John Swinney has been urged to rein in the SNP’s “unfair, unaffordable and unsustainable” benefits bill to deliver a tax cut to hard-pressed Scots.
At First Minister’s Questions, Russell Findlay said the Nationalists’ welfare system, which will cost taxpayers almost £10 billion per year by the end of the decade, disincentivises work and is open to fraud.
He highlighted remarks made by the chair of the Scottish Fiscal Commission to a parliament committee on Thursday morning that the SNP would have to raise taxes or make cuts to public services to fill their benefits black hole.
The Scottish Conservative leader also cited the SNP government’s own review of the Scottish Child Payment, which contains explicit examples of people turning down work and pay rises because they would be worse off due to lost benefits.
He added that the Nationalists’ light-touch system had resulted in Social Security Scotland reporting just 29 cases of fraud to prosecutors in almost three years. This compares to an annual average of 8,000 prosecutions in the rest of the UK for benefits fraud.
Findlay said the Scottish Conservatives were the only party standing up for over-taxed Scots, while the SNP, Labour and Reform are committed to higher welfare spending.
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: “The safety net of social security is something we all value, but Scotland’s towering benefits bill stands at around £7 billion and is on course to reach almost £10 billion by the end of this decade.
“Benefits spending is out of control. It’s unfair, unaffordable and unsustainable.
“John Swinney can’t admit it, but the SNP’s benefits system is broken.
“His government’s own review of the Scottish Child Payment revealed that some parents turned down a pay rise because it would reduce their benefits, leaving them with less money.
“We say that limiting this payment to two children per family is a fair way to address this.
“In addition, the pitiful number of benefit fraud prosecutions in Scotland strongly suggests that fraudsters are exploiting the SNP’s ‘light touch’ system – and getting away with it.
“The SNP are spending over £1 billion more on benefits than they receive in funding every year – yet, incredibly, Labour and Reform are okay with this.
“Four months ago, Audit Scotland said that John Swinney’s government has no plan to plug their benefits black hole. There’s still no plan – unless John Swinney is keeping it secret.
“But the Scottish Conservatives have a plan. We identify £1 billion worth of savings that can be achieved through a series of reasonable proposals.
“These savings would be used to cut taxes for hard-working Scots who are being hammered by the SNP and Labour.
“Cutting tax for the lowest paid – not more and more benefits – is the best way to lift people out of poverty.”