Finance minister Derek Mackay has been urged to boost funding for the Scottish Welfare
Fund.
The finance minister is being urged to increase investment in the Scottish Welfare Fund after figures revealed soaring numbers of people applying for emergency payments.
Campaign group A Menu for Change has sent a letter to Derek Mackay asking him to respond to growing demand by bolstering the fund, which saw 51,715 applications in the last quarter - a 16% rise over the previous year’s figures.
Delivered by local authorities, the fund is the only scheme of its kind in the UK. It offers an additional cash-based safety net for people facing an income crisis in Scotland, but has faced a funding freeze since 2013.
A Menu for Change, a partnership between the Poverty Alliance, Oxfam Scotland, Nourish Scotland, and the Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland, say this has led to councils being reluctant to advertise the fund for fear of being unable to cope with the demand. A recent study found just 35% of Scots would know to apply for a grant if they could not afford food.
Margaret MacLachlan, project manager at A Menu for Change, said: “In a country like ours nobody should struggle to put food on the table, yet in the last year 600,000 emergency food parcels have been distributed in Scotland. That simply cannot be right.
“People across Scotland are being pulled into crisis by a weakened social security system, low pay and insecure work. The best way of preventing this is to ensure that people have secure and reliable incomes from both work and basic social security entitlement.
“However, where people don’t have this security, the Scottish Welfare Fund provides a vital additional safety net for those who are in need of emergency cash support in order to pay for food.
“Yet the fund has been cut in real terms since 2013; putting pressure on local authorities delivering it at a time when the numbers of people being swept into crisis has increased. Next week’s budget must therefore include an increase in funding for this vital lifeline for people who are struggling to stay afloat.”
Alexander Glasgow, from Caithness, is among those who have benefited from a crisis grant.
“The crisis grant was a lifeline for me when I needed it most, so I know how important it is that people know about it and can access it,” he said.
“I have been out of paid work and on Employment Support Allowance for over 15 years after a psychiatric crisis when I was a student halted what could have been a successful career in radiography.
“An error with my benefit payments meant I had no money coming in at all for a month. The grant allowed me to buy essentials and heat my home.”
