Thousands of Scots could lose out on lifeline support this winter, Scottish Labour warns

Thousands of Scots could miss out on lifeline support this winter, Scottish Labour has warned.

New analysis from Anas Sarwar’s party reveals a new SNP Government scheme would have short-changed up to 65,000 struggling households if it were in place in 2020/21.

This year lifeline Cold Weather Payments will be replaced with a new devolved Scottish version, which pays out a fixed sum every year instead of paying out based on temperature. However, the new scheme has been criticised for its payments being less targeted than the previous scheme, with charities like Energy Action Scotland branding the situation “potentially catastrophic”.

New analysis by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre estimates if this model were in place in 2020/21, more than 65,000 households could have received less.

Scottish Labour raised concerns about the lifeline Cold Weather Payments being replaced with a new devolved Scottish version.

This includes an estimated 17,000 households receiving more than £100 less, and around 51,000 households getting more than £75 less.

Scottish Labour social justice and social security spokesperson Pam Duncan-Glancy labelled the new system “disastrous”. She said: “This disastrous new scheme risks leaving thousands of Scots out of pocket this winter.

“It is unthinkable to plough ahead with these dangerous changes as bills soar, temperatures drop and people are facing the impossible choice between heating and eating.

“This raid on the budgets of the most vulnerable goes against everything Scotland’s social security system was supposed to stand for. The SNP need to set out an emergency plan to stop people missing out on lifeline payments as the cold weather bites this winter."

A Scottish Government spokesperson insisted the changes ensured everyone who needed support received it. The spokesperson said: “Our new Winter Heating Payment will provide a reliable £50 payment each year to around 400,000 people on low incomes to help with their heating expenses every winter.

“This means we will invest around £20 million every year, compared with an average of £8.3m per year over the last seven years (2015/16-2021/22) from the UK Government, which on average supported just 185,000 people a year with Cold Weather Payments over the same period.

“By making the changes we have, we are guaranteeing everyone eligible will receive a payment every year, rather than the UK Government approach of requiring the weather being sufficiently cold for a sustained period of time.”

It came as the SNP warned workers throughout the UK are left trapped in low paying jobs as a result of the UK Government’s refusal to adopt the Real Living Wage. The Scottish Government is an accredited Living Wage employer, and has worked with organisations to pay the Real Living Wage through the Fair Work Action Plan.

Now the SNP’s economy spokesperson Stewart Hosie has called for the UK Government to give workers a fair wage.

He said: “The fact that this is the highest year-on-year increase to the Real Living Wage since its inception in 2011 speaks to the spiralling cost-of-living crisis millions are having to endure under the Tories at Westminster – and shows a Real Living Wage for all is more important than ever.

“It also proves yet again that the UK Government’s ‘National Living Wage’ is just a cynical rebrand of the minimum wage, with no thought or care put in to ensure workers are properly paid or equipped to deal with the financial troubles they face today."