Tag: Social Security Scotland

Social Security Scotland’s Local Delivery team hits 10,000 appointments milestone

Minister praises impact of specially-trained advisers

A team dedicated to providing support to people applying for benefits has marked its 10,000th appointment in its first year of operation.

Social Security Scotland’s Local Delivery service was launched to offer support to people in their homes, at a convenient place within communities, by videocall or by phone.

Minister for Social Security, Ben Macpherson, said the milestone reached showed how Scotland was “doing things differently” in its approach to supporting people applying for benefits.

He hailed the success of the Local Delivery service as a source of pride during a visit to Parkhead Pantry in the East End of Glasgow.

Local Delivery representatives host a community stall at the Pantry – one of many ways they provide support for people who visit the venue.

Ben Macpherson said: “During its first year of operation, Social Security Scotland’s Local Delivery service has already made a very positive impact by helping thousands of people to access support they are entitled to.

“The Local Delivery service is a great example of how Social Security Scotland is doing things differently in how we deliver devolved benefits – by pro-actively offering people face-to-face support in communities across Scotland.

“Our specially-trained client support advisers can be proud of what they have achieved so far, in establishing a service that has already made an important difference and will help thousands of more people in the years ahead.”

The Local Delivery service, launched in November last year, provides face-to-face support from staff in all 32 Scottish Local Authority areas.

People can book in-person meetings with an adviser at home, in their local community or on either video or phone calls. They can answer queries and help clients with form filling.

During the visit Mr Macpherson met Aileen McGuire, the chief executive of Parkhead Housing Association which hosts the pantry at its Parkhead Schoolhouse building.

Ms McGuire said: “Having direct access to this Social Security Scotland has made such a positive difference to our tenants and residents in Parkhead, we are seeing the real benefits of partnership and collaborative working.

“There’s always an advantage to having face-to-face contact. A lot of our tenants feel more comfortable having direct contact, having somebody in person to explain things really does helps.”

Adult Disability Payment roll out continues into seven more areas

People in Aberdeenshire, City of Aberdeen, Fife, Moray, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire, and South Ayrshire are now able to apply for Adult Disability Payment.

This means Adult Disability Payment is now available in 13 council areas ahead of opening nationwide on 29 August.

It is the twelfth and most complex benefit to be delivered by the Scottish Government and replaces the UK Government’s Personal Independence Payment. The benefit provides financial support to people aged between 16 and state pension age, who are disabled, have a long-term health condition or have a terminal illness.

People already receiving the UK Government’s Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance do not need to make an application for Adult Disability Payment. These existing awards will transfer automatically from the DWP to Social Security Scotland. Cases will transfer in stages starting from this summer and this process is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson said: “We are taking a positive, responsible and compassionate approach to delivering disability benefits. This is in contrast to aspects of the current UK Government system.

“The Scottish Government is committed to treating people with dignity, fairness and respect and we start from a position of trust.

“Adult Disability Payment is an important financial support to provide security and help people live well. I would encourage anyone in Scotland who could be eligible to please check and apply. We want people to get support that they’re entitled to, because social security is a shared investment to help build a fairer and better society together.

“When people apply for our disability benefits, we are focused on making the right decisions first time to reduce the need for people to go through a redetermination or appeal. When Social Security Scotland is making a decision it will only need one formal piece of supporting information from a professional, such as a social care assessment, medical report or prescription list, and if required we will obtain that information for people.

“We will never use the private sector to carry out health assessments and there won’t be any degrading functional examinations such as asking a client to ‘touch their toes’.”

Susan Burt, People First (Fife) said: “People First are pleased to see the new Adult Disability Payment. Our needs are being better understood by using face to face local delivery teams and an easier application process.

“We hope this will help people with a learning disability to have better and fairer access to their benefits.”

Scottish Government pays out £1.8 million in Young Carer Grants

The number of people successfully applying for the Young Carer Grant has risen in the last year. A total of 2,490 applications were approved in 2021-22, up 200 from the previous year.

This means from its introduction in October 2019 until 30 April this year, more than £1.8 million had been paid out to 4,265 young people, with some getting the payment up to three times.

The Young Carer Grant, which is unique to Scotland, was increased from £308.15 to £326.65 from 1 April.

The payment is available for 16-18 year-olds who spend an average of 16 hours caring for a person or people in receipt of a disability benefit. As long as someone remains eligible, they can apply on an annual basis.

Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson said: “The dedication shown by young carers in Scotland is remarkable and I am pleased that we can help to recognise their important contribution by offering extra financial support through the Scottish Government’s Young Carer Grant.

“At a time when many young people are leaving school and taking advantage of new opportunities, it is right that we recognise for many people aged between 16 and 18 those chances are impacted by their caring responsibilities and the time they devote to loved ones.

“I am encouraged by the increase in successful applications for our Young Carer Grant, which is only available in Scotland, and we will continue to pro-actively increase awareness and encourage take up of this benefit.

“If anyone thinks they, or someone they know, might be eligible, I’d encourage them to find out more and apply.”

Full details on the statistics are available to view at the socialsecurity.gov.scot website. 

Young people urged to apply for Job Start Payment

Extra money for unemployed young people who are starting work

Eligible 16-24 year olds who are already receiving certain other benefits or tax credits are being encouraged to apply for Job Start Payment – a one-off payment worth £267.65, or £428.25 if the applicant has children.

Job Start Payment helps young people with the costs of starting a job after a period of being unemployed. The payment can help with the costs of travel, work clothes or childcare.

Speaking at Start Scotland, which delivers an employability programme supporting young people in Edinburgh, Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson said: “Our Job Start Payment provides financial support for eligible young people who are starting a new job.

“We have provided this payment since summer 2020 and want to see even more people making use of it, particularly given the current cost of living pressures.

“The payment is designed to support young people with the costs of starting a job by relieving financial pressures, as they wait for their first pay cheque.

“We are also helping young people to access education and employment by providing free bus travel to all under 22 year olds. This will help young people travel sustainably, while cutting commuting costs for people starting a new job – meaning that young people can use their Job Start Payment to pay for other costs.

“I would encourage anyone who thinks they may be eligible to find out more from Social Security Scotland and apply for this benefit, which is only available in Scotland.”

Job Start Payment is available to eligible young people who have been offered a job after being out of work for at least six months to the day they were offered the job and are in receipt of a qualifying benefit.

Care leavers can apply for a further year, up to the day before their 26th birthday, and only need to be out of work and in receipt of a qualifying benefit on the day of their job offer.

Young people can find pre-application advice for Job Start Payment, which includes eligibility and award amounts, and apply at the mygov.scot website.

Best Start Grant School Age Payment applications now open

Families have been urged to check whether they are eligible and apply for the Best Start Grant School Age Payment as applications open for children old enough to start primary school

This one-off payment of £267.65 is to help at a key stage in a child’s life and can be used for anything from a new pair of shoes to books or arts and crafts materials.

Best Start Grant School Age Payment is available to families who get Universal Credit, tax credits or certain benefits with children born between 1 March 2017 and 28 February 2018.

Parents who have deferred their child’s entry to school from August 2022 to August 2023, or those who are home schooling, should still apply before 28 February 2023 or they will lose out on their payment. There is no cap on the number of children in a household who can get this payment.

Best Start Grant School Age Payment is one of the Scottish Government’s five family payments administered by Social Security Scotland.

The package includes Scottish Child Payment, three Best Start Grants, and Best Start Foods. From the end of this year, both the Best Start Grant School Age Payment and the Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment will be paid automatically to families who get Scottish Child Payment when their child is of eligible age.

Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson said: “When a child is due to start school it comes with additional costs, and so I would encourage parents and carers to check if you are eligible and, if so, to apply for our Best Start Grant School Age Payment.

“This money can be used for whatever your child needs and is one of the Scottish Government’s five family benefits, which are only available in Scotland.

“We have built our new social security system to make it as straightforward as possible for people to access support. This is why people can apply online, by post or over the phone.

“You can also apply for all five family payments for all the children that you are responsible for, in a single straightforward form – and we put no cap on the number of children who can get these payments. We want every child in Scotland to have the best start in life and our social security system is here to help with that.”

Visit mygov.scot/beststart or call 0800 182 2222 to find out more or apply.

New benefit will help 400,000 households with winter fuel bills

Low Income Winter Heating Assistance will support 400,000 households

A guaranteed annual winter heating benefit of £50 will be paid for the first time in February 2023 to around 400,000 low income households.

Low Income Winter Heating Assistance will be the Scottish Government’s 13th benefit and replaces the UK Government’s Cold Weather Payments. The UK Government benefit is unreliable for households on low incomes as it only triggers a £25 payment when a ‘cold spell’ requirement is met and temperatures fall below zero degrees Celsius for seven days in a row in a certain place.

