Welfare

An online tool designed to ensure Scots are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to has identified £43 million in unclaimed money over the past year.

The families of more than 316,000 under-16s were benefitting from Scottish Child Payment by the end of June this year, according to the latest official statistics. New figures published today show the payment of £25 per week, which is unique in the UK, was reaching 316,190 - an increase of mor

People living in North Lanarkshire who face financial hardship are being encouraged to contact the council’s Tackling Poverty Team to make sure they are getting all the benefits they are due. This year an additional £40 million was secured for residents from advice services.

Tenants have received a million-pound boost after Thenue Housing staff helped them unlock access to a huge amount of benefits.

Philip Whyte, director of IPPR Scotland, discusses the need for the Scottish Government to scrap the two-child limit for Universal Credit or Child Tax Credits. With Keir Starmer’s refusal to commit to scrapping it should Labour form the next UK government, the two-child limit has understa

The Scottish Government and local authorities spent £56 million last year to provide lifeline support and to help mitigate UK Government welfare policies, according to official figures. The annual update of Scottish Welfare Fund Statistics for 2022-23 includes annual statistics on Community Ca

Bield has appointed two new income advice officers to help its tenants navigate the complex process of grant applications. Since joining the organisation at the end of 2022, Scott Alexander and Rebecca Summers have utilised their extensive expertise to drive over £60,000 in savings for te

Improvements to the way crisis support is delivered in Scotland have been set out in a new plan. The Scottish Welfare Fund provides a vital safety net which has paid out more than £380 million in emergency funds to more than half a million households over the last ten years.

A total of £46.9 billion was spent last year on public services to help tackle poverty, deliver fair pay deals, and support people displaced by the war in Ukraine, provisional figures have shown. The 2022-23 Provisional Outturn compares actual spending with the funding commitments set out in t

At a time when unclaimed welfare benefits throughout the UK reached a figure of £18.7 billion, Argyll Community Housing Association’s (ACHA) Welfare Rights team has secured almost £3.8 million for 1,268 households across Argyll and Bute in the last 12 months.

A new report which details the Scottish Government's progress to reduce child poverty has highlighted that too many children in Scotland still don’t have access to the basic essentials, according to IPPR Scotland.

Housing minister Paul McLennan has called on the UK Government to increase in local housing allowance rates (LHA) to avoid a surge in homelessness. Used to calculate Universal Credit payments for private tenants, LHA has been frozen in cash terms since 2020 and the freeze is due to continu

Third sector organisations are to be paid a fee for helping provide supporting information for people applying for Child Disability Payment or Adult Disability Payment, the Scottish Government has announced. The £33.50 fee will be paid when they are asked by Social Security Scotland to complet

The Scottish Child Payment is now being received by the families of more than 300,000 children and young people, according to official statistics. New figures show that 303,000 children were receiving the payment at the end of March.

Iain Hardie explores the impact of the UK’s Universal Credit rollout on housing insecurity, examining research findings that suggest an increase in housing problems and approaches for assistance due to the policy implementation, as well as discussing the key aspects of Universal Credit that c