The introduction of Adult Disability Payment and extension of Scottish Child Payment to children under 16 will see a major increase in the number of people eligible for benefits in Scotland from this year.
The Scottish Child Payment will increase to £20 from April, giving increased support to 111,000 children under the age of six. Its extension to children under 16 by the end of 2022, subject to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) making data available to the Scottish Government, will see the number of eligible children more than double to 400,000.
Adult Disability Payment, which is set to replace Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for 297,213 Scots currently receiving the benefit, will be phased in from March, with a nationwide rollout at the end of August.
Social Security Scotland estimates it will ultimately make payments to 1.8 million people - around one in three people across the country.
To support this, Social Security Scotland is in the process of recruiting up to 2,000 people by autumn 2022 with the first new recruits starting this month - the biggest expansion since its formation in 2018, creating jobs and a boost to local economies.
Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson recently commented: “2022 will be our biggest year yet in building a new social security system for Scotland with the powers we have.
“The major milestones of introducing Adult Disability Payment and extending Scottish Child Payment will be transformative for many people with a disability or health condition and for families on low incomes.”
He continued: “From April the doubling of our Scottish Child Payment will significantly help us to reduce child poverty and build a fairer society.
“The £20 payment per child per week will be four times what was originally asked for by anti-poverty campaigners and we hope to lift 40,000 Scottish children out of poverty in 2023/24.”
He also outlined how applying for Adult Disability Paymen t from Social Security Scotland will be different to applying to the DWP.
He explained: “We will deliver a much improved experience.
“There will be no private sector involvement, we have removed DWP-style assessments and any consultations that are necessary will be person centred and won’t include functional examinations. We’ll start from a position of trust.”
Social Security Scotland will also offer different ways to make an application.
These include:
- Online
- By post
- Over the phone
- Face-to-face
Mr Macpherson added: “In contrast to the current DWP system, we’re removing the burden from individuals to provide supporting information - instead the onus will be on Social Security Scotland to collect the information we require. We’ll also fast-track clients who are facing a terminal illness and we will follow the judgement of clinicians instead of being tied to fixed periods of life expectancy.”
Citizens Advice Scotland Chief Executive Derek Mitchell said: “Citizens Advice Scotland supported the introduction and then doubling of the Scottish Child Paymen t because we know the difference it can make to families across the country.
“We’d encourage everyone eligible for the payment to apply and claim, that’s how our welfare state works - we all pay in and get the support we are entitled to when we need it.”
People who currently get disability benefits from the DWP will have their awards transferred to the new Scottish system in stages after the new benefits are introduced from August 2022.
For more information, contact Social Security Scotland through web chat at mygov.scot/contact-social-security-Scotland/ or call the freephone helpline on 0800 182 2222.
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