WORKING Scots are being let down by cuts to Universal Credit, the SNP has claimed, as it’s revealed almost 40% of claimants north of the border are in work.

Research from the Trade Union Congress (TUC) found that 176,000 people in Scotland who are claiming Universal Credit also have a job, but do not bring home enough money to stay afloat.

The revelation comes as the UK Government prepares to cut Universal Credit by scrapping the £20 uplift.

The SNP Government’s Shona Robison has previously warned that the policy is "a callous act which will push 60,000 families across Scotland, including 20,000 children, into poverty and will result in families unable to work receiving, on average, £1,600 less per year than they would have done a decade ago in 2011".

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TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said that if the Universal Credit cut goes ahead as planned, “millions of working families and key workers will be forced to get by on much less every week”, adding that “ministers should abandon this cruel cut”.

Katie Schmuecker, deputy director of policy and partnerships for anti-poverty organisation, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, added that the proposal “amounts to the biggest overnight cut to the basic rate of social security since the Second World War”.

SNP MSP and convener of Holyrood's social security committee, Neil Gray, has called on the Tory Government to boost wages and rule out the Universal Credit cut.

He said: “This is another demonstration of how the cut to Universal Credit will impact thousands of hard-working families across Scotland as they will have less to get by on despite being in work.

“It is a damning indictment of the Tory government’s attitude to paid work that many families still cannot make ends meet even when they have a job and have to turn to social security – work should pay, it is very simple.

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“The SNP Government continues to advocate for all employers to not just pay the minimum wage, but the real living wage of £9.50 per hour. Schemes like the Scottish living hours accreditation scheme go some way to encourage employers to pay their workers a fair wage.

“However, we need the UK Government to step up and raise the national minimum wage to meet the real living wage and make sure that no one in Scotland suffers from in-work poverty.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “Universal Credit has provided a vital safety net for six million people during the pandemic, and we announced the temporary uplift as part of a £400 billion package of measures put in place that will last well beyond the end of the road map.

“Our focus now is on our multibillion-pound Plan for Jobs, which will support people in the long term by helping them learn new skills and increase their hours or find new work."