THE SCOTTISH Government has pleaded with Westminster for “additional flexibility” around Universal Credit amid a huge surge of people turning to the benefits system amid the economic shutdown.

There have been an additional 100,000 Universal Credit claimants from Scotland since March 15, including a 61,000 surge over a two-week period.

Social Security Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, told MSPs she has asked the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which issues Universal Credit, to establish hardship funds and ensure people are not penalised for being unable to look for work during the lockdown - while touting increasing the amount people receive in payments .

Ms Somerville also told a virtual sitting of Holyrood’s social security committee that the Scottish Government has prioritised some benefits it issues to the public due to uptake levels, but admitted that people may not know they are eligible for funding for certain benefits, including the Best Start Foods grant, that are not being prioritised and suffering from a "stigma" which is hampering uptake.

David Wallace, chief executive of Social Security Scotland, told MSPs that there has been an increase in people applying for the Funeral Support Payment.

The Cabinet Secretary said the Scottish Government was bracing itself for an influx in welfare applications, which will create a budget pressure for Holyrood.

She said: “These are demand-led budgets. If there is a demand out there and people are putting an application in, it will be paid.

“There will inevitably, I think, be an increase in demand for the benefits that Social Security Scotland do have under their remit and therefore an increase in the amount of funding that will be taken out of the Scottish Government budget.

“Some of that will be covered by block grant adjustments from the UK Government, but much of it will not be. Therefore, that will have to be found from the overall Scottish budget.”

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Labour MSP Pauline McNeill asked the Cabinet Secretary whether the Scottish Government was anticipating people needing help in meeting housing costs.

The concern comes after Edinburgh City Council reported that the authority could lose up to £6 million during the lockdown from rental income due to the economic downturn. The authority also expects it could see a drop of up to £3 million from a a reduction in people’s ability to pay council tax.

Yesterday, the DWP announced that automatic deductions from Universal Credit payments for rent arrears and council tax arrears have been suspended until May 10 - but direct payments for rent will continue.

Ms Somerville pointed to a £50 million hardship fund that has been made available to local authorities.

She added: “I think it's very difficult with this, as with many aspects, to anticipate what the actual overall impact of  the lockdown is going to be on people’s housing costs.

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“We are very much in contact with local authorities to understand those impacts as they emerge.”

Green MSP Alison Johnstone pressed the Cabinet Secretary whether the Scottish Government is putting pressure on Westminster to ease the pressure on Universal Credit applicants.

She said: “The UK Government seem completely unwilling to budge when it comes to the incredibly long and damaging five-week wait for Universal Credit - in particular, at the moment, the two-child limit just seems frankly immoral and even more  damaging than normal.”

Ms Somerville confirmed she has pleaded with the UK Government for “additional flexibility” on a number of issues.

She said: “One of the main calls that we have made is for there to be non-repayable hardship funds that are available to all Universal Credit applicants - that’s to save them having to take out an advance and therefore get themselves into debt at the start.

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“There are areas which are, in effect, hard-wired into the Universal Credit system that make it very, very difficult for the DWP to change them quickly. What we have tried to do, and I’ve written to the Secretary of State, is to acknowledge the fact that there are areas that would take the UK Government a long time to change within Universal Credit - the fact they are working in a crisis makes that even more difficult at this point.”

She added: “There are things they can do and one of the examples is around the hardship grant payments to Universal Credit.

“There have been others, for example, the extension around the backdating of benefits for people who didn’t realise they were eligible. The increase in amounts of Universal Credit is something else that has been brought up and also the clear ask to ensure that people are not sanctioned during this time because they can’t look for work.”