Question reference: S4W-16409
- Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Cumbernauld and Kilsyth, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 10 July 2013
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Current status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 6 August 2013
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the cumulative impact on the household income of (a) couples with children and (b) single people with children by 2017-18 of the provisions in the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Act 2013 and the impact of this on the Scottish Government’s priorities.
Answer
The Scottish Government estimates that the reduction in benefit expenditure in Scotland as a result of the UK Government’s welfare reforms could reach over £4.5 billion by 2015, of which around £1 billion relates directly to children. This includes changes to the uprating of benefits during this period. We have not carried out any specific analysis on the cumulative impact of the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Act 2013 on different household types.
Based on the Resolution Foundation’s analysis of the 2012 Autumn statement, the Scottish Government estimates that around 1 million working age households in Scotland will be affected by the 1% benefit uprating of which 700,000 of these households will have someone in work. The Institute of Fiscal Studies estimates that affected households with someone in work will lose £165 a year on average.
We continue to work with our partners and other organisations in Scotland to understand the impact of all aspects of welfare reform on Scottish Government priorities and mitigate the worst impacts where possible.