TORY CUTS COST FIFERS £3 MILLION
Published date : 08 Jun 2018
TORY CUTS COST FIFERS £3 MILLION
FIFE’S SNP MSPs DEMANDS DEVOLUTION OF FULL SOCIAL SECURITY POWERS
Freedom of Information figures supplied by the Department for Work and Pensions have shown that Fife has lost out on £3,232,951 due to Tory cuts to disability benefit.
The information – requested by investigative news outlet The Ferret – shows the number of people who have lost out on social security benefits following the change from Disability Living Allowance to Personal Independence Payments.
The welfare cuts – taking a total of £56 million away from communities across Scotland – have hit the poorest hardest, leaving vulnerable and disabled people across Fife without enough money to live off.
Glenrothes has been hardest hit, with PIP recipients losing out on a shocking £1,066,540.
Westminster constituencies of Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath, Dunfermline & West Fife and North East Fife have also suffered at the hands of callous Tory cuts to disability benefit losing out on £866,564, £766,576 and £533,270 respectively.
Commenting, Glenrothes MSP Jenny Gilruth said:
“Tory welfare cuts have snatched over £1 million from the most vulnerable in Glenrothes. This is absolutely devastating the communities I represent.
“Glenrothes has been hardest hit – but across Fife every constituency has been affected. I see the affects of these cuts on a daily basis – our welfare system is meant to look after people. Instead the Tories cuts are punishing the poorest. It is shameful.
“The Scottish Government is establishing a new social security agency, which puts dignity and respect at its heart. However, these figures continue to show just how damaging Tory welfare cuts have been.
“Only with full powers over social security can Scotland treat all of those in need of support with the respect they deserve, not the cruelty they currently face under a toxic Tory government.”
Kirkcaldy MSP David Torrance also hit out at the cuts:
“I am disgusted at the amount of complaints my office has received from constituents regarding the transition from DLA to PIP. The UK government should be trying to tackle these issues instead of further increasing the poverty gap and penalising those who need help.
“The Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath Westminster constituency will be one of the hardest hit communities in Scotland, losing about £850,000. The Tories have taken this funding out of the local economy, so it is not surprising that we are seeing increased demand for food banks and related services.
“This is completely unacceptable, and the responses thus far have been disappointing and unsatisfactory. The Tories should be ashamed of themselves.”
MSP for Dunfermline and West Fife, Shirley-Anne Somerville said:
“It’s a disgrace that hundreds of disabled people across Dunfermline and West Fife have lost their PIP entitlement as a result of the UK Government’s callous cuts to welfare.
“This dangerous policy is forcing people into poverty and lowering the living standards of vulnerable people in need of support.
“Scotland needs full powers over welfare, so that we can ensure that people in need of support are treated with dignity and respect.”
Annabelle Ewing MSP for Cowdenbeath added:
“I am appalled at the extent to which my constituents have lost out as DLA claims have been re-assessed with the transition to PIP.
“This is the austerity agenda in action. No doubt, Tories will see these figures as a great saving; to me they are a downright disgrace, a damning indictment of everything that is wrong with the Westminster Government and the way in which it shelters the very rich while attacking those who have very little.
“The job of government should be to help those in need, not to punish them. I am proud of the Scottish Government’s record in that regard: where possible, stepping in to mitigate the worst excesses of the Tories and working to build a fairer welfare system for the future here in Scotland.”
ENDS
Notes:
Revealed: £56m cuts to disability payments hit Scotland’s poorest hardest:https://theferret.scot/56m-cuts-disability-scotland-poorest/
Local Reporters, East Fife Mail, Glenrothes Gazette, Courier (Fife), COMMUNITY, RESERVED
