Universal Credit: How many people are affected by the cut in each Scottish area?

A £20 reduction to Universal Credit planned by the UK Government will affect more than 176,000 Scottish households where people are working, but still reliant on the benefit, new figures have revealed.

The cut, which amounts to around £1,000 a year for the majority affected, will impact 104,536 single parent households, 33,143 carer households, 11,887 disabled children’s homes and a further 66,143 households where there is a person with a disability.

According to the figures produced by the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (SPICe), the Glasgow and Edinburgh city local authority areas will be the worst hit by the removal of the Covid-related £20 uplift to Universal Credit.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks during First Minster's Questions. The SNP Government are fighting against the planned cut to Unversal Credit. Picture: Andy Buchanan/PA Wire

The statistics have been published just a day after the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Poverty described the benefit cut as “unconscionable” and a move that breached “international human rights law”.

In a letter to the UK Government, Olivier De Schutter also said the reduction was likely to “trigger an explosion of poverty”.

The cut to Universal Credit, which has been opposed by Labour, Liberal Democrat and SNP MPs, is due to take place on October 6.

The UK Government has been steadfast in arguing it is necessary as the country moves on from pandemic measures to getting people into work or working more hours as the economy opens up.

However, six Conservative former work and pensions secretaries have urged the government to abandon its plans, including Iain Duncan Smith who designed Universal Credit.

SNP MSP and convener of Holyrood’s social security and social justice committee, Neil Gray, said the cut would have a “devastating impact on working families, single parent families, carer families and many others to find or stay in a job, stripping many of the ability to put food on the table or keep warm as we head into winter and with rising energy costs”.

A UK Government spokesperson said six million people were supported through Universal Credit, the uplift was always a “temporary measure designed to help claimants through the financial disruption of the toughest stages of the pandemic”.

The spokesperson added: “It is right that the government should focus on its plan for jobs, supporting people back into work and supporting those already employed to progress and earn more.”

So how many people will be affected in your local authority area?

Aberdeen City 15817Aberdeenshire 12144Angus 8163Argyll and Bute 5192City of Edinburgh 32022Clackmannanshire 4695Dumfries and Galloway 9830Dundee City 14502East Ayrshire 11761East Dunbartonshire 5111East Lothian 7917East Renfrewshire 3760Falkirk 12229Fife 30776Glasgow City 63339Highland 16764Inverclyde 7994Midlothian 7297Moray 5623Na h-Eileanan Siar 1311North Ayrshire 13586North Lanarkshire 29496Orkney Islands 843Perth and Kinross 8710Renfrewshire 13372Scottish Borders 7109Shetland Islands 1080South Ayrshire 9073South Lanarkshire 25493Stirling 5733West Dunbartonshire 8475West Lothian 13689Scotland 412916

UC households by type

limited capability for work 2,737

limited capability for work related activity 63,406

disabled child element 11,887

carer element 33,143

single parents 104,536

in work (people on UC) 176,935

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.