LABOUR POLICY AFFECTING 820 FAMILIES IN NORTH AYRSHIRE Ruth Maguire MSP says SNP action will support 820 families in North Ayrshire who are impacted by the two-child cap, as the Scottish Government confirms the Labour policy will be scrapped in Scotland from 2nd March 2026. The two-child cap was introduced by the Tories as part... Continue Reading →
MSP welcomes automatic awards to make accessing family benefits simpler
Ruth Maguire MSP has welcomed changes planned to make sure families get the support they are entitled to. Plans have been announced to automatically pay the Best Start Grant Early Learning and School Age Payments to parents and carers who already receive Scottish Child Payment when their children become eligible. The change will be introduced later this year when... Continue Reading →
New Independent Advocacy Service Opens
Ruth Maguire MSP welcomes new support available to help disabled people in Cunninghame South access Scottish social security. Disabled people are now able to access a new advocacy service to get help, when applying for Scottish social security benefits. The support is available to disabled people applying for any of Social Security Scotland’s current and... Continue Reading →
Scottish Child Payment to Open Early for Applications
The new Scottish Child Payment - which has been described as a “game-changer” in the fight to tackle child poverty - will open early for applications this month. Ruth Maguire MSP has encouraged parents and carers in North Ayrshire who are eligible to apply now so that the Scottish Government can process and start making payments... Continue Reading →
New Child Payment Benefit to Help Families as Bill Passes to Tackle Poverty
Ruth Maguire MSP has welcomed the unanimous passing of legislation to improve the benefits system to help those who need it most by the Scottish Parliament. The Social Security Administration and Tribunal Membership (Scotland) Bill supports the delivery of the new Scottish Child Payment, to provide low-income families with an additional £10 per week, initially... Continue Reading →
Advance Loans Must Be Scrapped to Prevent Thousands Falling Into DWP Debt
Ruth Maguire MSP has added her voice to calls for the UK Government to convert Universal Credit advance payment loans into non-repayable grants. This comes after figures show 1.6 million people in receipt of the benefit suffered an average deduction of £60 in just one month at the height of lockdown. Two in five households... Continue Reading →
Almost 300,000 Scots Missing Out On £20 Weekly Increase in Universal Credit
Ruth Maguire MSP has called for the UK Government to extend the £20 per week uplift to the standard allowance of Universal Credit and basic element of Working Tax Credit to avoid an ‘unfair’ gap in support during the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. New figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) have revealed... Continue Reading →
Over 1,800 Households In Cunninghame South Missing Out On Pension Credits
Ruth Maguire MSP has added her voice to a campaign calling on the UK Government to put an action plan in place to increase the uptake of Pension Credit. Independent Age are calling on the Department of Work and Pensions to implement a plan over the next five years as part of their Credit Where... Continue Reading →
New Support to Help Young People in North Ayrshire into Work
Ruth Maguire MSP, has welcomed a new Scottish benefit introduced today that will help 16 to 24-year olds into work if they have been unemployed for over six months. The SNP Scottish Government’s Job Start Payment is a one-off grant of £250 to help with the costs of starting a new job. The upper age... Continue Reading →
‘Harmful’ Tory Benefit Cap Hits Over 200 Families in North Ayrshire
The number of households in North Ayrshire hit by the Tory government's 'harmful' benefit cap has soared by 46 per cent since the Covid-19 pandemic started. New statistics show that as of May this year, a total of 6,034 households in Scotland were hit by the benefit cap - an increase of almost 76 per... Continue Reading →
Ruth Maguire MSP (SNP) 