The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Welfare cuts ‘to cost the north £142m’
Cost: Women, disabled and young ‘hit hardest’
Tory welfare cuts will cost claimants in the north and north-east of Scotland £142million, according to new official analysis.
Civil servants have totted up the impact of welfare spending cuts from the Conservatives to forecast the multimillion loss by 2021.
Scottish Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman said women, disabled people, young adults and children would be those disproportionately affected by nearly £4billion cuts in Scotland.
Ms Freeman said: “These cuts are damaging our people and they are harmful to our communities.
“Every pound taken away from those entitled to financial support not only affects those individuals and their families, it is also a pound less that is spent locally.
“Shockingly, with many of the harshest cuts still to come, the reforms will reduce spending on welfare in Scotland by nearly £4billion a year by the end of this decade.”
The report estimated the impact of all welfare measures passed by the UK Government between 2010 and 2017, drawing upon independent analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
The analysis showed each working adult in Aberdeen was set to lose £156 a year and those in the Highlands £252 per year. The total cut by council area was £37million for Highland, £18million for Angus, £4million for Western Isles, £12million for Argyle and Bute, £3million for Orkney, £13million for Moray, £3million for Shetland, £27million for Aberdeenshire and £25million for Aberdeen.
Under the Scotland Act 2016, Holyrood is taking on new welfare powers, which means MSPs will be able to offset the impact of any cuts made at Westminster.
The Scottish Parliament already has responsibility for income tax, allowing it to raise rates to pay for a more generous welfare system north of the border.
“These cuts are damaging our people and they are harmful to our communities.”