Scottish Welfare Fund distributes £148m over four years

The Scottish Welfare Fund has provided £148m to 275,690 individual households over the last four years, according to new official figures.

The data, from Scotland’s Chief Statistician, showed that a third of the households which received an award were families with children, while just over half were single person households with no children.

The figures show that £16m, around half of the fund’s budget, was awarded in the first six month of 2017-18.

The Scottish Welfare Fund covers Community Care Grants – which help people to live independently – and Crisis Grants, which provide a safety net in a disaster or emergency.

Over 42,000 Crisis Grant applications were decided between July and September 2017, with an award made in 29,205 cases.

Overall, 68 per cent of applications were successful, a four percentage point decrease compared to the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile 16,600 Community Care Grant applications were decided between 1 July and 30 September 2017, and an award was made in 9,880 cases.

The figures show 59 per cent of cases were successful, five percentage points lower than the same quarter last year.