Bid to ease reform effects

FIFE FAMILIES affected by welfare reform will be supported by Fife Council.

That was the message from local councillors after they agreed to support plans to mitigate the impact of the UK Government’s changes to the benefits system.

Members of the local authority’s executive committee approved proposals put forward by the region’s seven area committees to improve adult numeracy and literacy and help people find new jobs.

It comes after the Scottish Government awarded an additional £92,000 to Fife’s £1 million budget to help vulnerable people.

While welcoming the cross-party support for the plans, council leader David Ross said there is only so much the local authority can do to offset the scale of such reform.

“There is a limit to what Fife Council can do here,” he said. “These are national issues and we are right in having taken robust policy stands. There is scope for joint action at a political level but there is only so much the council can do at a practical level. It is complex.”

Councillors also approved proposals for a study to investigate the implications for people currently claiming Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in Fife, who from next year will have to claim through the new Personal Independence Payments scheme.

There is already widespread concern about the negative impact these changes could have on claimants with disabilities.

Councillors from across the political spectrum reiterated their opposition to the welfare reforms and, in particular, hit out at the impact that sanctions imposed by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is having on vulnerable families and individuals.

Mr Ross added: “I am also greatly concerned by the impact of sanctions applied to people in Fife for supposedly failing to meet increasingly harsh conditions of their benefits.

“Some of the stories that reach us show these to be clearly unfair and the evidence is that most of those who appeal against them are successful.

“Part of the problem is we just don’t get the information we need from the DWP about the number and reasons for people being sanctioned in Fife.

“I have written again to Lord Freud, the minister for the DWP, urging him to release the information we need to target our support and services on those who need it.”

SNP leader Peter Grant welcomed measures to help vulnerable families but said targeting the funding properly would be crucial.

“We need to keep our eyes on what we spend money on but we need to make sure we spend that money as effectively as possible,” he said.

Picture: George McLuskie. Robert Turcan of Lindores House, Lindores, near Newburgh, will be opening his garden as part of Scotland’s Gardens scheme on Sunday.