benefits – Page 12 – The NEN – North Edinburgh News

New campaign promoting disability benefits launched

Financial support for disabled people

Disabled people are being urged to find out if they are eligible for Scottish Government disability benefits as part of a new campaign to increase benefit take-up.

The nationwide campaign aims to raise awareness about financial support available to help with the extra costs that disabled children and adults may face.

Child Disability Payment provides financial support to help families and carers with the extra costs of caring for a disabled child or young person or a child or young person with a long-term health condition. Adult Disability Payment is available to people aged between 16 and state pension age who are disabled, have a long-term health condition or a terminal illness.

These benefits are administered by Social Security Scotland and replace the Department for Work and Pensions’ Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for Children, DLA and Personal Independence Payment.

People already getting disability benefits from DWP will see their award transfer automatically and they do not need to apply separately.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Being disabled or having a long-term health condition can come with a variety of extra costs, such as paying more for accessible transport. We want to make sure that disabled children and adults get all the extra financial support they are entitled to, to ease the impact of those costs.

“This campaign is not just about raising awareness but also has an important role to play in helping to remove any stigma that people may be worried about when applying for social security. We believe social security is a human right. It is here for any of us should we need it and we want to make sure people are accessing what they are due.

“This is the first time that we are proactively promoting disability benefits as part of a national advertising campaign, including adverts on TV. We are not aware of the UK Government running a campaign on the equivalent UK benefits for over 30-years. I want to actively encourage people to check if they are eligible for Child and Adult Disability Payments and make sure they get extra financial support to help them live full and independent lives.”

The campaign features Piper, 9, who has Down’s Syndrome. Her mum Caroline Milburn, says disability benefits have helped cover extra costs as well as give Piper opportunities she’d never have had without them.

Caroline, from Edinburgh, said: “Piper is such a unique character. When she was born we were told she wouldn’t walk until she was around six, but she was walking at two. She’s so determined and knows her own mind. If she wants to do something she’ll do it.

“Disability benefit allowed me to buy her a sensory swing and a tablet that gives her access to games that help her learn. She just thinks she’s having fun but the games have taught her so much. She plays them with her five-year-old brother sitting beside her and he learns with her.

“Child Disability Payment helps cover the costs of buying Piper new clothes and duvets as she is always chewing holes in them It also allows me to send her to holiday clubs. She loves them and they’re really good for her, but they cost about £40 a week.

“Piper is such an amazing girl and she makes everyone’s lives better. Without disability benefits we’d not have been able to give her all the experiences and opportunities she’s had to learn and connect with the world.”

Fraser of Allander Institute: A new financial year beckons

Thursday 6^th April is the first day of the new tax year (hands-up who missed the ISA deadline, again) and a number of changes in both UK and Scottish policy come into effect (writes FRASER of ALLANDER Institute).

Here is a brief rundown of some of the changes that have come into play at the start of this new financial year:;

Firstly, taxes.

For higher rate tax payers the new 1p comes into effect in Scotland as well as the reduction in the threshold for those paying the additional rate, mirroring what has happened in the rest of the UK. Other band thresholds, including the personal allowance (the rate at which people start to pay tax) have remain frozen.

The UK Spring Budget announced changes to the pension annual allowance and lifetime allowance also come into effect.

Council Tax bills have gone up across the country. Local authorities have the ability to vary the Band D rate charged, which then translates into rises in bills across all bands via a set of multipliers. On average, Band D rates have risen by 5%, but there are clear exceptions (Chart 1).

Failure to reform Council Tax makes any additional revenue raised through Council Tax regressive in nature. Failure to revalue the tax base means that increasingly the bills paid by households bear little resemblance to the relative value of their home. This isn’t the fault of Councils – the ball firmly remains in the Scottish Government’s court on this one.

Unlike Council Tax, there has been a revaluation for Non-Domestic Rates. Even though the poundage rate charged to non-domestic properties has remained frozen (as also the case in rUK) businesses will see a change in their bills reflecting their updated ‘rateable values’.

Secondly, benefits

The UK Government announced in its Autumn Statement that reserved benefits would be uprated by 10.1%. This practice of uprating, using the previous September CPI, is standard procedure.

