Question reference: S5W-07259
- Asked by: Ruth Maguire, MSP for Cunninghame South, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 16 February 2017
-
Current status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 March 2017
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on mitigating the impact in Scotland of the UK Government’s welfare reforms.
Answer
The Scottish Government has invested considerable resource directly mitigating the impact of the UK Government’s welfare cuts. The following table sets out the amount invested to date in a range of different mitigation activities.
|
Welfare Reform Mitigation activity |
Investment made March 2013 to March 2017 |
|
Scottish Welfare Fund |
152.4 |
|
Discretionary Housing Payments |
125 |
|
Council Tax Reduction Scheme |
92 |
|
Welfare Advice Provision |
20 |
|
Addressing Food Poverty |
3 |
|
Other welfare mitigation projects |
4 |
|
Total |
396.4 |
In addition, the Scottish Government has made investment across a range of portfolios to tackle poverty and inequality. This includes increasing access to free childcare, the provision of free school meals and a range of community-led regeneration activity. Much of this will provide additional support people affected by welfare reform.