COWDENBEATH MSP Annabelle Ewing has described as “truly shocking”, information secured from the UK Government’s Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) which shows that some of Fife’s poorest families have had to pay back nearly £1million in just one month.

In a response to the SNP MP for Glasgow South West, Chris Stephens, the DWP admitted that £8.99 million was clawed back from Universal Credit recipients in Scotland last August alone, with £4.69 million of it used to repay the loans they had taken to cover basic living costs for the five weeks they had to wait before their first Universal Credit payment.

In Fife, of the £990,000 in deductions, £507,000 was for Universal Credit Advance Repayment deductions.

Commenting on these revelations, Ms Ewing said: “It is truly shocking to think that, in just one month, the poorest families in Fife (many from the Cowdenbeath constituency) were required to pay back nearly £1million to the DWP from their Universal Credit payments.

“The money was clawed back for a range of reasons, with deductions to repay previous overpayments, errors, arrears, or fines, but well over half the total sum was to pay back advance payment loans".

Ms Ewing added: “These advance payment loans are made to help claimants get through the weeks it takes for their claim to be process and the first payment made but food banks across the country are reporting that the deduction of such eye-watering sums from Universal Credit payments is behind a growing number of referrals for food parcels.

“It is clear that Universal Credit – and in particular the advance payment system – is failing the people it is supposed to be helping. It simply doesn’t work, the UK welfare system is broken.

“The UK government needs to put in place a social security system fit for purpose, starting with scrapping the five-week wait and introducing the first payment within the first two weeks of a claim without the need to pay it back instead of creating a vicious circle of debt, which is what the current system is doing.

“Or, better yet, hand over all responsibility for benefits to the Scottish Government, who have shown with those benefits that have been devolved that a different approach can be taken. We are building a social security system based on fairness, dignity and respect – it’s about time the Tories learned some lessons and followed suit.”

The UK Government is continuing with its changes to the Welfare system and sorting problems with Universal Credit is part of these.