Social security spending will increase to more than £5.1 billion
per year through the 2023-24 Budget, supporting around a million
people and helping to drive progress towards Scotland’s long-term
aim of eradicating child poverty.
The centrepiece of this investment is the Scottish Child Payment,
which has been increased to £25 per child per week, a 150%
increase since April 2022. It is now available to all eligible
under 16s – around 387,000 children.
All other Scottish benefits will be uprated in April 2023 by
10.1%, at a cost of £428 million and the Scottish Welfare Fund
has been maintained at £41m.
Total spending on social security will be more than £770 million
above the funding received for social security through the UK
Government Block Grant Adjustment.
The Budget also includes:
- £84 million for Discretionary Housing Payment to mitigate
directly the impact of UK Government policies including the
bedroom tax and benefit cap
- £752 million for the affordable housing supply programme to
ensure continued delivery of high quality, affordable homes
across Scotland which can contribute to tackling inequality and
child poverty
Social Justice Secretary said:
“Through this Budget we are taking bold action to address the
deep inequalities in our society – putting more money in people’s
pockets today and working to eradicate child poverty in Scotland.
“Despite the challenging financial position and the corrosive
effect of UK Government economic mismanagement and soaring
inflation on our budget, our child poverty targets remain
ambitious. That is why we are choosing to invest significantly
more in social security than the funding we receive from
Westminster and helping to mitigate the damaging impact of UK
Government welfare cuts.
“The many fair and progressive decisions in this Budget –
including funding for housing, education and transport – will
help to deliver long-term, structural change as we continue to
work with local government colleagues and our partners in the
third sector to tackle poverty and support all of Scotland’s
families to thrive.”
Background
The 2023-24 Budget will tackle child poverty by:
- Forecast investment of £5.1 billion in social security
including devolved benefits and the Scottish Welfare Fund
- Delivering continued investment in the Scottish Child
Payment, increased to £25 per week from November 2022 – one of
five family benefits, four of which are only available in
Scotland
- Uprating all other Scottish benefits in April 2023 by
September CPI (10.1%)
- Investing £752 million in the affordable housing supply
programme
- Providing £80 million of capital funding to support the
expansion of free school meals
- Providing £20 million to extend the Fuel Insecurity Fund into
2023‑24 – a lifeline against rising energy prices
- Continuing to invest in employability programmes that
prioritise people who face complex barriers to accessing the
labour market, including parents
- Continuing to invest around £1 billion in high quality early
learning and childcare provision, with a further £42 million
invested in holiday food provision and expanding our support for
school age childcare.
- Providing £50 million for the whole family wellbeing
programme and a further £30 million to #KeepThePromise to care
experienced children and young people
- Increasing spend on concessionary travel schemes, providing
access to free bus travel for over 2 million people, including
all under 22 year olds.
- Maintaining £200 million annual investment in the Scottish
Attainment Challenge to increase the pace of progress on closing
the poverty‑related attainment gap.
The OBR published its latest Economic and fiscal outlook
alongside the UK Government’s Autumn Statement on 17 November
2022, which included updated Block Grant Adjustment (BGA)
forecasts. These forecasts show that total spending on
social security will be more than £770 million above the funding
received for social security through the BGA