Devolved benefits have received the same uplift from the Scottish Government, with the exception of the Scottish Child Payment. This increased in value in November 2022 and it was decided it was not in scope for further uplift for 2023/24.

Although not strictly a benefit, the continuation of the energy price guarantee on energy means that we are not facing a rise in our energy bills this month. The guarantee has been extended at its current level for a further 3 months, by which time it is hoped that energy prices will have come down to more reasonable levels. It will hopefully be warmer by then too!

On that note, we wish you a pleasant Easter weekend, and fingers crossed that the sun will shine.

One million families claiming tax credits to receive Cost of Living Payment from 2 May

One million eligible claimant families receiving tax credits, and no other means-tested benefits, will get the first 2023-24 Cost of Living Payment from Tuesday 2 May 2023, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed.

The £301 UK Government payment will be paid automatically into most customers’ bank accounts between Tuesday 2 and Tuesday 9 May 2023 across the United Kingdom. Only eligible families who receive tax credits and no other means-tested benefits will receive the payment from HMRC.

This is the first of three payments totalling up to £900 for those eligible in 2023-24.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury, John Glen, said: “Higher prices make life difficult for everyone, which is why our priority is to halve inflation this year.

“But we are also going further to support those struggling most, with a total package of support worth an average of £3,300 per household this year and next – including up to £900 in direct cash payments starting next month for families receiving tax credits.”

Angela MacDonald, HMRC’s Deputy Chief Executive and Second Permanent Secretary, said: “The £301 Cost of Living Payment will deliver vital financial help to eligible tax credit customers across the UK. Further support will be paid in autumn 2023 and spring 2024 to those entitled to payment.

“HMRC will pay eligible tax credit customers automatically and with no action required from the customer, to make this as simple and helpful as it can possibly be.”

The payment will show as ‘HMRC COLS’ in customers’ bank and building society accounts, so that they know the money is cost of living support.

For tax credit-only customers to be eligible for the £301 Cost of Living Payment, they must have received a payment of tax credits in respect of any day in the period 26 January to 25 February 2023, or later be found to have been entitled to a payment for this period.

Eligible customers do not need to apply or contact HMRC to receive the payment.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recently announced that eligible households receiving DWP means-tested benefits will receive their first 2023-24 payment between Tuesday 25 April and Wednesday 17 May. This includes tax credit claimants who also receive other income-related benefits from DWP.

The payments are part of a package of wider UK Government support announced to tackle the cost of living in 2023-24, including:

· a further £300 Cost of Living Payment for eligible families in autumn 2023, with a payment of £299 in Spring 2024

· a £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment for eligible disabled people to be paid during summer 2023

· a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment to be paid during winter 2023-24.

This means that the most vulnerable can receive up to £1,350 in direct payments over the coming financial year if eligible.

Including both DWP and HMRC payments, the latest Cost of Living Payment will see more than 8 million households across the UK receive their £301 cash boost by mid-May 2023.

The UK Government is offering help for households. Customers should check GOV.UK to find out what support they could be eligible for.

Increase in social security benefits from 1st April

Additional support for people who need it most

Twelve Scottish Government benefits including Carer’s Allowance Supplement and Best Start Grants will be increased by 10.1% on 1 April, backed by investment of around £430 million.

The Scottish Child Payment was increased by 150% in 2022 to £25 per eligible child per week.

A total of 13 Scottish Government benefits are now being delivered through Social Security Scotland, seven of which are only available in Scotland.

Social Security Minister Ben Macpherson said: “We are committing £5.2 billion for social security benefits in 2023-24, providing support to more than one million people in Scotland. This is £776 million above the level of funding we are forecast to receive from the UK Government for social security through Block Grant Adjustments.

“The choices we have taken in our Budget represent a significant investment in people and are key to our national mission to tackle child poverty. They will help low-income families with their living costs, support people to heat their homes in winter, and enable disabled people to live full and independent lives. This is money that will go directly to people who need it the most.”

