Covid sees huge rise in Universal Credit claims

Continued from page one. Rixson went further, saying the pandemic was having ‘catastrophic economic consequences’ in Lochaber.

And he added: ‘DWP’s figures show the number of claimants receiving unemployment-related benefits in Ward 11 (Caol and Mallaig) rose by 213 per cent between November 2019 and November 2020 – the fourth worst figures in Highland.

‘Unemployment in Highland, as measured by the number of people aged 16-64 seeking work, increased by 99.6 per cent in Fort William between March and October 2020.

‘Behind these figures there are a lot of families facing really difficult circumstances. Those of us with salaries or pensions are not experiencing the same hardships as those who are seasonal workers or dependent upon casual labour.

‘With the economy marking time there are many families without any earnings at all.And fuel poverty is an increasing issue.’

However, Mr Rixson said one strength of Lochaber is the extraordinary number of community resilience groups – amongst the highest number in all the Highlands.

‘Thank goodness for them and their community larders,’ he told the Lochaber Times. ‘But the Scottish Government should recognise the pandemic has had different economic consequences in different places. Our people have been hit hard. We need a lot more help than visitor management plans and distant rural tourism infrastructure funding. Only it has the resources for large-scale intervention now.’

Highland Council depute leader and chairperson of the recovery board Councillor Alasdair Christie said this scale of increase in the take-up of Universal Credit has not been seen before.

And he warned: ‘The fact that more than a third of the 56 geographical areas within Highland are experiencing such eye-watering increases of more than 100 per cent in the number of Universal Credit claimants, is a real cause for concern and underlines the disproportionate financial impact of Covid-19 for an increasing number of our citizens.’