Poorest in society need targeted help - Alison Johnstone

Coronavirus has reminded us of the importance of having a social security system that provides an adequate, stable income.

Many having to claim Universal Credit or other payments for the first time have been rightly shocked at how low payments are, some of the lowest among comparable industrialised nations.

The past decade has seen an assault on the incomes of some of the poorest people in society from a seemingly never-ending stream of cuts from the UK Government.

It’s not always been this way, and, with new powers over social security, it doesn’t have to.

Just a few weeks ago, the Scottish Government announced it would assess eligibility for devolved disability benefits by paperwork or by phone, not dragging people many miles for humiliating and upsetting assessments. The Scottish Government should be credited for taking this forward, but this was in only one of the main parties’ manifestos at the last election: the Greens’.

Greens were also the only party to advocate for Young Carer Grants, which enjoyed their first birthday just last month. I am delighted that 170 young carers in the region I represent have already benefited from £300 a year.

The Scottish Child Payment, which opened for new applications yesterday, is an important step forward. When it starts to pay out in February, the families of 155,000 children will get £10 a month. I would strongly encourage anyone who believes they might be eligible to visit mygov.scot/benefits or call 0800 182 2222.

But the Scottish Government are premature in calling it a “game-changer” in the battle for child poverty. The estimated three per cent reduction in relative Child Poverty is from an unacceptable high of 24 per cent of children, and this figure is rising.

And the £180m investment is much less than Greens, backed by large swathes of civic Scotland, including the Child Poverty Action Group, have proposed. Our top-up to Child Benefit would have invested over £250m.

Most problematic is take-up. The payment is means-tested, and this often results in fewer people coming forward to claim.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission estimates that less than 75 per cent of eligible families will be receiving the payment when it is fully rolled-out. And that is not even taking into account families who miss out because they don’t claim the qualifying benefits.

And recent reports about the Scottish Welfare Fund, which provides aid to people in income emergencies, reveals how difficult it can be to get means-tested support to those in need.

Charities have complained that Scots are subject to a ‘postcode lottery’ with access to information about the Fund, the ease of application process, the success rates and the amounts granted varying across the country. And not for the first time.

The Poverty Alliance raised the same concerns as far back as 2014 and these have been repeated several times since, not least by the independent Poverty and Inequality Commission. Quite frankly, the Scottish Government has been asleep at the switch on this.

Social Security can indeed be a game-changer in tackling poverty. But for that to be the case, we need to make it as easy as possible for people to apply and get as many people to come forward as we can. At the moment, this is not happening. We can and must do better.

Alison Johnstone is a Green MSP for Lothian region