Work underway to move the benefits of over 66,000 people by end of year
Disability Living Allowance for adults is being replaced by a new Scottish benefit. Work has begun to move the benefit awards of over 66,000 people to Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance.
The new benefit will now be paid by Social Security Scotland instead of the Department for Work and Pensions.
There will be no gaps in payments or reductions in the support people get because of the transfer.
People getting DLA do not need to do anything as the transfer will happen automatically.
Social Security Scotland will send letters to let people know when their benefit is being moved and another when the move is complete. The transfer process will take four to eight weeks.
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said: “I am pleased work has begun to transfer the benefit awards of every adult in Scotland currently getting DLA to our new benefit.
“I want to reassure people affected that their payments will transfer safely and securely, with no gaps or reductions to the support they receive.
“The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring everyone gets the financial support they’re entitled to and this has not changed following the UK Government’s announcement on welfare.”
Scottish Adult DLA was introduced to provide support for adults who were still getting DLA on 21 March 2025. Like DLA for adults, it is not open to new applications.
People born after 8 April 1948 can choose to apply for Adult Disability Payment after their transfer to Scottish Adult DLA is complete.
Social Security Scotland recommends anyone thinking of doing this to get independent advice on which benefit is best for them as some people might be better off on one benefit than the other.
Once a decision has been made on their application for Adult Disability Payment they cannot return to Scottish Adult DLA.
Adults of working age who are newly in need of disability support can apply for Adult Disability Payment.
Pensioners can apply for Pension Age Disability Payment, the replacement for Attendance Allowance, in most of Scotland.
Where Pension Age Disability Payment is not yet available, pensioners can apply for Attendance Allowance from the Department for Work and Pensions.
The Children and Young People’s Commissioner has urged the Scottish Government and authorities to urgently redesign education, so it works for ALL children.
Commissioner Nicola Killean has made recommendations to improve the education system in a new report – warning that too many children are failing to thrive in the current set-up.
The Commissioner and her team have spent over a year listening to children and young people’s current experiences of learning. The recommendations – which come both directly from children, and from the office – build on existing education reform reports and push for much more urgent and substantial change.
Her recommendations in the report, called ‘“This is our lives, it matters a lot”: Putting children’s rights at the heart of education’, include:
fundamental reform of the support and resourcing for children who have additional support needs
a co-ordinated and adequately resourced national online education offer to support children who need and can benefit from that option for many reasons
more equitable access to subject choice, as children can’t always study the things they want to
ensuring the purpose of education is to prioritise the development of a child’s full potential, not be dominated by exam results
accelerate the implementation of the Hayward Review, which will reform assessments and qualifications.
Ms Killean said: “Too many children are being let down by our current system. Every child has a right to an education that develops their personality, talents, and abilities to their full potential.
“We’ve had review after review, and the promise of change, but children in school feel no improvement. The pace of education reform has not only been glacial, but it is fundamentally focussed on the wrong areas. Time is being spent on restructuring adult agencies and not on addressing the needs of children within a system that is clearly failing them.
“Children should be at the heart of shaping change to education, working alongside all those adults tasked with delivering it – government, decision-makers, and practitioners. Within education children are the ultimate stakeholders, and they have been very clear that they want change in education to be a priority for the government.
“Many children need improved support – this includes disabled children, children with neurodivergent conditions, and those living in poverty. We can’t deliver a rights-respecting education when children’s needs are not recognised or met.
“We have people trying to change the system from inside, we have examples of innovation that can make a huge difference to children, and we have vision for real change in the Hayward, Muir and Morgan Reviews commissioned by the Scottish Government.
The Commissioner’s Young Advisors were involved in the research and have made an accompanying film to the report. They visited schools with the Commissioner to work with children and hear their views.
One Young Advisor reflected after visiting schools: “This is our lives. This is what will impact us not only now…this will impact on our futures. It matters a lot to us, and all young people.”
The report shares what children told the Commissioner and makes recommendations under the themes of culture, curriculum, personalisation and support, assessment and qualifications, and purpose.
The Commissioner added: “We’ve made strong recommendations for those responsible for delivering education, including the Scottish Government, education authorities, and HMIE.
“All agencies should place children at the centre of reform – their strengths and insights are much needed. Children must not be excluded from decisions that affect their lives.
“We recognise assessments, exams, and qualifications should be understood as part of the education system; they should not dominate the system. Older children told us they were stressed, had little time to relax and that exams had a lasting effect on their mental health.”
