Industrial Injuries Scheme benefits: agency agreement

5. Delivery Of Benefits Under The Industrial Injuries Scheme

5.1 DWP will, on behalf of and as agreed with the Scottish Ministers, continue to deliver an operational service for people resident in Scotland who meet the conditions of entitlement to a benefit under the Industrial Injuries Scheme under existing legislation. The operational service will be consistent with the delivery of benefits under the Industrial Injuries Scheme and their related functions under the same procedures that cover the delivery of benefits under the Industrial Injuries Scheme paid to people resident in England & Wales.

5.2 On 1 April 2020 executive competence for the benefits listed at 5.2.1 to 5.2.3 transferred to the Scottish Ministers. The benefits currently payable under the Industrial Injuries Scheme are as follows.

5.2.1 Benefits with a current caseload which are open to new claimants:

• Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
• Constant Attendance Allowance
• Exceptionally Severe Disablement Allowance
• Reduced Earnings Allowance
• Retirement Allowance

5.2.2 Benefits which are closed to new claimants:

• Unemployability Supplement
• Industrial Death Benefit

5.2.3 Benefits which are closed to new claimants, and have no current claimants, but remain in current legislation (and therefore within the executive competence of Scottish Ministers from 1 April 2020):

• Industrial Injuries Disablement Gratuity
• Hospital Treatment Allowance

5.2 DWP administers two schemes under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Worker's Compensation) Act 1979 and part 4 of the Child Maintenance and Other Payments Act 2008. The schemes provide one-off lump sum payments to people who have contracted certain dust related diseases, or their dependants. Both schemes are excluded from this Agreement as they remain reserved to the UK Parliament.

5.4 For the avoidance of doubt, Scottish Ministers will not be requesting change to the DWP business as usual arrangements.

5.5 The delivery of benefits under the Industrial Injuries Scheme includes delivery of all associated functions such as administration of the award, notifying other parts of DWP that an award of benefit has been made, handling queries on individual claims and general enquiries, debt recovery action and investigating information that would indicate fraud and/or error has occurred. This list is not exhaustive.

5.6 Information on the DWP Industrial Injuries Scheme can be found in the DWP Decision Makers Guide. This is an approved guide to help Industrial Injuries Scheme Case Managers make decisions. It is a plain English representation of social security law and case law. It can be found on www.gov.uk at:

Decision Makers Guide

Decision Makers Guide: Vol 11: Industrial Injuries Scheme Benefits

Decision Makers Guide: Vol 2 International Subjects

5.7 Any recent updates and/or amendments to the DWP Decision Makers guide can be found here

5.8 During the Term, the cases of all claimants under the Industrial Injuries Scheme (excluding those that are reserved for the UK Government, as specified at para 5.3 above) will be transferred from DWP to Social Security Scotland. Social Security Scotland will create new client awards based on the existing DWP award components and rates. Cases will be transferred based on selection criteria and transfer processes which will be jointly agreed between DWP and the Scottish Government.

5.9 For the Term of this Agreement, the Scottish Government will maintain parity with the DWP rates of benefits under the Industrial Injuries Scheme as part of the normal up-rating cycle.

5.10 For the Term of this Agreement, the Scottish Government will maintain parity with DWP in terms of the eligibility criteria to all benefits under the Industrial Injuries Scheme. This includes, but is not limited to, the prescribed degrees of disablement set out in schedule 2 to the Social Security (General Benefit) Regulations 1982.

5.11 For the Term of this Agreement, the Scottish Government will maintain parity with DWP in terms of accepting amendments to the Social Security (Industrial Injuries) (Prescribed Diseases) Regulations 1985, which set out the list of prescribed diseases for which Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit is payable.

5.12 There will be no difference in the application of debt policy to benefits under the Industrial Injuries Scheme as delivered in Scotland by DWP, during the Term of this Agreement. This will include, but will not be limited to, recovery methods and rates, hardship considerations, priority order, write-off, and waivers.

5.13 For surveillance matters, under section 8(1) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Scotland) Act 2000 ("the 2000 Act"), individuals holding such offices, ranks and positions as are prescribed, may grant authorisations under sections 6 and 7 of that Act for the use of directed surveillance and covert human intelligence sources respectively. Article 2(2) of, and Schedule 1 to, the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Prescription of Offices, etc. and Specification of Public Authorities) (Scotland) Order 2010 ('the 2010 Order'), as amended in 2018 and 2020, prescribes the person(s) authorised to grant authorisations. The Scottish Administration, of which Social Security Scotland is a part, is prescribed as a relevant public authority for the purposes of section 8 of the 2000 Act.

5.14 An operational process has been developed and agreed between both parties that reflects the 2010 Order (as amended) that is in force for benefits administered under Agency Agreements.