SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT SHIELDING FIFE RESIDENTS FROM TORY BEDROOM TAX
Published date : 05 Dec 2019
Mid Fife and Glenrothes MSP, Jenny Gilruth, has welcomed Scottish Government intervention to protect Fife residents from Tory welfare cuts.
New figures show that 7,995 Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) were made to those on low incomes in Fife between April and September this year.
The total award value spent in Fife in this period was £4,486,938 – with an average award value of £561.
The Scottish Government’s DHP scheme is an extra payment to help with housing costs, including cuts to the local housing allowance and covering in full the impact of the bedroom tax.
Commenting, Jenny Gilruth MSP said:
“The bedroom tax was and remains an attack on those on the lowest incomes.
“The Scottish Government spends millions every year shielding Scots from UK Government welfare policy. That our devolved Government should have to protect its citizens from the cruelty of the UK state is unacceptable and unsustainable.
“We can build something better. Social security should be about compassion and dignity but the Tories have shamelessly presided over a callous and calculated dismantling of the welfare system.
“We must escape Brexit, escape the Tories and put Scotland’s future in Scotland’s hands. Only a vote for the SNP can do that.”
ENDS
Local Reporters
