Advice Direct Scotland’s new Scotland-specific benefits calculator

That this House welcomes the launch of Advice Direct Scotland’s free online benefits calculator; recognises that the new online tool is the first to fully integrate devolved benefits, including the new devolved benefit, the Scottish Child Payment which opened on February 15 for parents or carers on low incomes who have a child under six; pays tribute to the work of Advice Direct Scotland and their partner Inbest in developing this new tool which will provide Scots with free and impartial assessment of entitlement to a range of benefits such as Universal Credit, crisis grants and support payments; and recognises that the launch follows an 87 per cent increase in Scotland’s claimant count between December 2019 and December 2020 largely caused by the coronavirus pandemic; and recommends all families facing financial hardship use the tool to calculate the benefits that are available.