Scottish Welfare Fund: action plan

Vision for the Future

The First Minister set out a new vision for Scotland in April this year, committing this Government to tackle poverty in all its forms and improve the life chances of people across Scotland. Within the strategy, Equality, opportunity, community: New leadership - A fresh start^[4], the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice emphasised the vital importance of addressing child poverty as enshrined in statutory child poverty targets by 2030, including through delivering devolved Scottish Government benefits to around 2 million people.

The Cabinet Secretary outlines continued work to maximise household incomes through provision of services such as childcare, transport and free school meals, and delivering support to disabled people and carers. Further work will also be undertaken to reduce child poverty rates through delivery of the Scottish Government's tackling child poverty plan Best Start, Bright Futures^[5], including the further investment of £1.3 billion in the game-changing Scottish Child Payment. This benefit is forecast this financial year to lift 50,000 children out of poverty^[6]. Additional work such as delivering affordable homes across Scotland, including through a Remote, Rural and Island Housing Action Plan, and working with Local Government on action to address temporary accommodation, will help to assist those on low-incomes to have a safe and affordable home. The Scottish Government has also strengthened its response to hardship through the recently published Cash First: Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland^[7]. This sets out the Scottish Government's human rights approach to food insecurity and 9 actions to improve access to cash and wider help in a crisis, including through a £1.8m Cash-First Programme.

It is in the context of wider Scottish Government action that the SWF will continue to provide occasional assistance to those in crisis or seeking to re-establish their home when they need it. While the Scottish Government continues to use all of its levers to mitigate overarching issues with the UK benefit system, we must be honest and realistic that the SWF cannot sustainably act as a sticking-plaster for wider challenges presented by UK Government policies.

The Review into the SWF does not demonstrate a need for a wholesale policy reset, but rather, it outlines areas for improvement and refinement to ensure the SWF works in the best way possible. As this Action Plan demonstrates, we will undertake work to improve consistency, communication, promotion, timescales, the application process, and long-term work through data collection and audit. The Scottish Government will separately assess long-term funding sustainability of the SWF in future budget processes. As part of this work, we will ensure that the SWF aligns with existing social security support, housing policy, and homelessness prevention policy. This will bolster a well-connected and holistic social security system that ensures the SWF is not delivered in isolation. This work, alongside this Action Plan, will ensure that the SWF continues to work in the best way possible for the people of Scotland.