Lothian Labour MSP Sarah Boyack warns of 'cost of living crisis'

She pointed to official statistics showing people are struggling to pay bills and getting into debt – and also highlighted an inflation-busting increase in water charges which is looming.

According to Scottish Government figures, there has been a significant rise in people seeking help with council tax payments over the past year.

The number claiming Council Tax Reduction soared by more than 10 per cent from 32,920 in November 2019 to 36,340 in November 2020 after having fallen fairly steadily over the previous five years.

Nationally, almost half a million Scots - 497,170 people – were receiving Council Tax Reduction in November due to financial pressures.

Statistics have also revealed that by the end of December 2020, 1,207 people across Scotland had applied for debt moratoria under emergency measures contained coronavirus legislation.

And Ms Boyack said on top of the pressures of council tax and personal debt, millions of Scots were set to be hit by a big rise in water prices, despite Scottish Water and its subsidiaries holding reserves of over half a billion pounds.