​Rigged and vindictive benefits system is the main driver of destitution in Scotland, finds a hard hitting charity report

Gaping holes in the social security net meant to cradle the most vulnerable are plunging people into misery and hunger.

A benefits system which is at best inefficient and at worst vindictive and cruel is the main mixer in a toxic brew which also includes low pay, rising prices and job insecurity.

The human cost, as revealed in a major charity report, is destitution with people in 21st century Scotland having to choose between heating and eating.

Citizen’s Advice Scotland (CAS) today unveils a new survey into the effects of poverty, called Living At The Sharp End.

Its main finding is that the Westminster designed social security system is failing to provide the essential safety net meant to stop people falling into destitution.

This report makes clear that the social security system is simply not working for the most vulnerable people in our society

The report is based on Scottish Citizen’s Advice Bureaux (CAB) evidence over the last four years, as well as a survey of CAB clients with a special focus groups of those who are living in severe poverty.

It shows that last year one in every 42 Scottish CAB enquiries resulted in advice regarding foodbanks and that one in three of these came from adults with children dependent on them.

Between 2012/13 and 2014/15, advice regarding crisis support grants increased by 134% and almost two thirds of survey respondents (63%) said they cut down on gas and electricity and 71% said they regularly have to cut down on food.

Over half said money worries have had an impact on their physical health, and 64% said it had impacted on their mental health.

Meanwhile, the proportion of advice being sought in relation to rent arrears last year was a third higher (34%) than it had been the year before.

The report authors identified changes to the benefits system – and a tightening of the punitive sanctions stranglehold on claimants – as a main driver of misery.

When the system is not being unfair in either moving the goalposts for claimants or punishing them for minor indiscretions, it is guilty of gross incompetence, with administrative errors and the complications caused by transition between benefits all hammering those already struggling to cope.

CAS head of policy Susan McPhee said: “The evidence we present is a look not just at the statistics – though those are shocking enough. It is an attempt to look beyond the figures and show what it actually means to be living in severe poverty in Scotland today.

“When reports like this have been published in the past, the standard reaction of the UK government has been to say that there is a support network in place that prevents people falling into destitution.

“Our evidence today shows beyond dispute that this is simply not the case. If it were, there would be no need for foodbanks at all, yet Scottish CABs had to give foodbank advice over 7,000 times last year, and our report shows that too many Scottish families are struggling in severe poverty.

“As our new Prime Minister takes office, this report makes clear that the social security system is simply not working for the most vulnerable people in our society.

“We make a number of recommendations in our report about how to improve this, and we want to work with both governments to make those changes happen. But it is clear that action is needed now.”

Among CAS’s recommendations for positive reform of the benefits system – sections of which will fall under the remit of the Scottish Parliament under the terms of the post-referendum Smith agreement – are that the freeze on working age benefits be lifted and be increased, that they be equalised at the higher rate for those either side of 25 and that so-called waiting days at the start of a claim are abolished.

CAS also says there should be a full scale, independent review of the sanctions system and that the Scottish Government and local authorities should better raise awareness of already existing means of mitigating Westminster sanctions, such as the Scottish Welfare Fund, which can provide crisis grants.

This was a point picked up on by Peter Kelly, director of the Poverty Alliance.

He told TFN: “This important report from CAS shows that for too many people our social security system is not working.

“The growing number of people presenting for advice on foodbanks is worrying and we must act quickly to reverse this trend. We are particularly concerned that two thirds of CAB clients seeking advice on foodbanks did not have children, and 60% lived on their own.

“Ongoing cuts to benefits, especially for single working age adults, have left people without enough money to live on.

“The Scottish Government should use new powers to top up benefits for working age adults. As part of a comprehensive national anti-poverty strategy we need to ensure that both families with children and those without children are given the support they need.”

The DWP said the report failed to take into account the latest statistics on poverty in Scotland.

A spokeswoman said: "Work is the best route out of poverty and since 2010 there are 140,000 more people in work in Scotland.

"We're also continuing to spend around £90 billion a year on working-age benefits, supporting the most vulnerable in society."