Welfare and public sector challenges

PLANNED welfare changes will deliver a £480 million blow to the Scottish economy, according to research earlier this year publicised by the Poverty Alliance in Scotland - a partner in the Poverty Truth Commission.

The Scottish Local believe however that the impact will be a lot higher through knock-on costs and a huge increase in demand for council services.  Speaking on behalf of the Scottish Campaign, Matt Lancashire of Citizens Advice Scotland said: “We agree the changes in welfare will have a wider impact on the Scottish economy. But the main concern must be the immediate impact that the welfare changes are having on the people who rely on the welfare state simply to live their lives."

Meanwhile, public sector bodies in Scotland may struggle to make the required savings to their budgets this year, risking the future delivery of effective services, auditors are warning. An Audit Scotland report, Scotland’s public finances – addressing the challenges, finds that Scotland’s public sector budget in 2011/12 will be £27.5 billion. This is a drop of 6% or £1.7 billion in real terms on the previous year’s budget.