Difficulty in obtaining data from the Department for Work and Pensions has created “a significant challenge” for the official body responsible for Scotland’s economic forecasts.
Families rely more on food banks over the summer holidays because children do not have access to free school meals, according to an anti-poverty charity.
Thousands of sick or disabled people have missed out on employment support allowance due to the government’s “inept” handling of payments, MPs have claimed.
Work and pensions secretary Esther McVey has come under pressure to withdraw what have been described as misleading remarks about the success of the universal credit programme.
The high turnover of civil servants and their limited freedom to challenge ministers is responsible for a lot of government policy failure, the chair of the Public Accounts Committee has told...
Universal credit is pushing additional costs onto councils, while the overall scheme may never provide value for money, according to the National Audit Office.
A charity is demanding a major shake up in the social security system because of “shameful” shortcomings that left one and a half million people in destitution in 2017.
With a public distrust of taxation and how it is used, ring-fencing tax for specific purposes could simplify it and solve the problem of some people being reluctant to pay it, says Common Vision’s...
Welfare reform has had a substantial impact on the Scottish housing sector, with the introduction of universal credit pushing up rent arrears for social tenants, according to a report from the...
The number of Scots seeking help to pay for food and heating from a crisis fund has increased, with one in eight applications due to a delay in the payment of benefits, according to the Scottish...
The Scottish Government faces a “huge and highly complex” challenge as it prepares to take on new financial and social security powers, auditors have warned.
Scotland’s Poverty and Inequality Commission has advised the Scottish Government that it must make significant use of new social security powers if it is to meet challenging child poverty reduction...
Public contract failures have led to a loss of trust that risks undermining the operation of the Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance disability benefits, MPs have said...
Thousands of unemployed or extremely low earners in Britain are missing out on financial support because they are not claiming the benefits they are entitled to, according to a think-tank.
