New Research Finds Over £200m a Year Taken from Poorest Families

New research from Professor Morag Treanor, working in conjunction with Aberlour Children's Charity has found that an average of £17m a month is being taken from Scotland's poorest families in deductions from their Universal Credit payments.

These can be single or multiple deductions as a result of money being taken from Universal Credit claimants to pay back the advance they received because they had to wait at least five weeks on their Universal Credit claim. And/or there could be deductions to pay a third party, such as an energy company or landlord. They could also be deductions to a government body such as the DWP or HMRC. 

Tens of thousands of Scot's are being impacted by these deductions of £17m a month. This equates to over £200m a year or £1bn over the course of a five year parliamentary term.

There are serious concerns that this level of debt being taken from Scotland's poorest families is entrenching poverty, including levels of child poverty, and that local economies across the country are also being seriously affected. 

There is a growing belief, as shown by the consensus amongst third sector campaigners at the recent University of Glasgow and Aberlour Conference on public debt levels, that urgent action is required to tackle the public debt crisis and help not hinder people who find themselves in debt to public bodies.

 SallyAnn Kelly OBE, CEO of Aberlour, said:

It makes no sense for governments to give with one hand and take with the other, for ministers to promise to ease the lives of families struggling to get their heads above water whilst often at the same time reducing those families' income through debt recovery and deductions.

The public sector must recover debt differently, in a more compassionate, empathetic way that will help families escape poverty, not risk making their financial situation even worse.

More understanding, communication and discretion in pursuit of this debt will cost nothing while the rewards, for children, their families, and our country, would be priceless.

The UK Government must scrap the five week wait for new Universal Credit claims,  which causes public debt to accrue from the outset of claims in the form of future deductions and too often leads to a cycle of problem public debt that traps families in poverty.

Professor Morag Treanor, Professor of Social Policy and Inequality at the University of Glasgow, said:

Owing money to public bodies from already minimal incomes is a hidden scourge. There is much that can be done. There is action that can be taken. High levels of arrears and indebtedness should be seen as an emergency flare for families.

When conducting my research I raised the prospect of abandoning the five week wait and the advance payment. The response was that the IT system took that long to process a claim. If this is the case and it's 'operationally necessary', then it should be made non-repayable.

Notes

Please see Government figures.

This article was written for the Daily Record and published on Wednesday 9th April 2025.