Government will invest more than £196 million in winter heating benefits — Swinney

What is the Scottish Government doing to support households with the cost of living this Christmas?

First Minister John Swinney told the Scottish Parliament on Thursday: “We know that people continue to struggle with the cost of bills and life’s essentials, particularly during the winter and especially at Christmas time.

“The Government is doing all that it can to help within the powers that we have available to us. We will continue to allocate more than £3 billion a year to policies that tackle poverty and help to address the cost of living crisis.

“This winter, we will invest more than £196 million in our winter heating benefits, which provide vital support for low-income households, families with disabled children or young people, and pensioners.”

“Scots were told by Keir Starmer that their bills would fall by £300 per year.

“Now, they are rising by almost £200 and are set to increase again in January and April.

“That means that households will be left around £500 worse off this Christmas than was promised.

“With the United Kingdom Government delivering nothing but rising bills and rising hardships, does the First Minister agree that it is only through independence that we can protect our living standards and cut household bills?”