12 Scottish Government benefits will be increased by 10.1% on 1 April 2023. These are:

Child Winter Hearing Assistance
Carer’s Allowance Supplement
Young Carer Grant
Job Start Payment
Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment
Best Start Grant School Age Payment
Adult Disability Payment
Child Disability Payment
Best Start Foods
Best Start Grant Pregnancy & Baby Payment
Funeral Support Payment
Winter Heating Payment

Scottish Child Payment was increased to £25 per eligible child per week in November 2022. This represented a 150% increase in eight months.

GIC advice and information session at Royston Wardieburn tomorrow

GRANTON Information Centre welfare rights advisers Elvira and Pui-Kei will be delivering an advice and information session tomorrow at Royston Wardieburn Community Centre.

Come along if you have any questions about debt/benefits or housing!

Big Hearts: Support for kinship carers

Kinship carers urged to check Scottish Child Payment eligibility

Kinship carers are being urged to check if they could be entitled to the Scottish Child Payment, after eligibility was expanded to include more of them last year.

The call comes at the start of Scottish Kinship Care Week, which celebrates the role of extended family or friends who care for children when they cannot remain with their birth parents.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon met with a group of kinship carers yesterday at an annual big breakfast hosted by the Big Hearts Community Trust at Tynecastle Park to thank them and highlight the extra support available via the Scottish Child Payment and other Scottish social security benefits.

Big Hearts’ Kinship Care programme was launched in 2015 and offers a range of support for young people and their carers, including after school clubs, coffee mornings, and wellbeing advice.

The First Minister said: “We owe kinship carers an enormous debt of gratitude for the role they play in providing loving and secure homes for children and young people, and it’s vital they receive every penny of support they’re entitled to.

“In line with our commitment to tackling child poverty, we increased the Scottish Child Payment to £25 a week per eligible child last year, and expanded the eligibility criteria to include more kinship carers.

“We want to ensure everyone gets the financial support they are entitled to, so I’d encourage carers to check whether they’re entitled to receive the Scottish Child Payment and any other Scottish Government benefits.

“In addition to the fantastic support provided by charities like Big Hearts, there are a range of events for kinship carers taking place across the country this week, and free advice and guidance is also available from the Kinship Care Advice Service for Scotland website.”

Craig Wilson, Big Hearts’ General Manager said: “It was fantastic to welcome Scotland’s First Minister to Tynecastle Park for the start of Scottish Kinship Care Week.

“We are so proud to work with so many amazing kinship care families and for many years we’ve strived to raise the profile of kinship carers and highlight the support they can and should receive.

“There’s no doubt that today adds to that and we want kinship carers to know there is always a warm and welcoming place for them here at Big Hearts.”

184,000 getting £25 Scottish Child Payment

£155 million in payments since introduction in February 2021

There were 184,000 children and young people getting £25 per week in Scottish Child Payment by the end of 2022, latest statistics show.

The figure includes 78,000 who have received it since the payment was extended to include children aged between six and 16 in November.

Social Security Scotland had provided decisions to just over half the people who applied on the extension of the payment by the end of 2022.

Decisions for the majority of people who applied or added additional children to their award between 14 November and 31 December 2022 have now been issued and this will be reported on in the next round of statistics.

Scottish Child Payment was announced in the summer of 2019, with the first payments being made in February 2021.

Since then it has risen from £10 per week per child to £25 per week per child – a 150% increase in value.

It means that the amount paid out to children totals £155 million until the end of last year.

Ahead of extending Scottish Child Payment to under-16s, local authorities also made more than 1.1 million Bridging Payments across 2021 and 2022 to the families of school age children worth a total of £169.3 million.

Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison said: ““These figures demonstrate our commitment to tackling child poverty and the significant financial support we have made available to meet that aim.

“This is just a snapshot of all the work being done since Scottish Child Payment was extended and increased until the end of 2022.

“We’ve since processed tens of thousands more applications.

“This represents remarkable progress in the delivery of the most ambitious child poverty reduction measure in the UK.

“That increased payment of £1,300 per child per year is now benefitting families across Scotland.

“We want to make sure that everyone gets the help available to them. Parents or carers who are on universal credit, tax credits or other benefits and who have children under 16 should check through Social Security Scotland if they are eligible.”

Social Security Scotland: Best Start Grant – School Age Payment

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS TODAY