Spending on benefits controlled by the SNP Government skyrocketed by nearly £2.3billion last year, leading to claims that ministers are ‘bankrupting Scotland’ by refusing to get a grip of soaring costs.

The SNP’s benefits quango paid out an eye-watering £5.8billion to nearly two million people last year.

In the space of just 12 months, the number of people receiving the payments almost doubled while spending shot up by 64 per cent.

Holyrood ministers have repeatedly refused to try to bring down costs despite concerns that they are unsustainable.

Craig Hoy, the Scottish Conservatives’ finance and social security spokesman, said: ‘These bombshell figures demonstrate what we’ve been saying for years: the SNP is bankrupting Scotland with a ballooning and completely unsustainable welfare bill.

‘Everybody believes in a safety net for the most vulnerable in society, but the SNP are presiding over an explosion in benefits spending that is unaffordable and unfair on the hard-working Scots who are funding it through record high taxes.

‘This inexorable rise cannot continue, and yet the Scottish Conservatives are the only party confronting the massive elephant in the room. 

'All of the other parties are burying their heads in the sand, while finance secretary Jenny Gilruth says she’s proud of splurging taxpayers’ money on a bill that is set to top £10billion per year soon.’

Social Security Scotland, on Tuesday, released a report which showed that the total number of people it paid benefits to soared from 821,795 in 2023/24 to 976,320 in 2024/25 and then to 1,915,260 the following year.

The total value of payments increased from £1.86billion in 2023/24 to £3.58billiong in 2024/25 and £5.87billion last year.

The Scottish Tories highlighted that total spending by Social Security Scotland has increased by 15,000 per cent since it was established in 2018 – although the Scottish Government said this was misleading since it has gained control of a wide range of newly-devolved benefits since then.

Social Security Scotland’s new report highlighted that over two million individual people have been paid more than £12billion since it was established in 2018.

It now controls 17 benefits, with the most expensive being adult disability payment, which was paid to 517,835 people at a cost of £3.35billion in 2025/26, up from 465,305 claimants and a cost of £2.38billion the previous year.

The increase in number of overall benefit claimants last year was attributed to the national launch of the devolved pension age disability payment and the administration of the Scottish adult disability living allowance.

Pension age winter heating payments were paid to more than one million people, which was more than any other payment.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Social security is a vital safety net that anyone may rely upon throughout their lives. The Scottish Government has balanced its budget every year and will continue to, as required by law.

‘An ageing and increasingly unwell population, combined with the UK Government’s decision to raise the state pension age, means that more people are eligible for Adult Disability Payment for longer.

‘It is misleading to compare social security spend in 2026/27 with 2018/19 as a further 16 benefits have been introduced since then – there were only two available in 2018.

‘The comparison between 2024/25 and 2025/26 also fails to take into account the migration of DWP benefits to the Scottish Government, which is set out in the Scottish Government’s annual accounts; for example, the more than a million one-off pension-age winter heating payments which were paid in Scotland for the first time last year.’