Tag: Scottish Welfare Fund

£10m emergency support for families

Two-child limit mitigation funding for 2025-26 reinvested to tackle child poverty

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 will be reallocated to tackling child poverty.

The majority of the funding will be split between charities and government programmes that provide emergency financial support, including:

  • £5.5 million additional funding for the Scottish Welfare Fund. The fund is administered by local authorities and provides people on low incomes with emergency grants if they are facing crisis, homelessness or other housing or caring challenges
  • An additional £0.55 million for Aberlour Children’s Charity and £1.5 million for Children First to provide extra emergency support to families in crisis
  • £1.5 million for the Corra Foundation to distribute additional emergency funds via local organisations

A further £1 million will support various strands of the Scottish Government’s national Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2022-2026, including parental employability schemes, funding to support women back into the workforce, additional investment into the King’s Trust’s NHS employability programmes, and targeted support for households experiencing homelessness.

Visiting children’s charity Children First, First Minister John Swinney said: “When I became First Minister, I said that I will pursue priorities that will make Scotland the best our country can be, and the most important priority that I have pursued in government has been that of eradicating child poverty.

“We have made progress. Scotland is the only part of the UK where relative child poverty rates fell in the last year. Our investment in a more dignified and generous social security system, funded childcare, free school meals and free bus travel for under-22s is putting more money in families’ pockets.

“However, as we start 2026, there are still far too many children in Scotland growing up hungry, or cold, and unable to reach their full potential. That is unacceptable.

“Today’s announcement will provide some immediate short-term relief for individuals and families facing the most challenging of circumstances. Our local authorities and charities have well-established means of getting support out quickly to people in need.

“Next week we will set out in more detail our intention to put tackling child poverty at the heart of the next Scottish Budget and I look forward to unveiling landmark interventions to drive this work forward.”

Chief Executive of Children First, Scotland’s national children’s charity, Mary Glasgow said: “These funds from the Scottish Government will allow Children First to offer life changing and immediate support to thousands of children as part of the national mission to eradicate child poverty.

“Through our national support line we will be able to reach more children and families to offer the financial, practical and emotional support they need to improve their circumstances and tackle the hardships they face in the short and longer term.

“Any family in Scotland in need of help can contact Children First’s friendly, specialist support line team  365 days a year by calling 08000 28 22 33 or starting a web chat at www.childrenfirst.org.uk/supportline.”

Chief Executive of Aberlour Justina Murray said: “Aberlour is delighted to receive this funding boost from the Scottish Government for our Urgent Assistance Fund.

“We know that families living in poverty particularly struggle with the cost of living during the winter months, with the post-Christmas period particularly challenging and often very bleak.

“This additional funding will be used to provide emergency cash grants via our UAF to families in desperate need for essentials like heating, food, warm clothing and bedding.

“This generous contribution by the Scottish Government will ensure that around 1,660 families living in poverty will have the basic essentials they need this winter such as food on the table, adequate clothing for their children and a warm home at night.”

The Scottish Welfare Fund is made up of two different grants (Crisis Grant and Community Care Grant) which can be applied for through your local authority and do not need to be paid back.

To apply for a grant from the Scottish Welfare Fund you must be 16 or older and on a low income or getting certain benefits.

Leith landlord addressing high cost of home essentials

Addressing high cost of home essentials

Harbour Homes is working hard to assist tenants with the high costs associated with moving into and running a home.

Since April this year Harbour Homes has:

  • Invested £30k in housing starter packs for new tenants to purchase high-quality used furniture from Four Square Edinburgh Initiative. Eligible tenants receive
    a voucher for up to £500 (the amount varies depending on what is needed) to choose their furniture and have it delivered for free. They may also purchase
    brand new items such as cot mattresses and bedding
  • Secured funding of £15k from the Turn2us Edinburgh Trust for tenants to access one-off grants for things like furniture, flooring and white goods, and to
    relieve the cost of living crisis
  • Set up a carpeting/flooring fund of £6k for tenants who cannot otherwise afford floor coverings
  • Allocated £3k to a white goods/washing machine fund for tenants

Fiona Whitelaw, Tenant Advice Team Leader at Harbour Homes, said: “With the cost of living crisis showing little sign of abating and changes to the Scottish Welfare Fund, unfortunately many more of our tenants are finding it increasingly difficult to pay for essentials such as flooring, furniture and white goods.

“We’re really proud of all the work we’re doing to secure and free up funding so people can have these essentials in their homes.”

Strengthening the safety net

Action plan to ensure Scottish Welfare Fund reaches those in most need

Improvements to the way crisis support is delivered in Scotland are set out in a plan published yesterday.

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.

The plan sets out 22 commitments to help the Fund better address unmet need and make decisions more consistent across the country. Actions include a simplified application form, clearer guidance and better promotion to those who may not currently be being reached, including older people.

Improved guidance on referrals to wider services such as debt and welfare advice will also aim to help people with their finances so they can avoid future crisis.  

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Ten years on from the introduction of the Scottish Welfare Fund, it is time to make improvements to ensure it continues to provide lifeline support. These actions will help to ensure that no matter where people live, they can access support they are eligible for in their time of need.

“The current financial pressures facing many households and the hardship that brings has shone a spotlight on the need for such emergency funds, and as the independent review of the fund made clear in March, the inadequacy of UK Government welfare has contributed to increased demand.

“The publication of this plan demonstrates the Scottish Government’s dedication to strengthening our social security system and working to best meet the requirements of people in Scotland.”

The Scottish Welfare Fund Action Plan published in June 2023

Scotland in crisis

The amount given in crisis grants to those most in need has increased by more than a third, latest figures show. The Scottish Welfare Fund paid out a total of £3.2 million in crisis grants between July and September 2019 – 34% more than the same period the previous year.

