A Helping Hand for South Scotland

That the Parliament considers the UK’s social security system to be cruel and hostile towards working people; believes that the current UK administration has failed to deliver a social security system that protects those in greatest need; recognises what it sees as the particular cumulative impact that such policies have had on communities across south Scotland, which it considers have borne the brunt of de-industrialisation over recent decades; understands that such impacts include between a 5% to 10% increase in the number of people who are dependent on universal credit in South and East Ayrshire, between May 2020 and May 2021; acknowledges what it sees as the detrimental effect that further cuts would have on a broad range of households in the South Scotland region, in particular those with young children, and believes that the Scottish Government has considerable underused powers over social security that are being neglected and which, if utilised, could alleviate this problem, including increasing the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week immediately, and then doubling it to £40 in 2022.