The Scottish Welfare Fund made 10,535 payments to people in Edinburgh in the last financial year, new figures show. A total of 2,885 Community Care Grants and 7,650 Crisis Grants were awarded in the capital over the year. The money helped people with essentials such as food, heating costs and household items. The SNP introduced the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2013. The Fund is part of a £125 million annual package to mitigate the impact of UK government austerity. Since its launch in April 2013, the Fund has paid out more than £200 million to support over 336,000 households across Scotland, with a third of recipients being families with children. Edinburgh SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald said, “The Sc
13.1% of the total number of children in Edinburgh could be affected by the two-child cap, according to new research – prompting more calls for the UK Government to scrap the “heartless” policy. The “two-child policy” allows low-income families to claim child tax credits or universal credit for their first two children only. New research from the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) has revealed that 160,000 families have had their income slashed by the two-child limit to-date. The charity estimates that more than 3 million children across the UK could eventually be affected by the benefit cap. SNP MSP Gordon Macdonald said, “Social security should be a safety net for all of us, but the two-chi
