People in receipt of benefits would be better protected and
treated with more dignity and respect in an independent Scotland,
Social Justice Secretary will tell MSPs
today.
Ministers would be able to build on the progress the Scottish
Government has already made in creating a fairer system with
limited powers, Ms Somerville will say in a debate on recently
published proposals for Social Security in an Independent
Scotland.
She will also renew calls for the UK Government to introduce an
‘essentials guarantee’ to ensure that social security benefits
are always enough to cover the cost of basic vital items such as
food and heating.
Ms Somerville is expected to say:
“Our early priorities would be removing policies like the
two-child limit, the rape clause and the benefit cap. We plan to
replace the Universal Credit advanced loans with grants, we could
end the punitive sanctions regime and we could remove the young
parent penalty. We also propose to roll back planned changes to
reserved sickness and disability benefits and to do more to help
unpaid carers.
“These are early changes we would prioritise among others, to
directly improve the lives of people in receipt of benefits and
make the right steps towards an essentials guarantee.
“The best performing independent countries of Scotland’s size
show that a strong social safety net can be the foundation of a
dynamic, innovative and productive economy. I have no doubt that
over time, Scotland can match the performance of other
independent European countries that have low levels of poverty
and inequality and high levels of economic success.
“With independence Scotland has potential to deliver
transformational change building on our success to date, bringing
a fairer, more equal society and ensuring everyone has enough
money to live a decent, dignified, healthy life.”
Background
Building a New Scotland paper on
Social security in an independent Scotland
Scottish Budget: 2024 to
2025
Scottish Child Payment
statistics
The Scottish Government funds local authorities to provide
Discretionary Housing Payments, to help mitigate UK Government
policies including the ‘bedroom tax’ and the benefit cap. The
2024-5 budget, if passed by Parliament, will increase this
funding by £6.8 million (8%) to £92.7 million. £2.2 million will
be distributed to councils to cover administration of the
funding.
Modelling estimates that 90,000 fewer children will live in
relative and absolute poverty in 2023-24 as a result of this
Government’s policies, with poverty levels 9% points lower than
they would have otherwise been.
This includes lifting an estimated 50,000 children out of
relative poverty through our Scottish Child Payment
