Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland
People at the Centre

Become a member

ALLIANCE joins calls for UK Government to change course on social security cuts

  • Area of Work: Policy and Research
  • Type: News Item
  • Published: 26th June 2025
human rights

More than 100 charities unite to say Scottish MPs must stand against social security cuts.

The Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland (the ALLIANCE) has joined more than 100 charities and civil society organisations to tell Scottish MPs that it’s not too late to change course on controversial social security cuts. Coordinated by the Poverty Alliance, we have written a joint letter to Scottish Secretary Ian Murray and copied to all of Scotland’s MPs at Westminster.

The letter points to estimates that 400,000 people will be pushed into poverty if the changes to Personal Independence Payments and Universal Credit go ahead.
It warns this will mean destitution and misery for many sick and disabled people, as well as others in their households – including children and unpaid carers. The letter concludes:

“This is a question of about the kind of society we want to be. Scotland is a country that believes in justice and compassion and people want our governments to make decisions which align with those values… We urge Ministers to drop these proposals. We urge Scottish MPs to vote against these cuts, sending a strong, positive message to disabled people and carers in Scotland that this Government will build a country free from poverty, not one that forces people into deeper poverty and destitution.”

MPs are expected to get their first chance to vote on the cuts in the Commons on 1 July. The Government is currently at risk of defeat after over a hundred Labour MPs signalled their opposition.

Explaining the ALLIANCE’s backing for this letter Sara Redmond, Chief Officer of Development, stated:

“We are deeply concerned about the impact these changes could have on disabled people, people with long term conditions, and unpaid carers right across the UK, as well as the lack of clarity with regards to how this will interact with the Scottish social security system. The UK Government’s own analysis suggests hundreds of thousands of people will be pushed into poverty if these changes go ahead, which is why we have joined over 100 other charities across the sector to call for a change in direction.

Both social security and work are fundamental human rights and should not be set in opposition to one another. Far from preventing people from accessing work, disability payments are an enabler, supporting them to meet the additional costs associated with disability. Action to close the disability employment gap and support more disabled people into work must be focused on removing, rather than increasing, barriers to equal participation.”

You can read the letter via the resource link below.

Resources:

Joint Letter From Scottish Civil Society Strong Opposition To Proposals In Pathways To Work Green Paper
Download PDF Document (1 MB)

End of page.

You may also like:

Back to all news