Long Covid victims benefits delay plea

STUC urge action to help sufferers

-  ANDREW QUINN

LONG Covid sufferers have hit out over a delay in Holyrood taking over a vital benefit for people injured at work.

Earlier this week, Social Justice Cabinet Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville warned of the difficulties taking over the decades-old Industrial Injuries Disablement Scheme.

It is to be renamed Employment Injuries Assistance.

But the complexity of the move means the UK Department for Work and Pensions will continue to deliver the benefit until March 2026.

STUC general secretary Roz Foyer said the Scottish Government "must not delay" because "we cannot countenance any wilful obstruction of the process whilst workers and their families are seeking justice".