New research shows that Scottish Government mitigation of cruel Tory policies makes up for a loss of around £2,500 per family in Scotland who are impacted by austerity.
The second Building A New Scotland Paper, published on Thursday, outlines stats showing how the Scottish Government is mitigating the cruel Tory bedroom tax with £68m in 2022/23, supporting 91,000 households.
Also, 4,000 households across Scotland are being supported by the Scottish Government to mitigate the impact of the benefit cap, costing £10m in 2022/23.
By contrast, the SNP Scottish Government is building a social security system built on fairness, dignity and respect with the introduction of game-changing support such as the Scottish Child Payment.
However, the majority of welfare powers still lie with Westminster.
Commenting, SNP MSP Elena Whitham said:
“The SNP Scottish Government is spending millions of pounds a year protecting households from brutal Tory cuts, but, clearly, it shouldn’t be for Holyrood to clean up the mess the Tories are making.
“In Scotland, we are building a social security system in Scotland built on fairness, dignity and respect by introducing game-changing policies such as the Scottish Child Payment.
“But whilst employment powers and the vast majority of welfare spending remains reserved to Westminster, Scotland will always be tackling poverty with one hand tied behind its back.
“We cannot continue to wait for the UK government to act while we continue to mitigate for cruel Westminster policies.
‘The only way to escape that and build a fairer, more equal society is with independence.”
