SNP GOVERNMENT SUPPORTING SCOTLAND THROUGH COST OF LIVING CRISIS 

Keith Brown MSP, Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Clackmannanshire & Dunblane constituency, has commented on new figures which show that around 2,500 Welfare Fund Payments have been made to support his constituents between July 2022 and June 2023. 

The Scottish Welfare Fund, consisting of Community Care Grants and Crisis Grants, is a national scheme funded by the Scottish Government and administered by local authorities which provides support to those most in need.  

Speaking this afternoon, Keith said: 

“The latest figures have shown that in the Clackmannanshire Council area, 555 Community Care Grants have been awarded in addition to 1,865 Crisis Grants.  

“Adding in those payments that will have been made in the parts of the constituency within the Stirling Council area, we can see that around two and a half thousand households in Clackmannanshire & Dunblane have been supported in 2022/23.

“Indeed, across the country, £410 million has been awarded to support 519,890 individual households since the SNP introduced the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2013.

“The Scottish Welfare Fund is a vital resource that is supporting the most vulnerable individuals across my Clackmannanshire & Dunblane constituency.

“It is because of Broke Britain that these payments are needed but it is because of the SNP Scottish Government that they are, thankfully, being made.

“The fact this support remains so vital to Clackmannanshire & Dunblane is a damning inditement of the harm caused by over a decade of Westminster austerity. 

“Meanwhile Labour’s failure to commit to reversing those Tory austerity policies underlines why Scotland’s best future is with independence and the SNP. 

“Small independent countries across Europe are wealthier and fairer than the UK – so the question is, why not Scotland?”