The Scottish Government is providing £8.6 million in direct support for people affected by the UK benefit cap as part of its work to tackle child poverty.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently published guidance on the annual benefits uprating which will see State Pension and most benefits increase by 10.1 per cent from April 10. The benefit cap will also rise in line with inflation, this will see it increase from £20,000 to £22,020 for families and the lower cap for single households without children going up from £13,400 to £14,753.
The additional funding from the Scottish Government will see an estimated 4,000 families - with around 14,000 children - now able to apply for extra financial support through their local council’s Discretionary Housing Payments scheme.