The Scottish Welfare Fund is distributed by local authorities and provides Crisis Grants and Community Care Grants.

Crisis Grants help families on low incomes with unexpected expenses arising out of an emergency or a disaster. Community Care Grants help those on low incomes live independently in the community or to help people maintain their home in the face of exceptional pressure.

The most common reason families said they applied for emergency funding was because their benefits or other income had been spent – up 33% on the previous year.

Estimates suggest the UK Government’s social security spending in Scotland is set to reduce by £3.7 billion per year by 2021. In addition, the benefit freeze and benefit cap are now in their fourth year.

Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “This is the latest evidence that the UK Government’s swingeing benefit cuts are hitting the poorest in Scotland hardest.

“The large increase in people applying for emergency funding shows how much those on low incomes are struggling just to make ends meet.

“The Scottish Government will not stand by and let people who are already in need continue to face a reliance on food banks and the stress of debt and rent arrears.

“That’s why we are continuing to spend over £100 million each year to mitigate the worst effects of the UK Government welfare cuts – part of the £1.4 billion we spent last year to support low income households.

“This is money we should be able to invest elsewhere to help pull people out of poverty but we instead we need to use it to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.

“We are introducing the Scottish Child Payment to tackle child poverty head on which will start for eligible families with a child under six by Christmas. But there is no doubt that without the cuts inflicted on families by the UK Government this could go so much further.”

Scottish Welfare Fund has helped more than 347,000 ‘struggling’ Scottish households

poverty family JRF

Nearly £210 million has been paid to 347,045 low income households by the Scottish Welfare Fund since it was established in 2013, latest figures show.

Crisis grant applications to the fund for basic essentials such as food and heating increased by 12% from April to June compared to the same period last year.

In addition, for the first time exceptional pressure is the main reason for Community Care Grant applications. Previously, the biggest reason for these applications was helping people to stay in their community.

The fund, which enables local authorities to provide grants for people on low incomes, is part of the Scottish Government’s mitigation efforts for UK Government welfare cuts. Estimates suggest social security spending in Scotland is set to reduce by £3.7 billion per year by 2021.

Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “These are yet more signals of how much families are struggling.

“In the face of UK Government cuts and with the threat of a ‘no deal’ Brexit still alive – the risk is real that tens of thousands more people could be pushed into poverty in Scotland.

“The Scottish Government will not stand by and let people who are already struggling continue to face a reliance on food banks and the stress of debt and rent arrears.

“We will continue to spend at least £100 million each year to mitigate the worst effects of the UK government welfare cuts – part of the £1.4 billion we spent last year to support low income households.

“This is money we should be able to invest elsewhere to help pull people out of poverty but we instead we need to use to protect the poorest and most vulnerable in our country.

“And we are introducing the Scottish Child Payment to tackle child poverty head on. But there is no doubt that without the cuts inflicted on families by the UK Government this could go so much further.”

 

Crisis? What crisis?: More than 336,000 households aided through Scottish Welfare Fund

Scottish Welfare Fund annual spend hits £35 million.

poverty family JRF

People in crisis made more than 165,000 successful applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund in the last financial year, according to the latest statistics.

The Fund paid out £35 million, including £10.4 million in Crisis Grants to people in financial emergency, such as those struggling on low incomes or benefits  – a 14% increase on 2017-18. The money helped people with essentials such as food, heating costs and household items.

A further £24.8 million in Community Care Grants helped those facing extreme financial pressures with one-off costs for purchases including beds, washing machines and cookers.

The Scottish Welfare Fund is part of an annual package of over £125 million to mitigate against the impact of UK Government welfare cuts. Since its launch in April 2013, the Fund has paid out more than £200 million to support over 336,000 households, with a third of recipients being families with children.

Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “We would much rather these resources were invested in anti-poverty measures than protecting our people from another government’s cuts – a positon the UN Special Rapporteur on Poverty recently described as ‘outrageous and unsustainable’.

“The fact that so many households in Scotland are in need of emergency financial help is appalling, and a sad indictment of the UK Government’s record on austerity and welfare changes.

“As their welfare cuts continue to cause harm and damage, we continue to do our best to mitigate against them and provide financial support to low income families and carers through new social security benefits.”

In the UN Special Rapporteur on Poverty report published earlier this year, Professor Philip Alston praised Scotland’s “ambitious” schemes for addressing poverty, including the Fairer Scotland Action Plan and the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan.

He also noted Scotland’s “promising social security system, guided by the principles of dignity and social security as a human right, and co-designed with claimants on the basis of evidence”

The Scottish Government’s response to the Special Rapporteur’s report shows UK Government welfare cuts have increased the risk of deprivation for low-income families across Scotland

The Scottish Welfare Fund statistics

 can be found on the Scottish Government’s website

Emergency cash paid out to 326,000 households across Scotland

poverty family JRF

Nearly a third of a million low income households have accessed emergency funding to help with the costs of essentials such as food and heating in the past six years.

The Scottish Welfare Fund has paid out in excess of £190 million to more than 326,000 households since its first payment on 1 April 2013. Continue reading Emergency cash paid out to 326,000 households across Scotland

“Staggering”: £100 million a year to plug welfare gap

More than £100 million is spent each year to help relieve the worst impact of UK Government welfare cuts and support those on low incomes, the Scottish Government has said. This includes mitigating the bedroom tax for over 70,000 people, saving them an average of £650 a year, and providing £33 million support through the Scottish Welfare Fund, which has helped over 265,000 households since 2013, providing goods such as nappies and food. Continue reading “Staggering”: £100 million a year to plug welfare gap