Your opportunity to shape the benefits system in Scotland
People across Scotland are being given the chance to help shape the country’s first ever social security system. The Scottish Government has launched a 13 week consultation looking for views on the benefits being devolved to Scotland, as well as how they are delivered. Continue reading Social Security consultation underway
More than 200,000 low income households have received grants to help them through difficult times, thanks to the Scottish Welfare Fund. New figures show that since the scheme was set up in April 2013, £97.9 million worth of grants have been given to nearly 204,000 households in Scotland. Continue reading Thousands of struggling Scots aided by crisis fund
Unemployment in Scotland fell by 18,000 in the period March to May, and now stands at 152,000, according to data released today. Continue reading Jobless figures down but economy flat, latest figures reveal
Disabled campaigners take action across Scotland
Disabled campaigners will be protesting at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, a disability benefits centre in Glasgow and in City Square, Dundee tomorrow as part of a UK-wide day of action against disability benefit changes.
Protests will be held at many assessment centres run by Atos and Capita, the private companies who hold contracts with the Department for Work and Pensions to test disabled people’s eligibility for the Personal Independence Payment benefit. Continue reading Rotten to the core!
Terri Smith is a Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament, where she represents Edinburgh Northern and Leith. She is also a young woman with health problems. Read her experience of facing a DWP appeal yesterday – and ask yourself what sort of country we’ve become …
I’ve never felt so belittled and demoralised in my life until today. I was in court this morning fighting against the DWP’s decision to declare me fit for work. Continue reading Our sick society?
Today Arbroath, Blairgowrie, Forfar, Montrose and Perth join the rest of Scotland’s jobcentres in offering Universal Credit to single jobseekers. Nearly 25,000 Scots are claiming Universal Credit and over 9,000 have moved into work under the new system, according to the Department of Work & Pensions.
The DWP says Universal Credit is designed to ensure people will be better off in work and the latest statistics show that people claiming it are finding work faster and earning more.
Those on Universal Credit are significantly more likely to find employment than those on Jobseeker’s Allowance and, for the first time ever, support is being offered to claimants to progress in their careers and increase their earnings.
Today, single jobseekers will be able to claim Universal Credit in:
The DWP has produced a short video about Universal Credit (below)
Universal Credit will eventually replace 6 existing benefits:
See the list of jobcentre areas where you can claim Universal Credit.
What’s your experience of Universal Credit? Let us know!
Funding for Macmillan advice services
Cancer patients and their families will receive help to apply for benefits and access debt and money saving advice through a £450,000 investment, it was announced yesterday.
Funding for the Macmillan Benefits Services is supporting cancer patients, their families and carers to access benefits, claim grants, free white goods and deal with debt.
Last year Macmillan’s financial advice services in Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness helped clients access £16.9 million of benefits and grant schemes, they would have otherwise missed out on.
Research from Macmillan has found 80 per cent of Scottish cancer patients are £420 worse off every month after they are diagnosed, through a mix of lost income and extra costs.
The £450,000 for Macmillan is part of the £2.5 million package of support for advice services confirmed in the 2016-17 draft budget.
Welfare Minister Margaret Burgess announced the funding on a visit to meet support workers at the project in the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre in Glasgow.
She said: “It is extremely stressful for people coming to terms with a cancer diagnosis to find themselves hundreds of pounds worse off and worried about paying their bills.
“Trying to navigate the benefits process while dealing with the physical and emotional problems cancer brings can be very difficult.
“Our investment in the Macmillan Benefits Service is removing some of the financial stress and uncertainty that comes when people are diagnosed, but are faced with increased heating, transport and healthcare costs.
“This funding is part of our £2.5 million package for advice services and sits alongside other measures like the Scottish Welfare Fund which helps vulnerable people in crisis and enables people to live independently.”
Macmillan’s Head of Services Janice Preston said: “Money worries are a real issue for many people who have been diagnosed with cancer. Some people will need to give up work and this can come at the same time as they face increased costs like travelling to hospital for treatment, or higher heating bills as many cancer patients feel the cold more.
“Services like this are vitally important in helping patients access the money they need and Scottish Government support and funding make these services possible.”
