SCOTLAND’s Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison has said that UK Government policy is "undermining" Holyrood’s attempts to help those living in poverty.
This comes following the release of a report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) which found that nearly one in five households on low incomes in Scotland have gone both hungry and cold this year.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget included removing the cap on bankers’ bonuses with many accusing the Tories of robbing the poor to pay the rich.
Robison said: “Tackling child poverty is a national mission and we are doing everything we can within our limited powers and fixed budget to support those who need it.
“We have allocated almost £3 billion in this financial year to contribute towards mitigating the cost-of-living crisis and almost a third of this support is only available in Scotland.”
The Scottish Government has introduced a range of measures to tackle the ongoing crisis.
This includes increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per week and the introduction of a rent freeze.
Robison continued: “At the same time as we focus on providing direct financial support to people on the lowest incomes, UK Government policy undermines this.
“For example, if welfare reforms introduced since 2015 were reversed, this would put £780 million into the pockets of Scottish households and lift 30,000 children out of poverty in 2023-24.
“The UK Government’s reckless mini-budget will plunge millions of households into financial uncertainty while benefiting the very rich.”
The JRF report included data from a survey by Savanta ComRes of almost 4200 households in July and August this year.
It found that people are “desperately” cutting back, with 65% of respondents saying they have to cut back on an essential while 26% said they cut back on three or more essentials.
The SNP’s Work and Pensions spokesperson Kirsty Blackman MP said the report was “scathing” of the UK Government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis.
She added that they “rightly U-turned” on the decision to abolish plans to reverse the 45p tax cut for top earners.
Blackman said: “It [the report] reveals some truly harrowing statistics about the situation in Scotland, including that one in five low-income households have been cold and hungry at the same time this year already.
“It also points out that the low-income families on mean-tested benefits across the UK face a £450 gap in their finances even after the UK Government’s energy price guarantee.”
She continued on to say that policies introduced by the SNP, including mitigation of the bedroom tax and benefit cap, would go some way in helping, but that the country “could go much further with the full powers of independence”.
Blackman added: “As Challenge Poverty Week begins I am urging the UK Government to wake up to reality.
“Millions are facing the choice between heating and eating, more are in a situation where they cannot do either, and as the cost-of-living crisis continues, everyday more households are falling into, or further into, poverty and destitution.
“Liz Truss must recall Parliament immediately to commit to following through on the Tories’ promise to uprate benefits, as well as doubling the energy payment grant to £800, reinstating the Universal Credit uplift, increasing it to £25 and extending it to legacy benefits, and scrapping debt-inducing policies like the two-child cap, benefit cap and bedroom tax.”
