Thousands of Scots on benefits could get almost £30 extra a week
BANK BOOST Thousands of Scots on benefits could get almost £30 extra a week – find out more
ADULTS on benefits in Scotland could get a top-up of at least £29 a week under a £2 billion-a-year plan from experts commissioned by SNP ministers.
The proposals have been floated by the Scottish Government's Minimum Income Guarantee Expert Group - set up to explore the idea of handing every adult a basic amount of money regardless of income.
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Thousands of Scots on benefits could pocket almost £30 extra a week
Credit: Getty
And in papers published today, John Swinney was also told it would cost almost £7billion to 'eliminate child poverty' altogether through mass benefits handouts.
But the idea was blasted by the Scottish Tories who said the plans were 'simply unaffordable'.
Social security spokeswoman Liz Smith added: 'These eye-watering, additional costs on the benefits bill are simply unaffordable.
'Economic forecasters have already exposed the big black hole in the SNP Scottish Government's welfare budget given the existing circumstances never mind additional pressures.'
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Experts floated the Scottish Adult Payment as a way to get closer to a minimum income guarantee in the short term.
It suggests single adults over 25 could receive £29 a week, those under 25 £48 a week, and couples over 25 £57 a week, or £87 if one person in the couple is under 25.
Together with the Scottish Child Payment at its current rate for those with children, taxpayers would be forced to fork out £1.957billion to meet the cost of the plan.
Ministers were told the plans could lift 170,000 Scots out of relative poverty.
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But costs could spiral further after the group's February meeting minutes show it agreed to call for the Scottish Child Payment to be doubled from to £55 a week.
And a reformed, higher, Scottish Child Payment linked to earnings which would cost £3.2billion to taxpayers, but is not within Holyrood's powers.
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Experts said the planned Scottish Adult Payment 'would discourage work' and require major cuts or tax hikes.
David Phillips, associate director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said income tax would have to be raised by 3.4 percentage points across the board to meet the cost.
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He said: 'The main thing about all these proposals is their significant costs. The options cost £2 billion or £3 billion, even assuming no behavioural response.
'That would require significant cuts to public service spending or increases to taxation.'
In a separate document, ministers were told they could eliminate relative child poverty altogether by handing out billions to lower-income Scots so they met minimum living standards.
Those with three or more children would be best off according to an official Scottish Government document, which estimates families would receive an average of £15,900 per year.
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And the plans would essentially eliminate child poverty, reducing it by 18 percentage points to leave just a handful of Scots suffering from a lack of cash.
The document said: 'Moving all households up to 100 per cent of the Minimum Income Standard from their current levels of income, including unclaimed benefit entitlements, would reduce relative child poverty by an estimated 13 percentage points at a cost of £6.9bn in 2024-25.
'This would effectively amount to eliminating relative child poverty, albeit starting from a position of full take up of benefits.
'Overall relative poverty would reduce by 12 percentage points with a small minority of households remaining in poverty.'
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In 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic, Nicola Sturgeon said she believed lockdown 'strengthens the case' for a minimum income.
She said: 'I have long been interested in the concept but the current situation strengthens the case for it immeasurably.
'It would need the UK Government's cooperation but hopefully we can have a serious discussion.'
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
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