The fund has not been increased since its creation five years ago
Pressure is mounting on the Scottish Government to increase the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) ahead of the Scottish budget.
The fund has not been increased since its creation five years ago, despite thousands of low income Scots turning it for emergency support. This means in real terms there is 7% less funding available for Scotland’s poorest.
More than 300,000 people have benefited from the fund over the last five years, with 16,175 applications made between April and June this year alone.
Scotland’s councils administer the £39 million annual funding for families facing an emergency.
It is designed to help families with anything from domestic appliances to groceries but councils say they often have to turn down applicants because there is not enough cash to meet demand.
The Scottish Unemployed Workers' Network is now calling for the SWF to be increased.
Dr Sarah Glynn of SUWN said: “Spending more on social security makes sound financial sense as failure to provide help at this stage has major financial as well as human consequences.
“There is growing recognition of the need for the Scottish Government to back up its caring social rhetoric with more progressive action.
“Even with the limited devolution that we have, and without full welfare powers or full tax powers, we do have the ability to make more of a difference, and we have the moral duty to use it,” she said.
Holyrood’s Social Security Committee has also lobbied the government for an increase to the fund.
In a letter to social security minister Shirley-Ann Somerville, committee convener Bob Doris, said “It is the view of the committee that funding for the SWF should be increased to address the growing pressure and need.”
The committee also asked for an explanation of how the fund’s allocation is decided and said an increase must not include costs to administer the fund.
Mark Griffin, Scottish Labour’s social security spokesman, said with Universal Credit completing its rollout in Glasgow, Aberdeen and Edinburgh this year, the Scottish Welfare Fund urgently needs its budget increased to help people suffering the “chaos and misery” of Tory welfare reform.
“While the SNP champion how many people have been helped, councils could have handed out 26,000 more crisis grants if the fund had kept pace with inflation,” he said.
“If we want to help people through the worst effect of this pernicious welfare reform, the SNP has to boost the fund substantially. Not only is it time those cuts were reversed but the SNP must come forward with a clear commitment to uprate the fund annually.”
A Scottish Government spokesman told TFN: “The SWF is just part of the £125 million we will spend this year on mitigating the worst impacts of UK government welfare fund cuts, which will reach £3.7 billion by 2020 in Scotland alone.
Referring to the committee’s letter, he said: “We will respond in due course.”
