Calls for targeted cost of living support

The UK Government is being urged to invest in public services and deploy its full range of powers to tackle the cost of living crisis, supporting people and businesses.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt ahead of his Spring Budget to call for targeted support to help more families out of poverty by reinstating the uplift to Universal Credit, increasing it to £25 per week and extending it to means-tested legacy benefits.

He said vulnerable households should not have to bear the burden of soaring energy prices, and called for windfall tax revenues to fund much-needed support. Mr Swinney also pressed for support for struggling businesses to provide the certainty to invest and grow.

Read the letter to the Chancellor in full.