Severe Disablement Allowance: agency agreement

5. Delivery of Severe Disablement Allowance

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, consistent with the delivery of Severe Disablement Allowance and its related functions under the same procedures that cover the delivery of Severe Disablement Allowance paid to people resident in England and Wales.

5.2 DWP will continue to deliver Severe Disablement Allowance on the basis of business as usual arrangements. For the avoidance of doubt, this means that the Scottish Ministers will not be requesting change to DWP business as usual arrangements.

5.3 The delivery of Severe Disablement Allowance includes delivery of all associated functions such as administration of an existing award, notifying other parts of DWP that an existing award of benefit is in payment, 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.

5.4 Information on the DWP Severe Disablement Allowance can be found in the DWP Decision Makers Guide. This is an approved guide to help Severe Disablement Allowance 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 - Vol 10 Chapter 57 - Severe Disablement Allowance

5.5 Severe Disablement Allowance is now a closed benefit and there will be no new claims. The parties will agree an exit plan, as required by paragraph 3.6 of this Agreement, at least twelve (12) months prior to the conclusion of the Term or of any extension agreed under paragraph 3.3 of this Agreement.

5.6 For the Term of this Agreement, the Scottish Government will maintain parity with DWP’s rates of Severe Disablement Allowance as part of the normal up-rating cycle.

5.7 For the Term of this Agreement, the Scottish Government will maintain parity with DWP in terms of the eligibility criteria to all Severe Disablement Allowance claims.

5.8 There will be no difference in the application of debt policy to Severe Disablement Allowance 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.

5.9 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.

5.10 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.