Scottish Government urges UK Government to abandon social security reforms

Following yesterday's welfare debate in the Scottish Parliament, Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has urged the UK Government to abandon its social security reforms announced in the Pathways to Work Green Paper.

In her letter to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Liz Kendall Ms Somerville said:

“These plans are being carried out in pursuit of the UK Government self-imposed ‘fiscal rules'. Your own analysis shows that 250,000 people – including 50,000 children – will be pushed into relative poverty by 2029/30. You expect 3.2 million families to lose out financially, with an average loss of £1,720 per year. 96% of those families losing out include a disabled person.

It is therefore reckless and totally unacceptable for the UK Government to press ahead with these proposals. Not least the expected severe impact these measures will have on all our efforts to end child poverty, completely undermining the work of the Child Poverty Taskforce.

See letter in full here: https://bit.ly/UKG-Urged-to-Abandon-Social_Security_Reforms