Welfare

Question 1

What is the percentage of social security controlled by Westminster?

Answer 1

85%

Question 2

What did the Scotland Act 2016 mean for the Scottish Parliament?

Answer 2

• Under this act, the Scottish government has power over only smaller benefits such as carer allowance and disability benefits.
• They don’t have control over the main working age benefits such as Universal Credit. Universal Credit includes Income/Income-related benefits, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit & Working Tax Credit, which all comes under one payment.
• Scotland can make new benefits but have limited tax powers, so they don’t have enough money to make them.
• These points show how ineffective the Scottish Parliament is at taking care of its people.
• It is unable to take welfare matters in their own hands, which is why a united government is better.

Question 3

Here’s a potential POI:
“The Scottish government have control over 11 different benefits. Mothballing would mean that we lose control over those. We should not look to decrease the level of autonomy by getting rid of the government.”
Object this statement.

Answer 3

• Those 11 benefits are incredibly small, many citizens couldn’t name them all, further showing its insignificance.
• How does a government take care of its people that don’t know how they are being taken care of?