Meeting of the Parliament 23 November 2022
I am a bit pushed for time, but I am sure that Mercedes Villalba will be able to speak in the debate.
Moreover, for many households who are struggling to meet their housing costs, discretionary housing payments are a lifeline that the Government funds by providing £86.6 million to local authorities this year. That provision mitigates the benefit cap and the bedroom tax. We wish that we did not have to undertake those mitigations, but we take that action to support people, and we have done for several years with regard to the bedroom tax. The fact that we have to invest that money at all shows that the UK Government’s welfare system continues to be badly designed and wrong-headed. That is why we continue to push for it to reverse those policies and stop putting people at risk of homelessness.
In contrast, Social Security Scotland is now successfully delivering 12 devolved benefits, including seven that are available only in Scotland and not elsewhere in the UK, among them the Scottish child payment. From next year—February 2023—our 13th benefit, our new winter heating payment, which will be backed by £20 million, will provide around 400,000 people on low incomes with a reliable annual £50 towards the costs of heating their homes in the winter. That is part of the allocation of almost £3 billion in this financial year to help to mitigate the increased costs of living, with over £1 billion of that support available only in Scotland.
The Government welcomes the debate and looks forward to listening to the contributions from members.
I move amendment S6M-06898.2, to leave out from “Scottish Government’s” to end and insert:
“Home Owners’ Support Fund is a demand-led mortgage rescue programme to support low-income homeowners facing difficulty meeting payments to stay in their property through moving to either a rent or shared-equity scheme; notes that the Scottish Government is already reviewing the eligibility criteria of the Fund in light of the cost of living crisis; acknowledges the actions taken by the Scottish Government to also support people in the rented sector during the current cost crisis through the actions in the Cost of Living (Tenant Protection) (Scotland) Act 2022 and through up to £86.6 million in Discretionary Housing Support; calls on the UK Government to ensure that there is an adequate social security net to support people in time of hardship, including homeowners with mortgages; believes that the current nine-month wait for loan-only support with mortgages within Universal Credit is too long, and agrees that this is one of the many areas where Universal Credit is not fit for purpose.”
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