Media comment: Welfare proposals not radial enough to make real difference to people

SCVO media comment Wed 4 June 2014 Ahead of the publication of the Expert Group on Welfare’s second report, John Downie, Director of Public Affairs, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), said: “It’s encouraging to see that the Group is aspiring towards a much more compassionate and supportive approach to welfare compared to the UK Coalition Government’s punitive approach. It has produced some strong principles that put people at the heart of a new welfare system. “Unfortunately, these principles haven’t been reflected in the recommendations which don’t go far enough to make a real step change in the way we support people. “Like the Group, we want a welfare system in Scotland that supports people and helps them to escape poverty and inequality. We want the system to be much more than a basic, increasingly unreliable, safety net. Sadly though, these recommendations aren’t radical enough to make that a reality.” ENDS Notes to editors: 1. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is the national body representing the interests of charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises. The Scottish third sector turns over £4.9 billion a year and employs 138,000 people in over 45,000 organisations 2. For more details, please contact the SCVO press office on 0779 060 1995