Rise in number of Scottish households seeking emergency grants
The number of crisis grants handed out by the Scottish Welfare Fund is up 14%.
Last updated 25th Jul 2017
The number of crisis grants handed out to Scots to make ends meet has risen by 14%.
10% of the payments made in the last year were needed due to hold ups to benefit payments, with Holyrood's Social Security Secretary Jeane Freeman criticising the UK Government's "harsh welfare cuts".
She commented as new figures show £34.7 million was awarded to households from the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2016-17.
More than 254,000 families have been cash worth #132.6 million to help them in difficult times since the scheme was launched in April 2013.
Ms Freeman said: “The Scottish Welfare Fund continues to provide a vital lifeline, supporting over a quarter of a million low-income households, who are suffering from emergency and disasters, in the last four years.
“For many, it provides much-needed help for the everyday items that no-one should be denied simply because of the hardship they face.”
Councils received 164,965 requests for help in 2016-17, resulting in 116,830 grants being made worth an average of £79 - with the total value of crisis grants amounting to £9.3 million. That money helps households pay for gas and electricity, food, and bills.
In addition, community care grants - which help families facing exceptional pressures with one-off items such as a cooker or washing machine - totalling £25.4 million were made in 2016-17.
A total of 42,775 grants were awarded, with these having an average value of £595
Between 2015-16 and 2016-17, applications to the fund increased by about 21,250 (10%) - with the rise due to a “a large increase in the number of crisis grant applications”.
These were 15% higher than in 2015-16, according to the Scottish Government report.
About two-fifths (41%) of crisis grants applications were made because people had spent all of their benefit and any other income, a drop of 6% on the previous year.
Just over 17,500 applications were made because of delays in benefit payments, with this reason accounting for about 10% of all crisis grant applications in 2016-17.
Ms Freeman repeated calls for the roll-out of the new Universal Credit benefit to be halted as she pledged the Scottish Government would “continue to do all we can to support hard-pressed families and individuals who are struggling to make ends meet”.
She said: “This year we can now see clearly the impact of the UK Government's harsh welfare cuts and a system that is broken - with around 10% of crisis funding being needed to cope with the severe impact of benefit delays.
“We have repeatedly warned that the UK Government's chaotic roll-out of universal credit, particularly the unreasonable six-week wait for first payment, is having an adverse impact on people.
“Let me repeat again our urgent call for the UK Government to listen to the real-life impact of their policies and immediately halt its roll-out, or risk pushing more households into hardship.
“It is not acceptable in 2017 that people find themselves in these situations through no fault of their own."