Scotland’s benefits system is ‘fraudster’s charter’, Findlay says

Scotland’s benefits system has become a “fraudster’s charter”, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives has warned.

Russell Findlay said claims by those on benefits are taken at “face value”.

He said welfare spending is “growing out of control” as he called for cuts to be made.

Appearing on the BBC’S Radio Scotland Breakfast, the party leader also attacked Reform UK as “dishonest” and accused them of “pretending to be conservatives”.

Mr Findlay continued his core Holyrood election campaign calls for taxes in Scotland to be lowered.

He said slashing social security spending – which is projected to rise from £7 billion this year to £10 billion by the end of the decade – could help pay for lower taxes.

“One pound in every seven that the Government spends is on social security,” he said.

“Surely, that is unsustainable. We’re the only party that is even talking about that, let alone being honest enough for the public to say that Scotland cannot afford to keep spending social security the way they are.”

Mr Findlay said working Scots are seeing their money “disappearing into Scottish Government coffers” while the “benefits bill rises beyond all recognition”.

He added: “We’ve got a benefit system in Scotland that isn’t only growing out of control in terms of scale but an approach which seems to be that all claimants are taken at face value.

“There’s a sort of light-touch approach been deployed by the Scottish Government and this is a fraudster’s charter.”

The Scottish Tory leader said a study last week found around one in 10 of those on the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) decided to work fewer hours or give up work altogether to maintain the benefits.

“It’s not how a benefit system should operate,” he said. “It should not incentivise people to give up work and be trapped in the misery of a life dependency on benefits.”

In December, a separate study by economists and policy academics at Glasgow University, the University of York and the London School of Economics (LSE) found there was no evidence that it “meaningfully” encourages parents to avoid work, adding that those claims were “overplayed”.

Mr Findlay said he did not want to cut the benefit, although he said he was “looking at everything”. He accused the Scottish Government of “overstating” the impact of the payment.

The Scottish Tory criticised Reform, accusing the party of supporting the rising benefits bill, citing its support for the scrapping of the two-child benefit cap.

He added: “I watched Reform trying to be all things to all people in much the same way as the SNP have managed to do over the years. It’s dishonest.

“They like to pretend to be conservatives.”

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Scotland’s social security system provides vital support to families across the country – helping people with the cost of living and ensuring child poverty is significantly lower in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.

“Russell Findlay and the Tories should have the courage to tell us exactly what they mean – what support families currently receive under the SNP do they want to get rid of? Winter heating support for pensioners? Support for disabled people?

“At a time when people are struggling, the Tory plan to take support away would be a disaster – and this is why nobody in Scotland takes them seriously.”

Lord Malcolm Offord, former Tory Scotland Office minister who defected to Reform last month, said: “Reform will prioritise hard-working families across Scotland and the UK.

“Therefore, the two-child cap will be retained but with an exception for British nationals where both parents are working full-time.