Did you mean Scottish Welfare find?
Shona Robison: We recognise that. Many of the things that I have already talked about will help people with disabled family members. The Scottish welfare fund, which we also fund, is available to families that have someone with a disability. We will continue to look at what more we can do within the context of a very constrained financial outlook. We are already spending £460 million above the level of...
Munira Wilson: I am happy to congratulate the Scottish Government, as it has long been Liberal Democrat policy to extend free school meals to all primary-age children. I am happy to welcome that development in Scotland. The new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities—or the old one, because they keep changing— the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), told a...
Mark Griffin: I did not say that that was in the gift of the Scottish Government. I set out a series of policies that were dismissed and then adopted by the UK and Scottish Governments. However, I should point out that they were also dismissed by, and then supported by, Scottish National Party MPs at Westminster. Perhaps that escaped the member. For months now, people who were managing have found...
Colin Smyth: ...of the bill through the UK Parliament, even if it was described as a “landmark” two-year price guarantee but has now been shredded to a six-month freeze. The devolved provisions that require Scottish Parliament consent are likely to be limited in practice and we welcome the efforts of the Scottish Government to seek assurances that the direction-giving powers will not be used to cut...
...in our society, which undoubtedly include disabled groups. The £3 billion that I mentioned will, of course, be of benefit in many respects to people who live with disabilities; the fuel insecurity fund is one example of that. Within the fixed budget and limited powers that we have, we will continue to do as much as we can to mitigate the impact of the cost of living crisis. Of course, the...
Elena Whitham: The combination of the emergency measures with increases to the tenant grant fund and discretionary housing payments, and flexibilities to allow cost of living and fuel poverty issues to be considered, means that there is support for people who cannot afford to cover all their housing costs at this time. It is vital that those funds, as well as the Scottish welfare fund, are publicised and...
Anas Sarwar: ...Minister to be bolder and more ambitious, because this is not a time for timidity or delay. Our “Emergency Cost of Living Act” included a rent freeze and a winter eviction ban—we welcome the Scottish Government’s action in that regard—but it also included halving rail fares, capping bus fares, a £100 water bill rebate, writing off school meal debts, topping up the Scottish...
Pam Duncan-Glancy: The cabinet secretary will be well aware that the announcements on the Scottish child payment were made on 9 December last year, in relation to doubling the payment, and in the child poverty delivery plan in March, to add a fiver to it. The date that was announced yesterday is the new bit, which is why people who are in receipt of the Scottish child payment will only get £30 extra this year....
Anas Sarwar: ...from my colleague Mercedes Villalba and Living Rent have paid off. We have come a long way in just a few months. In June, John Swinney stuck to the “Can’t do” script and said that the Scottish Government did not have the power to impose a rent freeze. That has been proved wrong. Just a few weeks ago, Patrick Harvie said that our proposals were unworkable. That has been proved wrong....
Shona Robison: ...In the past year, we have continued to address the impacts of Covid and to support recovery from it. We have also helped families who have faced increased household costs through our winter support fund. The report showcases the breadth of activity that is under way, which is supported by partnerships across Scotland. It highlights that we have delivered on all 68 of the actions that we...
Ronnie Cowan: ..., the Charter of the Forest—which makes it at least 800 years old. There is a growing body of thought that is engaging with the concept of a common good, commonweal or commonwealth. Our current welfare system is failing. It is abused and misused, which is a great pity. Like the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine), I invoke the spirit of William Beveridge. In December...
Clare Haughey: ...for the opportunity to give evidence to its cross-portfolio inquiry. I am grateful for its focus on the health and wellbeing of children and young people and for the opportunity to speak about the Scottish Government’s work in the area. My ministerial colleagues and I place huge importance on the wellbeing of our children and young people. They are our future and it is vital that we do...
Pam Duncan-Glancy: We would have put money in the welfare fund so that people could get the help that they need. The Tory Government in Westminster has always let us down. In Scotland, where we should be using our powers, the SNP has failed us, too. It is time to stop messing about and put the necessary staff in place, sort the information technology, move payments over at pace and deliver the promised new...
Jackie Baillie: ...stress and anxiety that the cost of living crisis is causing. If we value carers, as we say we do, we must not allow that to continue. The time to act is now. It is no longer good enough for the Scottish Government to simply blame the United Kingdom Tory Government and wring its hands; the Scottish Government also has a responsibility to act. This morning, I talked to carers from across...
Alister Jack: ...United Kingdom we are safer, stronger, more prosperous, and better able to tackle our shared challenges. That is why the UK Government announced the first allocations for many of our UK-wide growth funds, including more than £171 million for eight projects to improve infrastructure in Scotland as part of the Levelling Up Fund and over £1 million for six projects through the Community...
The First Minister: In relation to what Anas Sarwar said about my having been in government for 15 years, let us look at benefits. It is this Government that supports the welfare fund; it is this Government that has established the Scottish child payment and increased it; it is this Government that has created new benefits—the carers allowance supplement and the young carers grant do not...
Evelyn Tweed: ...study accepted that they were not going to get the same quality of schooling, or the same outcomes, as better-off children.” Every child should have the same opportunities, and I know that the Scottish Government is committed to making a fairer society for all. The Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017, which passed unanimously, set out targets to reduce the number of children experiencing...
Anas Sarwar: I asked about wasted money, but that was a waste of an answer from the First Minister right there. For the first time ever in Scottish history, £40 million was spent on a malicious prosecution. Perhaps the Government should reflect on that. The bill for Edinburgh sick kids hospital, which failed to open—perhaps the Government should reflect on that. The failures at Glasgow’s Queen...
Nicola Sturgeon: ..., can do to help it find a building. The work that it does is extremely important. We all wish that it was not necessary, but I pay tribute to the project for its work. Over and above that, the Scottish Government will continue to do all that it can to help people with the cost of living, which is heaping misery upon people who, in many cases, were already living in poverty. I have already...
Pam Duncan-Glancy: ...Westminster yet, when it came down to it, its flagship cost of living action plan was simply to tweak the Tories’ offering, handing households a pitiful £4 a week off their bills. Meanwhile, the Scottish Labour Party and our colleagues in Westminster have been doing the jobs of both the SNP and Tory Governments for them. Here in Scotland we presented a fully costed plan, which would...