The Commissioner added: “The Scottish Government – and others who have the power to create meaningful change – must deliver an education that has rights at the heart for every child.
NORTH Edinburgh’s popular Community Festival is on the move – to leafy BARNTON!
The annual festival has proved a huge hit since it was established in 2022, but organisers believe the event has outgrown it’s West Pilton Park home and it’s time to move on to pastures new.
Community stalwart Willie Black explained: “North Edinburgh Community Festival has been hugely popular with the local community but realise that other communities like Barnton and Cramond are losing out.
“That’s just not fair – we want to be as inclusive as possible so the move to Barnton makes perfect sense. It’s a win-win.”
Local landowner and Barnton Community Association chairman Fitzroy Arbuckle-Brightly added: “William and I have been chums since we attended Glenalmond together and the idea to move the festival came about after a jolly lunch during our annual skiing trip to Val D’Isere this spring. The more fine wine we quaffed the more sense it all made!
“North Edinburgh Community Festival has been a victim of it’s own success and has outgrown it’s rather small venue in North Edinburgh. It deserves a far grander stage and that is why I suggested the move to my estate in Barnton.
“There will have to be a few changes, of course, including a croquet competition to replace all that noisy music and the introduction of an entrance fee in line with other major festival events, but we’ll announce all the details later. Much later. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that.”
North Edinburgh Community Festival organisers were unavailable for comment, but it’s understood the re-homed festival will take place on 1st April next year.
Community groups in Edinburgh are being invited to apply for funding from a £50,000 pilot scheme by the City of Edinburgh Council to establish new food growing projects.
The “Grow Your Own” community grant initiative will welcome applications from projects aimed at establishing new community growing projects. Applications for funding are invited to help the creation of new growing spaces, supporting the establishment of growing groups, and promoting education around urban food production.
Grants of up to £5,000 will be awarded to constituted voluntary and community groups across the city, with projects running for up to 12 months.
The £50,000 funding has been allocated from the Flood Prevention/Biodiversity (including food growing) budget, which was approved in the Council’s budget on 22 February 2025. This fund aims to provide smaller community groups with essential support to establish community growing initiatives.
Funding can be used for a variety of purposes, including:
Purchasing seeds, plants, and tools
Equipment for community garden cooking areas
Education and training activities
Personal protective equipment
Staff time directly related to establishing the growing area
Culture and Communities Convener Val Walker said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for Edinburgh communities to get involved in urban food growing.
“The city already hosts over 45 allotment sites with over 1,700 council-managed plots, along with more than 70 community growing projects. Through Edinburgh’s Food Growing Strategy (2021- 2026) and Allotment Strategy (2017 – 2027) we aim to expand local food growing initiatives.
This year’s scheme will operate as a pilot program, and its impact will be assessed. If successful, and funding permitting, we could see this becoming an annual initiative.
To apply, groups must meet the Council’s Standard Conditions of Grants. Full details can be found on the City of Edinburgh website.
The application process will be administered through the City of Edinburgh Council’s Your Voice platform, designed to ensure a simple and efficient application experience.
The Prime Minister and Home Secretary gathered leaders from across the world in London yesterday to tackle organised immigration crime
The purpose of the Organised Immigration Crime Summit is to agree new action to tackle organised immigration crime (OIC) and boost border security.
Discussions at day 1 of the summit included:
tackling the supply chains and enablers of OIC
the role of criminal finances in facilitating OIC
the UK’s systems based approach to border security
as well as how countries can tackle organised crime groups’ operations online in relation to the advertising, promoting and facilitating of illegal immigration services.
The UK and allies including France, Iraq, Vietnam and the USA, and partners including the National Crime Agency (NCA) and representatives from social media organisations, met to agree actions to secure our collective borders, protect vulnerable people from exploitation, and tackle the global threat of organised immigration crime.
Unlike previous summits, this event engaged both European nations and key source and transit countries, as well as those that are integral to the supply of equipment, including small boats and engines, ensuring a broader, more comprehensive approach to tackling OIC.
Concrete outcomes have been agreed across Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and North America to strengthen international partnerships to disrupt OIC networks. This also includes new joint work with France to tackle irregular migration in source and transit countries, through community outreach and bolstering false document detection capabilities to Iraqi officials.