Instead, the Scottish Government will invest an annual £20 million in Low Income Winter Heating Assistance, which will provide a reliable payment every winter to help with energy bills.

Plans for Low Income Winter Heating Assistance have been welcomed by people with experience of the benefits system. 90 per cent of members of the Social Security Experience Panel agreed with the plan to remove the ‘cold spell’ requirement, and provide a reliable payment instead.

Social Security Minister Ben Macpherson said: “Our new Low Income Winter Heating Assistance benefit will provide a reliable payment every winter to around 400,000 eligible households, including pensioners  and disabled people. This extra financial support from the Scottish Government will help at this time of rising energy bills and other cost of living pressures.

“Unlike the current Cold Weather Payments, Low Income Winter Heating Assistance will provide support to people irrespective of weather conditions or temperature levels where they live. It will be our thirteenth devolved benefit and will only be available in Scotland. It will also be an automatic payment to all those who are eligible, so there is no need to apply.

“Our £20 million annual investment will be a significant increase in support to around 400,000 households – compared with only £325,000 and 11,000 payments made by the UK Government in Cold Weather Payments in Scotland in winter 21-22.

“Making payments in February for the first year of Low Income Winter Heating Assistance will ensure a smooth transition from the UK scheme. We will explore the feasibility of bringing forward the payment date to earlier in winter in future years.

“This winter we will also be extending and increasing our Scottish Child Payment in November, as well as making Child Winter Heating Assistance payments for the third time. Both of these benefits are not available elsewhere in the UK.”

“Significant achievement” in delivery of social security – but “huge amount of work remains”

More than £3.9 billion to benefit 1 million people in 2022-23

A report published today by Audit Scotland has highlighted the Scottish Government’s “significant achievement” in the scale and pace of delivering the devolved programme of social security benefits in Scotland, including seven new payments unavailable anywhere else in the UK.

The report notes that this work continued despite ongoing challenges due to the pandemic. The report further acknowledges that the Scottish Government has continued to successfully deliver existing social security benefits and introduce complex new ones – including Scottish Child Payment, Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment – in challenging circumstances.

The report also recognises the importance of social security in our collective national mission to tackle child poverty, mitigating the cost of living crisis and addressing inequalities.

In line with Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts, the Scottish Government has committed over £3.9bn for benefit expenditure in 2022-23, providing support to more than one million people. This is over £360m above the level of funding to be received from the UK Government through Block Grant Adjustments.

Stephen Boyle, Auditor General for Scotland, said: “Successfully launching new benefits during the pandemic has been a significant achievement for the Scottish Government, but a huge amount of work remains.

“The government now needs to plan how it will manage to pay for greater social security spending alongside other policy initiatives.

“To demonstrate how it is achieving value for money, it also needs to be clearer about how this extra spending will improve the lives of people living in Scotland.”

Responding to the report, Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson said: “I am pleased that this Audit Scotland report recognises the significant progress we have made in building a new public service from scratch since 2018 and delivering 12 benefits – seven of which are completely new forms of financial support that are not available anywhere else in the UK.

“We have successfully introduced a range of benefits that are now supporting carers and low-income families with their living costs, including with heating and we are helping disabled people to live full and independent lives.

“This year will see us deliver even more for the people of Scotland. Our Scottish Child Payment will be extended to eligible children aged under 16 and be increased to £25 per week per child by the end of the year, supporting over 430,000 eligible children; and in winter 2022/23 we will introduce our new winter heating payment for low-income households – a stable £50 payment that will support 400,000 low-income households with their heating costs.

“We will also continue to roll out Adult Disability Payment, our most complex benefit, and significantly progress transferring tens of thousands of Scottish disability benefit cases from the DWP to Social Security Scotland.

“I am proud that we have built our social security system with the people who will use it, and appreciate that the report acknowledges our focus has delivered a service built on our principles of dignity, fairness and respect. The report also notes the positive feedback people have shared about their experiences of engaging with Social Security Scotland.

“We have been ambitious in our delivery timeline – including introducing new benefits while dealing with the pandemic – and we are ensuring that we transfer tens of thousands of cases safely and securely from the DWP to Social Security Scotland.

“As well as delivering benefits now and in the period ahead, we are responsibly and ambitiously developing a new social security system that will serve Scotland for many years to come, putting people at the heart of everything we do.”

Social Security Scotland currently administers 12 benefits:

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

Adult Disability Payment is the replacement for the UK Government’s Personal Independence Payment. It is being introduced in phases ahead of national rollout on 29 August.

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