Emergency grants soar as cost of living crisis bites

● Figures show nearly 200,000 people asked for financial help

A cost of living crisis has seen applications for emergency welfare funds rise by 11 per cent in the last year, with almost 200,000 people in desperate need of money for food and heating according to new figures.

The Scottish Welfare Fund statistics, published yesterday, show that applications for crisis grants rose to 193,230 in 20218/19 – though only 65 per cent were successful, amounting to a pay out of £10.4 million, with the average grant standing at £83.

The shock rise was branded a “sad indictment” of the UK government’s austerity policies by the SNP, but Scottish Labour said that more families could have been helped if the Scottish Government had invested in the Fund’s budget.

The Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) awards community care grants – which help people to live independently – and crisis grants, which provide a safety net in a disaster or emergency. Last year it paid out £24.8m in community care grants, as well as £10.4m in crisis grants, breaching its annual budget of £33m by £2.2m.

Citizens Advice Scotland called for a review of the SWF to ensure it had the appropriate budget, and said the figures showed more was needed to boost people’s incomes and tackle the cost of living – including ensuring people were receiving benefits which they were due.

The figures were announced as the Scottish Government revealed it had created 100 new jobs in Glasgow to deliver the seven new devolved social security benefits by the end of this year.

The statistics showed that 45 per cent of those applying for a crisis grant cited “benefit/income spent” as a reason for needing help while councils reported a delay in the payment of Employment and Support Allowance as being behind the rise.

Crisis grants were most commonly given to help people with “food, essential heating expenses and other living expenses”, while 5,415 grants were awarded to help buy nappies, toiletries and household products, a 74 per cent increase on the previous year.

Social Security Secretary Shirley-anne Somerville said: “The fact that so many households in Scotland are in need of emergency financial help is appalling and a sad indictment of the UK Government’s record on austerity.”