Cost of living payment: This is how many Glasgow homes could get £150 from the Scottish Government

Finance secretary Kate Forbes announced a three-point plan to assist with soaring energy bills, increasing food costs and rising interest rates.

It comes as energy bills are set to rise by 54 per cent for 22 million households from the beginning of April, adding £693 to the annual bills of a typical household.

Ms Forbes confirmed a £290 million support package following similar moves by UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak last week.

She said additional energy costs could move a further 211,000 households into fuel poverty, and around 235,000 households into extreme fuel poverty.

How many Glasgow households will get help?

The cash will only go to households in Council Tax bands A-D and all of those eligible for Council Tax reductions.

It is estimated that there are 242,425 households that fall between these bands and will receive £150 - although this number does include some empty homes, which won’t get a payout.

It means 84.4 per cent of households in Glasgow could get support. It also means 43,166 households would not receive cash support.

Neither of these figures include those in receipt of Council Tax reduction.

What did Kate Forbes say?

Speaking in Holyrood, she said: “Firstly, we will provide £150 to every household in receipt of Council Tax reduction in all council tax bands.

“The Council Tax reduction scheme already identifies households in greatest need and will allow us to target this intervention.

“Secondly, I will provide local authorities with funding to pass on £150 to other occupied households in Bands A to D in Scotland.

“In total, combining these elements, 1.85 million, or 73 per cent of all households, will receive £150 of support.”

Ms Forbes said councils will have a choice to deliver the latter as a direct payment or a credit to council tax accounts.

Other support

The Finance Secretary also announced £10 million in 2022/23 to continue the Fuel Insecurity Fund.

Councils in Scotland were previously handed an extra £120 million to reduce the need for “inflation-busting” council tax rises.

‘Repeated his mistakes’

Chris Birt, associate director for Scotland at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) said: “By largely copying the approach of the Chancellor, the Scottish Government has repeated his mistakes and provided cold comfort for families on low incomes in Scotland. While many people currently living in poverty will receive this small payment, many more people who are not in poverty will too, meaning the available funds are spread far too thinly.

“£150 will barely touch the sides of the gaping hole in many low-income households’ budgets, many of whom are already facing hunger, anxiety and debt. There was no perfect solution available to the Finance Secretary, but this isn’t a good one.

“This was a chance to do something different to the UK Government, whose response the Scottish Government rightly called “wholly inadequate” just this weekend, and it is hard to understand why that chance wasn’t taken.”