Scottish Social Justice Secretary announces intention to up-rate all benefits, providing certainty to families

Announcing the Scottish Government's intention to extend the statutory duty to up-rate social security payments in line with inflation to all devolved benefits at the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said:

“Ending child poverty is our single greatest priority. We've already consistently up-rated all benefits in line with inflation, and our intention is to provide certainty to families and put more money in their pockets by making it a legal requirement to annually up-rate all devolved benefits – including Best Start Grants and Best Start Foods. Our action will also deliver more money to households in receipt of our winter heating payments – a commitment that will deliver crucial financial support following the UK Government's recent decision to cut winter fuel payments. All of our action is an estimated investment of £6 million for 2025-26, rising to £12 million in 2029-30.

“Measures delivered by this Scottish Government are making a difference. Modelling in February estimated that Scottish Government policies will keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty this year alone.

“Since 2022-23, we have allocated around £3 billion per year to policies which help tackle poverty and mitigate the impacts of the cost of living crisis on households. We will continue to do all we can to break generational cycles of poverty and give all children a decent start in life.”