Scotland and UK to start Brexit Bill talks
TORIES’ WAR ON THE POOR
THE UK and Scottish Governments will open talks on proposed amendments to the Brexit repeal Bill this week, David Mundell has announced.
The Scottish Secretary said an “amendments forum” would take place in the coming days to discuss changes put forward by the Scottish and Welsh governments.
First Ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Carwyn Jones have branded the EU withdrawal Bill a “power grab” – a term that Mundell said he was “disappointed” was still being used.
He told Westminster’s Scottish Affairs Committee that officials would soon meet to begin “detailed discussions” over the proposed SNP amendments to the legislation, which will transpose EU law into UK law.
Mundell said: “We’ve been quite clear we would look at all amendments seriously if they were brought forward not to wreck the Bill but brought forward to make it better, more in line with achieving its objectives, and that’s what we’re doing.”
Scottish Brexit Minister Mike Russell said: “The upcoming meetings between the Scottish Government and UK Government provide another opportunity to set out the fundamental flaws in the Withdrawal Bill.
“The UK Government now say they will respect the devolution settlement so they should have no difficulty in accepting the Scottish and Welsh amendments so devolution can be protected.”
UNIVERSAL Credit has plunged Scots into poverty, caused a spike in rent arrears and put an extra strain on cash-strapped councils, a Record investigation has found.
Information obtained under freedom of information laws exposes the devastating impact of the controversial welfare reform as it is rolled out across Scotland today.
In East Lothian – where UC was introduced on March 3 last year – claimants have already racked up almost £250,000 of debt because they could not afford to pay their rent.
The local council have been inundated with applications from desperate residents looking for crisis loans because the welfare system has left them penniless.
The evidence from an area of Scotland used as a guinea pig for the benefit highlights how much damage it is causing.
But the Tories have refused to halt the rollout – which expands to Kilmarnock and Cumnock today – despite losing a symbolic Commons vote last week.
East Lothian Council revealed they have raised their rent collection bad debt provision by £255,000 and released a further £100,000 to the rent income team.
Other consequences of the rollout of the benefit – which replaces six existing benefits in one monthly payments – include: ● A 16 per cent increase in crisis grants demand from the Scottish Welfare Fund. ● An eight per cent increase in community care grant demand. ● An estimated extra £29,714 required for Scottish Welfare Fund payments. ● A further £7160 in discretionary housing payments.
The findings echo those of a recent report into the full impact of UC in East Lothian.
A survey by East Lothian Council’s revenues and welfare support service found three-quarters of UC claimants struggled financially before receiving their first payment.
Anger over the rollout of the new welfare payments has been focused on the way the initial wait for payments leaves claimants without money for long stretches.
In East Lothian, 82 per cent waited six to eight weeks for their first payment, with the remainder left without cash for even longer.
The survey of 209 people also found that 53 per cent of claimants needed a loan from their families, 28 per cent had to get a benefit advance, 10 per cent had to apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund and 14 per cent went to a food bank.
After three months on UC, only 36 per cent felt that they were coping with payments and 46 per cent said their financial situation had got worse and they had plunged into debt.
SNP MSP Joan McAlpine said the revelations were further proof the Tories must stop the rollout.
She said: “It’s already taking its toll on real people, creating hardship and financial difficulties.
“And despite being an uncaring policy designed to save money, it’s actually proving very costly indeed – shifting the problems on to local councils who have to find the cash to mitigate the effects.
“It’s unfair, counterproductive and proof that this callous Tory policy has utterly failed.”
Labour MP for East Lothian Martin Whitfield added: “The Tories have made a complete and utter mess of rolling out Universal Credit – that’s why Labour are demanding that they pause and fix it.
“In East Lothian we have seen the effects, with poverty and debt just exacerbated. The whole process is a shambles that ministers will not be able to ignore for much longer.”
Despite claims from Tory backbenchers that ministers are “listening” to concerns, the Department for Work and Pensions insist there are no imminent plans to amend the system.