Government fury over Lords revolt
Chancellor George Osborne has said he will act on concerns about the impact of tax credit cuts after peers forced the Westminster government to think again last night – but he has vowed to press on with changes designed to slash billions from the country’s welfare bill.
In a dramatic night the House of Lords defeated the government in two votes over the controversial legislation, forcing the government climbdown.
The Chancellor has now agreed to offer ‘transitional help’ for those hundreds of thousands of people affected by cuts – but the government was angered by the defeats in the unelected ‘other place’ is now considering a review of Lords conventions to address what is sees as ‘constitutional issues’.
The proposed cut to tax credits is the most controversial piece of legislation introduced since the Conservative government’s election in May.
Tax credits were introduced by the last Labour government to help low-paid families. There are two types: Working Tax Credit for those in work, and Child Tax Credit for those with children.
Tax credits are gradually being included within Universal Credit, which is currently being rolled out across the country. Under the government’s plans, the income threshold for receiving Working Tax Credits and Child Tax Credit is due to be cut from April next year.
4.5 million people are currently eligible to claim tax credits.
Campaigners and respected think-tanks argue that the proposed tax credit cuts would deprive low-income workers of up to £1,300 a year but the Westminster government says the cuts are essential to tackle the UK’s massive deficit. It says most claimants will be better off when other changes, such as the introduction of the new national living wage, are taken into account.
Tax credits were worth around £2 billion to Scottish households in 2013/14, with two thirds of support directed at low income working families.
Scotland’s Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil called for for the UK Government proposals to be ditched in a letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions earlier this week.
Me Neil said the UK Government should urgently rethink tax credit changes which will punish families and push even more children into poverty and urged the UK Government to rethink its plans to cut tax credits which mean households with the least money will face the biggest losses.
Mr Neil said: “Cutting tax credits is a thoughtless approach which may save the Treasury money in the short term but will have heart-breaking long-term consequences that could rebound on other public and charitable services.
“Tax credits can be a lifeline for families on low incomes that rely on them to get through daily life, put food on the table, heat their home and pay their bills.
“Removing this vital support from thousands of families will widen the gap in inequalities and push even more people into poverty.
“The UK Government’s plans are a clear attack on low income working families and those families must be protected as a matter of urgency.
“The Scottish Government has made clear its opposition to these changes and I urge the UK Government to reconsider the severity and timing of these changes and make changes before the Welfare and Work Bill reaches its next legislative stage, so that the poorest households in receipt of tax credits can be protected from this fall in their incomes.
“This shows why we need more social security powers through the Scotland Bill and why, we will ensure our approach to social security will be based on fairness and that people are treated with dignity and respect.”
“Poverty has a huge impact on health and wellbeing, including damp housing, hunger, lack of access to healthy food, and stress and depression.” – Graham Mackenzie, Consultant in Public Health, NHS Lothian
Two Lothian projects that began with a midwife helping mums improve their nutrition have evolved into a support network ensuring low income families access thousands of pounds of unclaimed entitlements.
The projects in Leith and West Lothian have each had a welfare rights adviser working since March with a team of NHS Lothian, council and voluntary sector workers.
The welfare rights advisers are funded by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) as part of its Tackling Money Worries programme.
In Leith, Granton Information Centre (GIC) has provided money and welfare rights advice to 89 families referred by midwives, health visitors, Dr Bell’s Family Centre, Citadel Youth Centre, nurseries and early years centres, and working with Edinburgh Community Food.
For these families the total financial gain during 2015-16 is projected to be £404,000, or an average of £4,500 per client. The maximum financial gain for one client so far has been £15,000.
This is in addition to the support GIC (pictured below) has already provided to the most vulnerable families in the North Edinburgh area, who are not included in these figures.
Citizens Advice Bureau West Lothian has been supporting families in West Lothian in a similar project, also funded by SLAB. In that project around 200 clients have gained £300,000, an average of almost £5,000 per client.
Over half of those accessing support for the first time have been in work, and were not aware of their unclaimed entitlements (e.g. tax credits, benefits) and other help available (e.g. advice about debt, access to hardship funds).
