Benefits claimants in Scotland get the identical cash as a £56,000-a-year employee, Conservatives say as they pledge £1bn of welfare cuts

Benefits claimants in Scotland take home the same amount of money as a worker earning a salary of £56,000, Tories in the country say. 

Unveiling an election manifesto pledge to make cuts of £1billion to the welfare bill, Scottish Conservatives leader Russell Findlay argued the benefits system has ‘spiralled out of control under the SNP‘.

The Tories claim that a parent with three children takes home almost £42,000-per-year through UK-wide and local welfare payments.

A person in employment would need to earn £56,000 to match that level of income after tax reductions – a salary which just 15 per cent of Scots currently earn.

Findlay claimed that First Minister John Swinney‘s party’s generous benefits system is encouraging parents to reduce their hours and even ‘quit work altogether’. 

In one case, a worker reportedly pleaded with their employer not to give them a pay rise because it would have cost them £300 per month in benefits. 

Under the Tories’ plans, the SNP’s £27.15 weekly benefits payment would only be available for the first two children in a family. There is currently no limit and research suggests that one in eight Scots who receive the payment have stopped working or lowered their hours.

Findlay said: ‘Our country is blessed to have a social security system that helps people in genuine need, but the benefits bill has spiralled out of control under the SNP.

Russell Findlay has pledged to make cuts of £1billion to Scotland’s welfare system, which he says has spiralled out of control under the SNP

Findlay claimed that John Swinney’s party’s generous benefits system is encouraging parents to reduce their hours and even ‘quit work altogether’

‘We are the only party being straight with the paying public by saying that Scotland’s bloated benefits bill is unaffordable, unfair and unsustainable.

‘With costs of the Scottish child payment set to hit over half a billion pounds in coming years, we believe the time has come to limit the benefit to a couple’s first two children. 

‘Benefits should be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice. Hard-working Scots who struggle to pay the bills know that no-one should be better off through a life on benefits.

‘With costs of the Scottish Child Payment set to hit over half a billion pounds in coming years, we believe the time has come to limit the benefit to a couple’s first two children. This is a fair, reasonable and necessary measure.’

The gap between the cost of the SNP’s benefits system and that of the UK Government’s is expected to reach £1.1bn this year and £2bn by the end of the decade. 

By 2023, the Scottish Government’s social security spending will reportedly increase by almost 25 per cent to £9.2bn. 

Describing his party’s proposal as ‘fair’ and ‘necessary’, Findlay claimed that around £1 in every £7 spent by the SNP at the moment goes on benefits.

However those in power have hit back at the Tories’ plans, branding them ‘cruel’ and ‘arbitrary’. 

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, who is responsible for Scotland’s benefits system, hit back the Tories’ claims

The SNP’s benefits system has been praised by poverty charities since its inception under Nicola Sturgeon

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, who is responsible for Scotland’s benefits system, said: ‘This (the plans) would pull children into poverty and limit the prospects of future generations through no fault of their own.

‘The Scottish child payment is benefiting about 322,000 children, while keeping about 40,000 children out of poverty this year.

‘It is unconscionable to me that some should now be punished for circumstances beyond their control.

‘We see social security as a vital investment in people, a human right, and a public service that anyone may rely upon throughout their lives – we are committed to this approach.

‘That’s why the draft Scottish Budget pledges a premium top-up to the Scottish child payment for eligible parents with children under one, benefiting about 12,000 children, while delivering the strongest cost-of-living package in the UK.’ 

The SNP’s benefits system has been praised by poverty charities since its inception under Nicola Sturgeon and is likely to be expanded to provide £40-a-week to families with children under one from April.

The Tories’ pledge to cap the Scottish child payment to two children is part of what Mr Findlay hailed as a ‘bold new social security paper’.

Claiming that spending on benefits in Scotland will be ‘almost £10 billion’ a year by the end of this decade, the Conservative paper declared: ‘The SNP are spending too much on benefits, taking too much from taxpayers – and disincentivising work.’

The Tories also plan to introduce new assessments for those claiming benefits on mental health grounds, saying the changes could save taxpayers £1 billion.

The party is also pledging to end ‘light-touch reviews’ of benefit recipients’ payments, arguing people should no longer be able to ‘just tick a box to stay on benefits’.

Face-to-face reviews would be brought in for some claimants, with people asked to prove they still meet the criteria for payments.