Welfare

The number of British people relying on food banks is expected to reach one million, according to figures from the Trussell Trust, the UK's biggest provider of emergency food aid. The report by the trust, which has more than 400 food banks in Britain, showed the number of people given three days' em

Stirling Council is to launch a range of measures to assist benefit claimants affected by the introduction of Universal Credit. A small number of new, single claimants in Stirling will start to receive the new benefit from 25th May.

Iain Duncan Smith The Conservatives are considering cuts of up to £80 a week for sick and disabled claimants if they win the election, plans leaked to the BBC have revealed.

Anne Power The coalition government’s welfare reforms have resulted in very few social housing tenants being able to find jobs despite their aim of moving people dependent on benefits into work, according to a new report by the London School of Economics (LSE).

Dame Anne Begg MPs have called for a full and “urgent” independent review to investigate whether benefit sanctions are being applied appropriately, fairly and proportionately.

Alex Neil Detailed information on the scale and reach of social security benefits to be devolved to Scotland has been published.

The Supreme Court has criticised the UK government’s benefit cap for breaching international law on the rights of children but has declined to overturn the controversial policy. Judges at the UK’s most senior court declared that the benefit cap, which restricts unemployed claimants to £500 a we

A Scottish Parliament committee has sent evidence that shows the link between the UK government’s welfare reform and an increase in the use of food banks to Scotland Office minister David Mundell MP. The move by the Welfare Reform Committee follows a call from Mr Mundell to show him evidence of th

Over half a million people in Scotland lived on less than half the average income in 2012/13 while six in ten people in relative poverty were in severe or extreme poverty, new data has revealed.Analysis by the Scottish Government shows 510,000 people were classed as living in households in severe o

Poorer Scots report feeling more confused and less secure following rapid cuts to their incomes, according to a study for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation by researchers at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU).It finds signs of close knit communities lending support to some members but an overall pictu

A report into benefit sanctions by homelessness charity Crisis has revealed a postcode lottery where people are more likely to be penalised than others.The report found significant variations in sanction rates in different parts of the UK with Aberdeenshire and Clackmannanshire among the areas where

A new report from a coalition of major UK churches has revealed that around 6,500 children in Scotland were affected by benefit sanctions in 2013/14. Today’s report, Time to Rethink Benefit Sanctions reveals that around 100,000 children were affected by benefit sanctions in 2013-14 across the Unit

Parents and people with disabilities are being hit hardest by the UK government’s programme of welfare reform according to new research commissioned by the Scottish Parliament’s Welfare Reform Committee. The report, published today, represents the first time the impact of the UK government’s w