The agreement represents a key step forward in the government’s Plan for Change to deliver on working people’s priorities to restore order to the immigration system and comes after the publication of new figures showing more than 24,000 people with no right to be here have been returned since the election – the highest rate of returns in 8 years.
A communiqué was issued that sets out how we will deepen our collaboration internationally to tackle this vile crime.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Organised immigration crime undermines our security and puts lives at risk. The criminal networks have spread across the globe and no single country can tackle this problem alone.
“Today, at the Organised Immigration Crime Summit, the UK has led the way forward by securing international commitments to disrupt and pursue this vile criminal trade in people – part of our Plan for Change to strengthen our borders and keep communities safe.”
Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt said: “I have said since I came into my post as Border Security Commander that organised immigration crime requires a coordinated international response to effectively dismantle criminal networks.
“In my role I have seen first-hand how the cruelty and greed of criminal gangs puts the lives of the most vulnerable at risk in dangerous small boat crossings all for financial gain.
“This summit marks a step change in the international community’s approach to tackling the problem, presenting a critical opportunity to strengthen global cooperation, disrupt criminal networks, and prevent further loss of life.”
Director General of the National Crime Agency (NCA) Graeme Biggar said: “Criminal gangs are using sophisticated online tactics, the abuse of legitimate goods and services, and illicit financial networks to facilitate dangerous and illegal journeys which put thousands of lives at risk each year and undermine border security.
“Today’s summit sets out international agreements to tackle an international problem. International intelligence sharing and cooperation is absolutely crucial to track criminal activity across borders allowing us to put a stop to these dangerous criminals.”
In addition, today the Home Secretary confirmed over £30 million in funding within the Border Security Command to tackle Organised Immigration Criminal Networks. This significant funding package will be spent on key security projects across Europe, the Western Balkans, Asia and Africa, designed to strengthen border security and combat international criminal smuggling gangs.
The Home Secretary also announced joint work with France to fund an additional grassroots engagement programme to educate local communities on the dangers of irregular migration and people smuggling gangs, raising awareness of the realities and difficulties with travelling to Northern France to cross the Channel to the UK.
This will target both potential irregular migrants and, for the first time, teachers, religious leaders, and family members within vulnerable communities, and builds on the Home Office digital deterrence comms campaign that is already running in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
The UK will also collaborate with France to deliver critical training to Iraqi officials and commercial transport staff, helping them detect fraudulent documents and passports used to facilitate irregular migration and OIC activities.
Health Secretary Neil Gray has set out how the Scottish Government plans to improve access to treatment, reduce waiting times and shift the balance of care from hospitals to primary care through the publication of the Operational Improvement Plan.
Through the additional £200 million investment contained in the Budget to reduce waiting times and improve flow through hospital, we will create 150,000 extra appointments and procedures using greater use of regional and national working.
By introducing a seven-day service in radiology, using mobile scanning units and additional recruitment, 95% of referrals will be seen within six weeks by March 2026, reducing backlogs in MRI, CT, ultrasound and endoscopy procedures.
To improve flow in acute hospitals and support increases in community care, we will expand Hospital at Home to at least 2,000 beds by the end of 2026, meaning the service, which provides hospital level care in the comfort of the patients home, will become the biggest hospital in Scotland.
By this summer there will be specialist staff in frailty teams in every A&E department in Scotland. Flow Navigation Centres, which direct patients to the most appropriate service for their condition, will be able to refer patients to more services, reducing the number of people who have to wait in A&E.
Investment in primary care will make it easier for people to see a doctor, dentist, optometrist or community pharmacist, and £10.5 million will be invested in general practice to take targeted action to prevent heart disease and frailty.
Digital services will be expanded to modernise services and improve efficiency, with the Digital Front Door app launching in Lanarkshire in December. This launch will be followed by a national roll-out in 2026, allowing people to securely access their hospital appointments, receive communications and find local services. Over time it will be expanded to include social care and community health services.
On a visit to Kirklands Hospital’s Flow Navigation Centre, Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “This plan details how the Scottish Government will deliver a more accessible NHS, with reductions to long-waits and the pressures we currently see. It shows how we will use the £21.7 billion health and social care investment in the 2025-26 Budget to deliver significant improvements for patients.
“We want to increase the number of appointments, speed up treatment and make it easier to see a doctor. By better using digital technology, we will embrace innovation and increase efficiencies.
“This plan is ambitious but realistic, and builds on the incredible work of our amazing health and social care staff across our health boards, to deliver real change.”
