More than £21.9m has been paid out to support the housing costs of those in financial hardship, according to official statistics.

In the 10 months from April 2013 to January 2014, local authorities have awarded almost 61,000 applications under the Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) scheme.

This is a total value of more than £21.9m.

The figures, which have been released by Scotland's Chief Statistician, reveal that councils across Scotland received almost 86,000 applications to the scheme, which provides financial assistance towards housing costs for those claiming housing benefit.

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By the end of January 2014, more than 78,000 of the claims had been processed, with almost 61,000 awards granted. The average payment is around £362.

For 2013/14, the total value of payments under the DHP scheme is limited to £33.7m. After 10 months of operation, the total spent is 88% of what would be expected at this point in the year if all Local Authorities were on target to spend all of their funding.

At a local level, the figures are more variable, with some areas expected to spend their full allocation and some thought to spend significantly less.

(JP/MH)