Sturgeon call over benefit aid cap
About 76,000 households in Scotland are said to have been affected by the housing benefit changes A further £15m has been found by the Scottish government to help those hit by the so-called "bedroom tax" in the year ahead.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was "more than willing" to spend the cash topping up discretionary housing payments (DHP).
But the Scottish budget has already earmarked the maximum allowed under Department of Work and Pension rules.
The DWP discretionary payments are designed to help vulnerable claimants.
'Package of reforms'Ms Sturgeon is writing to the UK welfare minister, Lord Freud, asking him to lift this cap to allow the Scottish government to help more of those who are losing out.
An estimated 76,000 Scottish households are affected by what critics have dubbed the "bedroom tax".
It is not in fact a tax but cuts in housing benefit for tenants who are deemed to have one or more spare bedrooms.
The UK government says it is effectively ending a spare room subsidy as part of a wider package of welfare reforms designed to save money.
The Scottish government is against the measures and has promised to abolish it if there was a 'yes' vote in the independence referendum.
Labour has said it would scrap the "bedroom tax" if elected as the next UK government in 2015.
Maximum contributionMeanwhile, there has been considerable debate in Scotland about how best to help those affected.
The UK government has allocated £15m to discretionary housing payments for 2014/15.
This fund is to be topped up with £20m from the Scottish government.
This is the maximum amount the Scottish government is allowed to contribute under UK government rules.
In her letter to Lord Freud, the deputy first minister argues that she is being "unfairly restricted" from spending a further £15m.
"In order to make this legally possible Westminster needs to lift the cap for Scotland and UK ministers should act now," said Ms Sturgeon.
Rent write-offThe Labour Party has been pressing the Scottish government to find legal ways of spending more.
Labour's finance spokesman Iain Gray highlighted local schemes in East Lothian and Renfrewshire in which additional rent due because of the reforms is written off.
He has suggested that the Scottish government could set up a similar national scheme without falling foul of UK spending rules.
At Holyrood question time last week, First Minister Alex Salmond confirmed that the government was in discussion with Labour about how to "mitigate" the reforms.
He indicated a preference for making discretionary housing payments short of Holyrood taking control of welfare policy.
On Friday, Holyrood's welfare reform committee called on the UK government to abolish the "bedroom tax" or to give the Scottish Parliament the power to do so.
The Scottish government's budget for 2014/15 is due to be passed at Holyrood on Wednesday 5 February.
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