The figures have been released during Challenge Poverty Week 2015 which aims to raise awareness of poverty and to highlight the great work that community organisations are doing to help those in crisis.
Graham Mackenzie, Consultant in Public Health, NHS Lothian, said the success of the advice projects illustrated the importance of the NHS and other services working with welfare rights advisers, and could be repeated in many other parts of the UK.
“This work, which started with a single midwife focusing on ensuring families were claiming food vouchers they were entitled to, has expanded into a sophisticated package of support that we are aiming to offer to hundreds of families over the coming year.
“Poverty has a huge impact on health and wellbeing, including damp housing, hunger, lack of access to healthy food, and stress and depression.
“With hundreds of thousands of pounds secured for families, and more to come, we are taking practical steps to help families tackle the consequences of poverty.”
The Lothian projects were formed following work started with Healthy Start food and vitamin vouchers, a UK-wide scheme designed to improve nutrition for low income families. Across the UK around a quarter of eligible families miss out on these valuable vouchers, with the number of pregnant women and children under four years old in receipt of vouchers falling over recent years. In Lothian, however, after concentrated work with NHS Lothian staff and families, the number of pregnant women in receipt of vouchers increased from 294 in March 2014 to 368 in July 2015.
The work started with simple insights from a single midwife about how to make the application process more reliable, and secure vouchers for women earlier in pregnancy.
From 10 weeks of pregnancy to the child’s fourth birthday Healthy Start vouchers are worth up to £899 in total.
With 76 more women benefitting across Lothian as a result, this work has boosted family budgets by tens of thousands of pounds; this in addition to the hundreds of thousands secured through the Tackling Money Worries work. Vouchers can be spent on fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, milk and formula feed. Vitamin vouchers are provided separately.
This work, part of the Scottish Government Early Years Collaborative, provided insights that have now been applied to much greater effect through the Lothian Tackling Money Worries projects by providing families with money and welfare rights advice.
Scottish Government plans a fairer approach to social security
Scotland’s new social security powers will make it fairer and simpler for people to access benefits, Social Justice Secretary Alex Neil has said.
Launching a paper today on government conversations with the public and stakeholders on how new social security powers should be used, Mr Neil said Scotland’s new social security system will treat people with respect and dignity.
More than 70 organisations working with children, carers, disabled people, ethnic minority representative groups and older people have taken part in discussions around the new powers.
A wide range of responses has been received on what we could do with these powers – and the consistent view is that that we need to take a fairer approach, one that does not stigmatise or punish people who receive benefits.
Mr Neil said: “The new social security powers are part of the conversation on what will make a fairer Scotland. This feedback is helping us develop our own social security system which we will ensure treats individuals with respect and removes the barriers that cause confusion and anxiety for some of the most vulnerable people in our society.
“The new system will have at its heart a set of principles and values. This will include ensuring people are treated with respect and dignity when applying for, being assessed for, and receiving disability-related benefits.
“It is clear we must provide people with relevant information so they are aware of how the system will work for them and how long decisions will take.
“It is also important that the system is fair and efficient – that the investment we all make in social security is well managed and is directed at the people who need it, in the way that will support them best.
“Through the current system many people, including carers, young people, families and those who can’t work because of disabilities or mental health, have all faced cuts and discrimination as a result of the UK Government welfare reform programme.
“Just last month we announced we will abolish the UK Government ‘84-day rule’ which means families who face higher living costs due to their child’s illness or disability will not be penalised when their child goes into hospital or has necessary medical treatment.
“We also announced last week that the needs of carers will be placed at the heart of the devolved carers’ allowance. We are determined to ensure that the allowance – like our new social security system as a whole – meets people’s needs, addresses their priorities and respects their rights.
“This is an early signal of our refusal to take an approach that punishes the vulnerable and instead focuses on fairness, accessibility and stability.”
The Scottish Government will publish a further paper by the end of the year setting out its outline vision for social security in Scotland.
The paper outlining the conversation so far is available to view at http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/10/3498
You can find out more on social security work at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/fairerscotland/future-powers/powers
