The Scottish Welfare Fund was launched in April 2013 to insulate individuals and families against the impact of the Welfare Reform Act.
It was one of the earliest pieces of legislation implemented by the coalition government in 2010.
The Act gained considerable notoriety on the day it was launched when its architect, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, responded to a caller on BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme stating that he could live on £53 per week.
To date, I believe the Scottish Welfare Fund to be one of the greatest instruments ever created by the Scottish Government.
However, in a disturbing report published by the Poverty and Inequality Commission conducted between April and June this year, it was revealed that the fund is 90% underspent nationally, with Dundee standing at a lamentably high 89%.
To emphasise how disturbing this is, underspend for the entire 2018/19 financial year was less than 6%.
In other words, when families needed support the most and the Scottish Government doubled available funding, Dundee City Council’s furloughed staff transferred to an online-only application system, thus preventing digitally-excluded people from access to crucial resources.
Dundee House reopened a fortnight ago but on an appointment-only basis.
We need to waken up to the impact of lockdown and fully reopen public services or count an even greater human cost than the one created by Covid-19.
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