More families are needing a helping hand Council has to pay out around £130,000 each month

Emergency handouts to skint Renfrewshire families are continuing to rocket as Tory welfare policies hit even harder, new figures reveal.

Council paymasters are handing out around £ 50,000 a month in crisis grants and almost £80,000 a month in community care grants.

The Social Welfare Fund statistics show Renfrewshire Council distributed £ 108,000 in March, £68,000 in February and £68,000 in January this year in Community Care disbursements.

This cash is to help the poorest in the community to continue to live independently in their own homes.

Local authority paymasters shelled out £ 50,000 in March, £45,000 in February and £53,000 in January 2018, in crisis grants to hard-up households.

This money provides a safety net in the event of a household emergency or when a vulnerable family suddenly runs out of cash.

While cash spent on community care grants has increased by six per cent already this year compared to 2017, with some £244,000 being handed out in the first quarter of 2018.

Funds distributed in crisis handouts has shot up by 11 per cent in the first three months of year, when compared to 2017, with £ 147,000 paid out in crisis grants.

Renfrewshire Council processed 360 community care grants averaging £ 675 each and 1,975 crisis handouts averaging £75 each in the first quarter of this year.

Data shows 39,410 Community Care Grants and 118,750 Crisis Grants were made by local authority bosses in 2017/18.

Shirley-Anne Somerville, social security minister, said: “Any of us can face an unexpected expense. But that is harder to absorb if you are already struggling to survive. At those times it is only right that government offers support rather than a cold shoulder.

“And that is why the Scottish Government created the Scottish Welfare Fund, a vital lifeline for people in times of need, allowing them to cover the everyday necessities that many of us take for granted.

“I am pleased that the fund has been able to help nearly 300,000 households across the country.

“But I’m also angry that the damaging and continuing UK Government cuts to welfare are pushing more and more people into poverty.”