Councils distribute almost 100,000 Christmas crisis grants

Scottish Liberal Democrat communities spokesperson Willie Rennie MSP has today warned that tens of thousands of families are teetering on the brink as he revealed new figures which show that around 30,000 Scots have required crisis grants to support them through the festive season in each of the past three years.

Figures uncovered by Scottish Liberal Democrats through freedom of information requests reveal:

• 27,617 crisis grants were paid out across December 2024 and January 2025.
• In 2022/23 there were 35,351 grants paid out and in 2023/24 there were 30,838 grants paid out.
• This is a significant rise from 13,958 grants paid out across December 2014 and January 2015 with almost every local authority paying more crisis grants than they were a decade ago.
• Glasgow paid out 13,980 crisis grants across the past three festive periods, while Fife paid out 11,057 and Edinburgh paid out 9,365.

Commenting on the figures, Willie Rennie said:

“For most of us Christmas is a time to gather with friends and family for food, presents and good cheer.

“However, for too many Scots, it is a struggle just to get by. These figures show that there are tens of thousands of families teetering on the brink.

“For two decades the SNP have presided over a stagnant economy and households trapped in poverty.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats will go into May’s election with a realistic plan to get things done. That means helping you with the cost of living – insulating cold homes and using Scottish renewable energy to drive down household bills.

“Scotland deserves better. And with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, you can vote for it.”