Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 November 2016
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the UK Government's revised benefit cap on (a) poverty and (b) child poverty in Scotland.
The Scottish Government has serious concerns about the significant increase in the number of households affected by the revised benefit cap particularly since this is yet another cut from the UK Government which will impact hardest on low income families with children. We do not have access to accurate data on the types of households affected so we cannot fully assess the impact of this change but note DWP estimates that around 5,000 Scottish households will be affected, a more than 6 fold increase on current numbers. The average amount of reduction per week is around £60. The recent Chartered Institute of Housing report put the number of Scottish households affected at 6,700 containing 20,000 children. We will continue to monitor this closely as the policy is implemented over the next few months.
Our ability to respond to this is hampered by the reduction in the Scottish Government’s Fiscal DEL budget between 2010-11 and 2019-20 of £3.3 bn, 10.6% in real terms. In 2016/17 we are maintaining our commitment to support people in Scotland affected by the UK Government’s welfare cuts, via the Scottish Welfare Fund (£38m), mitigating the Bedroom Tax (£35m) and through our council tax reduction scheme (£23m). This money would be better spent tackling poverty.