentials such as food and heating in the past six years. The Scotti

The progress made in building Scotland’s new public service has been outlined today, a year since the Social Security (Scotland) Bill 2018 was passed in Parliament. Social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said that the £197 million in benefit payments made by the Scottish Gover

Scottish Labour has called on the Scottish Government to use the new powers over social security to ensure automatic payment of the Universal Credit housing element to landlords. Analysis by the party found that fewer than half of eligible households have opted for the direct payments.

Thousands of people in Scotland are struggling with essential household bills especially Council Tax, a debt charity has warned. StepChange Debt Charity Scotland said it was contacted by over 30,000 people last year across every constituency seeking debt help.

A Financial Inclusion Team formed by Govan Housing Association to assist its tenants and the wider community with all matters relating to money and welfare benefit advice is celebrating a successful first year. Within the first 12 months, the enhanced service has generated just over £1.2 milli

Ahead of giving evidence today to the Scottish Parliament’s social security committee inquiry into social security support for housing, the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) said that “Universal Credit is creating systemic indebtedness and arrears for new claimants&rdquo

Seven affordable housing providers across the Highlands are urging tenants claiming Universal Credit to update their claim this April 1 to ensure their entitlement covers their annual rent increase for the year ahead. Those who fail to do so will face a shortfall in their housing entitlement, p

Scotland’s largest membership organisation for landlords in the private rented sector has asked the UK and Scottish Governments to ensure the housing element of Universal Credit is paid directly to private and social landlords for all Scottish claimants. Giving oral evidence to the social secu

UK Government welfare reform measures are having a significant impact on private landlords and their tenants according to CIH Scotland. In its evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s social security committee, CIH notes that the erosion of Local Housing Allowance (LHA), the benefit cap and the r

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) has highlighted the need for Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) systems to have the capacity to support Scottish Universal Credit Choices. Submitting evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s social security committee's inquiry into social

More than eight out of ten households affected by the benefit cap should be made exempt from the “cruel” policy which “targets claimants unable to work”, an influential group of MPs has said. In a new report, the work and pensions committee said only 18% of those affected by