Scottish Government must 'come clean on welfare plans' says Mundell
Scotland Bill is set to transfer 拢2.5 billion of welfare responsibility to Holyrood.
皇冠体育app Scottish Government must come clean on how it intends to use its new welfare powers, coupled with costings and a breakdown of consequences for the Scottish budget, the Secretary of State for Scotland said today.
Speaking ahead of a Scotland Bill Committee stage in the House of Commons, which will focus on welfare, David Mundell called on the Scottish Government to choose 鈥渄ifficult practicalities over easy populism鈥� and start laying out the detail and impact of its choices on welfare.
皇冠体育app Scotland Bill is set to transfer 拢2.5 billion of welfare responsibility to Holyrood, as well as elements which go beyond the Smith Agreement like the new power to top-up benefits in reserved areas.
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皇冠体育app Minster said the Scottish Government now had a range of choices when it came to welfare, as well as many other economic levers it can use to help people into work.
皇冠体育app Minister said the fact Full Fiscal Autonomy would strip another 拢10bn from the Scottish economy - coupled with the latest Scottish Government figures on oil and gas production 鈥� and showed there was no way to escape difficult choices around welfare policy.
He said the UK was spending around 拢94bn a year on working age benefits, ensuring we have a strong safety net in place to support people who are unemployed or on low incomes.
He also called on the Scottish Government to clarify its position on the state pension and its funding, saying the current arrangement provided a fair, secure and equal pension to all citizens regardless of where they lived.
皇冠体育app Secretary of State said:
It is crunch time for the Scottish Government. 皇冠体育appy will soon be receiving the powers over welfare which they have long wanted; they now have to tell us how they intend to use them.
If that means higher welfare payments, they will have to be clear with Scotland how that will be paid for: higher taxes or cuts to services. Let鈥檚 be clear: they need to come clean with the Scottish electorate. People deserve to know the price tag of their policies and who will be picking up the bill.
皇冠体育app UK Government鈥檚 priorities are clear - to make savings on welfare so we don鈥檛 have to ask working families to pay more. All the while 鈥� on welfare, on pensions and on the economy in general 鈥� we continue to benefit from sharing risks and resources with the rest of the UK.