Housing benefit

the Scottish Governemnt today responded to a new Institute of Fiscal Studies report, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), that looks at the benefit system in the context of 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said:

"We agree with the IFS that independence will “provide Scotland with an opportunity to redesign our benefits system to reflect the priorities of the Scottish people” and address some of the problems caused by Westminster’s policies.

"Crucially this report shows that it is the poorest in Scotland that have been hardest hit by the UK’s tax and benefit changes and that welfare needs in Scotland are different to those of other parts of the UK.

"This report confirms that people in Scotland are paying the price for high levels of housing benefit in London with a bedroom tax designed to solve a problem we simply do not have.

"The UK’s one size fits all policy is simply wrong when housing benefit in London is more than twice the level it is in Scotland.

"With independence this government will scrap the bedroom tax and put in place welfare policies that meet Scotland’s needs, including the protection for pensioners offered by the triple lock which Age Scotland have said is essential to ensure pensions keep up with price rises.

"The IFS figures confirm the work of the Expert Group of welfare and highlight that that relative to Great Britain share of spend in Scotland has been reducing – a fact pointed out by the Expert working Group showing the extent to which London skews the picture of welfare spending across the UK. Spending on old age benefits in Scotland is less than in 6 of the nine English regions.

"Social protection, which includes expenditure on welfare, is currently more affordable in Scotland than the UK as a whole. With the boost to the working population that can be delivered by using the full economic levers of independence to grow the economy we can ensure Scotland’s welfare policy fits Scotland’s needs."