Welfare state differs in Scotland, says poverty expert

Professor Philip Alston, UN adviser on poverty A UN poverty expert has said Scotland is on “a very different trajectory” to the rest of the UK when it comes to social security.

Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said the “spirit” of the welfare state is “alive and humming” north of the border, but “waning” elsewhere.

He visited the UK last year to compile a report which found austerity policies introduced in 2010 continue to have “tragic social consequences”.

It also claimed Scottish Government attempts to reduce the impact of social security changes were not sustainable.

Speaking at Edinburgh University, he said: “Scotland is spending a lot of money on mitigation, mitigating measures which they see as the least humane policies that come from London. All of this indicates that Scotland is – at least for now – on a very different trajectory than England when it comes to the social protection of its population.”

Prof Alston was speaking at the Ruth Adler Memorial Lecture about the “digital welfare state”.

He warned technology is being used to cut costs and increase surveillance of the poorest, rather than to improve care and security.

Accessing social security was meant to be difficult and not a good means of survival, he added.

He claimed policies which see those seeking access to benefits being made to develop an online presence with the government has created a situation where that information is “waiting to be abused”.

He said that although the UK has the world’s fifthlargest economy, one-fifth of its population (14 million people) live in poverty, and 1.5 million experienced destitution in 2017.