SCOTLAND’S poorest families will be hundreds of pounds worse off after changes to benefits and tax credits take effect, according to research published yesterday.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) Scotland has calculated that the poorest 20 per cent of households will lose an average of £520 each year.

The research came as Tory Scottish Secretary David Mundell brazenly attempted to wash his hands of the government’s tax credit cuts. He said the Scottish government would be able to top up tax credits and child benefits under new devolution plans.

But IPPR Scotland director Russell Gunson said Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget “will have a huge impact on the poorest in Scotland” and “over 800,000 households will be worse off, with some losing over £500 a year.”

He warned that any benefit from the so-called living wage of £7.25 an hour for over-25s would be “vastly outweighed by the negative impact of tax credit reductions.”

Single parents, who are mostly women, will be worst affected, losing more than £1,500 a year.

Scottish TUC assistant secretary Ian Tasker said Tory claims to be tackling poverty were “meaningless” as they consistently passed measures benefiting the richest.

“Taking tax credits away from the poorest when decent, well-paid jobs are not available will push more and more people into poverty,” he said.

SNP MSP Kevin Stewart said the research showed the Tories had passed “a Budget for boosting inequality.”

The research also found that Scotland’s richest 20 per cent of households would be better off after the changes announced in Mr Osborne’s budget, gaining around £110 a year by 2020-21.

Scottish Labour MSP Jackie Baillie accused the Tories of being “Robin Hood in reverse, taking from the poor to give to the rich.”