The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Demand soaring for crisis grants right across Fife
More than 10,500 applications for help approved last year
A massive increase in the number of Fifers seeking crisis grants to help feed their families and heat their homes has been recorded over the past five years.
Concern about the impact of welfare reforms has been raised after new figures revealed 10,680 applications for assistance were approved in the kingdom last year. The figure is more than double the 4,045 processed in 2013-14 and 14% up on 2016-17’s figure.
Mid Scotland and Fife Green MSP Mark Ruskell said the introduction of Universal Credit had put “considerable strain” on local authorities and had thrust many local families into hardship.
Social Security Secretary Shirley Anne-Somerville said she was “dismayed” by the numbers needing emergency help.
More Scots are being forced to apply for crisis grants to help feed their families and heat their homes, it has emerged.
Since the Scottish Welfare Fund was set up in 2013, £173 million has been given to people in need of help to buy essential items, with 306,305 households helped out.
But applications for crisis grants – often seen as a last resort for those in need – have soared in many areas, with Fife among the hardest hit.
The number of crisis grants awarded in the kingdom has more than doubled in the last five years, rising from 4,045 in 2013-14 to a 10,680 last year.
The 2017-18 figure is also 14% up on the year before, and there are concerns the situation is likely to get worse still, given the substantial number of claimants waiting to be transferred to Universal Credit.
Mid Scotland and Fife Green MSP Mark Ruskell described the introduction of Universal Credit as a “shambles” which has put “considerable strain” on local authorities and thrust many families into hardship.
“Universal Credit is responsible for this massive increase in Fife’s crisis grant expenditure, as people seek assistance in the face of rent arrears, potential homelessness, and a lack of food.
“The Conservatives’ so-called ‘welfare reform’ is nothing other than a vindictive attack on our welfare state, and despite the rhetoric, low wages often mean work is no longer a way out of poverty.”
According to the new figures, Fife has seen one of the biggest rises in the number of crisis grant applications dealt with, although there have been falls in Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross council areas.
Fife has shelled out £897,955 in the past year on crisis grants, with applicants getting an average pay-out of £84 to help make ends meet.
Shirley-Anne Somerville, Scotland’s social security secretary, said she was “dismayed that so many people find themselves in the position of needing to access emergency help”. She added: “As the UK Government persists with the roll-out of Universal Credit, forcing more and more families into poverty, we are going to continue to see an increase in people needing such support.”
A UK Government spokeswoman said: “Universal Credit replaces an outof-date, complex benefits system that discouraged people moving into work.
“We are spending around £90 billion a year on working-age benefits, including for those on low incomes.
“Meanwhile, Scotland has significant welfare powers, including to top-up existing benefits, pay discretionary payments and create entirely new benefits altogether.”