SNP cuts to local government are hitting the same deprived communities that are suffering the most from the UK Government's welfare changes, it has been claimed.
Scottish Labour claims instead of working to alleviate the Coalition's benefit cuts, the SNP Government has cut more from Scotland's most deprived areas than from the better off.
Scottish Labour's analysis used research data from Sheffield Hallam University and the House of Commons Library.
The party concluded Scotland's most deprived communities will lose £570 million or £600 for every working age adult, with cuts to local government falling on the areas already facing the most hardship.
The research found that in terms of the estimated loss because of the welfare changes and the cut in the local authority budget, the worst affected areas in Scotland were Glasgow, which suffered a £269m reduction in its benefits and a 1.98% cut in its council budget, North Lanarkshire £123m and 2.09%, Dundee £58m and 1.04%, North Ayrshire £51m and 1.83%, West Dunbartonshire £36m and 2.61% and Inverclyde £33m and 2.28%.
Margaret Curran, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, said Scots "face a double danger from Tory and SNP cuts". She insisted the UK and Scottish Governments had questions to answer about how they had allowed these cuts to hit the poorest communities the hardest.
"At best it is incompetence, at worst it is just cruelty," she said.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "Despite UK Government cuts, the Scottish Government is maintaining councils revenue funding on a like-for- like basis for 2012-15, with additional funding for new or extended service delivery."
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