Hit rock bottom
Benefits awareness move
people live independently, has meant the council went over their monthly budget for awarding grants eight times out of nine.
The North Lanarkshire SWF has an annual budget of £2.9 million with almost £2.2 million having been handed out already.
However, the council’s finance convener Bob Burrows told the Wishaw Press that the situation could get even worse over the next two years.
He said: “As a result of Scottish Government changes to the funding arrangements for the Scottish Welfare Fund which took effect from April 2016, North Lanarkshire Council will see a reduction in funding in each of the next three years culminating in a total reduction of £411,000 per annum by 2019.
“This means less money available for local people who apply for grants to support them and their families.
“Although North Lanarkshire has high levels of deprivation and a higher than average Airdrie and Shotts MSP Alex Neil has called on constituents to claim the benefits that they are entitled to, following the launch of a Scottish Government awareness campaign.
Throughout Scotland, it was estimated that there were over 500,000 cases of individuals or families not claiming the tax credits and other main income-related benefits they were entitled to in 2014-15 .
The campaign seeks to correct this by raising awareness through a week of radio and press adverts.
Alex said:“It is vitally important families and individuals get the support they are entitled to and the support they need – and I encourage everyone across my constituency to number of applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund, we are receiving proportionately less funding.
“We will spend every penny of the money allocated to us to help families in need, but we have to prioritise applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund and make best use of the funding available. We will continue to lobby the Scottish Government to ensure areas with the highest need, receive the most money.”
Labour list MSP Richard Leonard insisted both the Tories check what support they can receive through the social security system. The initiative has the backing of a number of key social security organisations, including Citizens Advice Scotland, One Parent Families Scotland and Age Scotland – and CAS are working closely with the Scottish Government in providing a dedicated web page with all information on benefits and tax credits. People throughout North Lanarkshire might be missing out on a whole range of benefits they are entitled to – causing their existing income to become increasingly stretched and leaving many in financial difficulty. By raising awareness there is a whole range of benefits people can claim, we can help to alleviate the difficulties many people face.”
See www.citizensadvice.org. uk/scotland/benefits/ and the SNP were responsible for the horrific figures.
He added: “The Tory welfare cuts are an attack on the poorest in our community. The fact that more and more people are being forced to go to the local council for grants and use our foodbanks is a direct result of this attack.
“The fact that the SNP Government have asked for powers over welfare to be delayed demonstrates that they are not interested in doing anything positive to help those that rely on benefits to survive.
“The targeting of the poor is what we have come to expect from the Tories.
“The SNP, who have the opportunity to defend people in Scotland from the latest round of cuts, have chosen to do nothing and delay using the powers they have.
“It’s time we had a real plan to build our economy, to get people back into stable, secure employment and to start funding our public services properly again.”