Fairer Scotland

  • Two child benefit limit should be scrapped

    1st August 2019 by

    The two-child benefit limit implemented by the UK Government should be scrapped. The latest statistics released on the number of people affected by the cap on Child Tax Credits and the Child Element of Universal Credit is sad reading. Behind every number is a family denied and a child that has not received support they…

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  • Putting people first in Scotland’s social security system

    22nd February 2019 by

    Recent press stories about the DWP using deflection scripts to get callers off the phone was disappointing but not surprising. We know from our own research that almost three in five people rated their experience of the current DWP system as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. Since taking on this post, and speaking to users of…

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  • Jeane Freeman: A social security system based on dignity and respect

    7th March 2017 by

    Social Security Minister, Jeane Freeman, writes in the Daily Record today about putting dignity and respect at the heart of Scotland’s new social security system – as a new campaign is launched to encourage more people to claim the benefits they are entitled to. Read the full piece here: “In my first ten months as…

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  • Tackling Child Poverty

    29th August 2015 by

    Hanna McCulloch (Policy and Parliamentary Officer, Child Poverty Action Group in Scotland). Everyone with an interest in child wellbeing has had their capacity for optimism sorely tested over the last few months. The UK government’s intention to abolish child poverty targets, cut tax credits and aim yet more swinging cuts at low income families have…

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  • The impact of welfare reform on Scottish women

    28th August 2015 by

    Welfare Reform measures are undoubtedly having an adverse impact on women. The Scottish Women’s Convention (SWC) has consulted with women the length and breadth of the country over the last few years on the issue of welfare reform, from the initial Bill stage right up to the way in which changes to the administration and…

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  • From Social Security to Social Justice

    24th August 2015 by

    Peter Kelly (Director, The Poverty Alliance). What does social justice mean to you? It may be about living in a country where you know that thousands of people do not have to rely on food banks to make sure they have enough to eat. Or where people have access to paid employment that not only…

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