130,000 LEFT IN BENEFIT ANGUISH

THE SNP have abandoned 130,000 disabled Scots to Tory assessments by delaying new benefit powers, Labour claimed yesterday.

Kezia Dugdale’s party seized on figures showing tens of thousands of working-age Scots receiving Disability Living Allowance are due to be assessed for the new Personal Independence Payments.

The ability to end the tests was handed to Holyrood as part of The Vow of more powers published in the Record in the run-up to the independence referendum.

But the Scottish Government last year asked Westminster to keep control of certain benefits until 2020.

The arrangement, known as “split competence”, means MSPs have “legislative competence” over the benefits but will only acquire the “executive competence” for putting any changes into practice in 2020.

Labour’s Mark Griffin said: “The SNP’s decision to delay the powers means that 130,000 Scots will be assessed under the current system. That is a dereliction of duty.”

A spokesman for SNP social security minister Jeane Freeman said: “There is no delay to the devolution of these social security powers.

“Labour should know that it is only once we have the legislative framework in place – which is currently under way – that it is possible to start delivering the social security payments.”