Benefits delays lead to cash plea

Thousands of Scots asked for emergency cash because of delays in getting benefits from the UK Government.

There was also an 8% increase in all applications from Tayside and Fife residents for the Scottish Welfare Fund set up by the Scottish Government to offset the impact of Tory welfare cuts.

Across the country, 17,500 people said they needed a crisis grant in 2016-17 because they could not wait for social security payments.

A total of 165,000 applications were made for the crisis grants.

SNP MSP Sandra White said the delays to benefit payments stand to get worse as universal credit, which has six-week wait for the first payment, is rolled out.

“Tory welfare cuts are having a devastating impact on low-income and disabled people across Scotland, and the botched roll-out of universal credit is just the latest disaster to hit households,” she said.

Some 32,140 applications for crisis and community grants were made last year across Courier Country.

A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “It’s misleading to link crisis grants to delays as the Scottish Government’s own figures show the vast majority of grants it issued were for other reasons.”

She said the Scottish Government has significant welfare powers including flexibility over Universal Credit payments.