Devolved social security benefits: stakeholder engagement toolkit

Factsheets:

Background

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People made a statement on 28 February 2019 to the Scottish Parliament on the timetable for the remaining devolved benefits to be delivered. You can read it here.

On 26 June 2019, the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government announced the Scottish Government will introduce a new benefit for low income families to reduce levels of child poverty in Scotland called the Scottish Child Payment. You can read it here.

An updated Scottish Child Payment position paper was published on 4 October 2019 which sets out policy developments which had been undertaken alongside continued work on service design and delivery. You can read it here.

The Scottish Government has published a full suite of position papers on various matters relating to the development of the devolved social security benefits in Scotland. The following pages provide key factsheets for each paper and, for completion, factsheets on what has happened so far and plans for 2020.

Factsheet 1:

What has happened so far

• The Scotland Act 2016 devolved a number of benefits to the Scottish Parliament, including a range of powers relating to assistance for disabled persons and carers, as well as powers to make administrative changes to Universal Credit and vary the housing costs element.
• In July 2016, the Scottish Government launched a consultation on social security. 521 responses were received.
• An outline business case for the establishment of a new social security agency, with a local presence providing face to face advice, and a central administrative function, was published on 27 April 2017. Social Security Scotland was formally established in September 2018.
• The Social Security Bill began its journey through the Scottish Parliament on 20 June 2017 and was passed unanimously on 25 April 2018.
• The Scottish Government set up Social Security Experience Panels – 2,400 people with lived experience of the social security system who provide advice and guidance on the design and delivery of the new social security benefits.
• The first use of the Scotland Act 2016 powers was the introduction of Universal Credit Scottish Choices on 4 October 2017, giving people in Scotland the choice of being paid Universal Credit twice a month rather than monthly, and having their Universal Credit housing element paid direct to their landlord.
• The first benefit delivered by Social Security Scotland was Carer's Allowance Supplement, which has put an extra £442 into the pockets of more than 91,000 carers, an investment of over £33 million in 2018/19. This is to be up-rated annually in line with inflation rising up to £452.40 in 2019/20. This increases to an annual investment to around £37 million in 2019/20.
• Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment, Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment and the Best Start Grant School Age Payment have all been launched. By 31 December 2019 more than 84,000 payments were made, putting £21.3 million in the pockets of low income families.
• Best Start Foods replaces Healthy Start Vouchers in Scotland. Payment cards have replaced paper vouchers giving eligible low income families more choice and flexibility to buy healthy food.
• There was an announcement by the Scottish Government in September 2018 that there will be no private sector involvement in assessments for disability support. Assessments for disability support will be carried out by Social Security Scotland, fully supported by public sector healthcare professionals – and people will be given greater choice and flexibility over their assessments.
• The Social Security Charter received unanimous Parliamentary approval on 6 February 2019. It was co-produced by people with lived experience of social security. It outlines in detail what can be expected from the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland for anyone accessing Scotland's new social security system.
• On 28 February 2019, the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People made a statement in the Scottish Parliament that on 1 April (2020), the Scottish Government will take full responsibility - both payment and policy - for the remaining devolved benefits.
• On 26 June 2019, the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government announced the Scottish Government will introduce a new benefit for low income families to reduce levels of child poverty in Scotland called the Scottish Child Payment. The payment will become available to eligible children under 6 by Christmas 2020, and will be fully rolled out to eligible children under 16 by the end of 2022.
• Funeral Support Payment launched on 16 September 2019, replacing the Social Fund Funeral Expenses Payment, in Scotland. It provides a one-off payment to support people on low income benefits with a contribution towards funeral costs
• Young Carer Grant was launched on 21 October 2019. The new grant is a £300 annual payment for carers aged 16-18 caring for someone in receipt of specified disability benefits for 16 or more hours each week on average, who are not currently in receipt of Carers Allowance.
• Benefit Take-up Strategy was published on 21 October 2019 under the provision of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. The strategy sets out Scottish Ministers' work supporting benefit take-up to date. It also introduced a series of new activities and initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of and access to Scottish benefits and supporting those who are eligible to apply. These included a Scottish Benefit Take-up Fund, an Income Maximisation Fund, establishing a Take-up Stakeholder Reference Group and developing a Take-up Stakeholder Toolkit.

Factsheet 2:

Plans for 2020

• During 2020, the Scottish Government will deliver four new benefits. This is in addition to continuing to deliver the Carer's Allowance Supplement, Funeral Support Payment, Young Carers Grant, Best Start Foods and the three payments that make up the Best Start Grant package. This will bring the number of live benefits to eleven by the end of 2020.

The new benefits being delivered are:

• Job Start Payment will be launched Spring 2020. The payment will comprise of a one-off cash payment of either £250 or £400, the higher amount being payable to young people who have children.
• Scottish Child Payment for under 6s will be launched by Christmas 2020. The Scottish Child Payment will be delivered by Social Security Scotland, paying £10 per week, per child, to families in receipt of qualifying benefits.
• Child Disability Payment (replacement for Child Disability Living Allowance) will be delivered by Summer 2020.
• Winter Heating Assistance for those in receipt of the highest component of Child Disability Payment will be delivered by the end of 2020.
• Our delivery plans for 2020 onwards are set out in Factsheets 3 to 23.

Factsheet 3:

Delivery of disability and carers benefits

• The benefits currently being delivered by Social Security Scotland and the Job Start Payment, are mainly in the form of one-off or lump sum payments and grants.
• The delivery of the remaining devolved benefits i.e. carers and disability benefits from 2020 is more complex. This is because:
  • They involve regular payments to individuals, who will have an ongoing relationship with Social Security Scotland.
  • People's circumstances may well change during that relationship, requiring adjustments to their payments.
  • To establish whether someone is eligible for a disability or carer benefit is complex and will involve information gathering and more sophisticated decision-making.
  • Social Security Scotland will carry out face to face assessments when it is the only practical way to obtain information.
• The Scottish Government wants to introduce the devolved benefits in their Scottish form as quickly as it can - taking into account some key considerations:
  • Ensuring a safe and secure transition;
  • Allowing sufficient time between benefit launches; and
  • For each benefit, introducing a new claims service before we transfer existing claims from the DWP to Social Security Scotland.
• The Scottish Government believes the most sensible approach is to deliver new claims for the main disability benefits, in increasing order of complexity and size of caseload, and then to deliver Carer's Allowance in its Scottish form.
• The timetable for delivery is set out at page 8.

Factsheet 4:

Disability Assistance assessments

• The Scottish Government's approach to how decisions should be made about eligibility to Disability Assistance, and the nature of that process, continues to be informed by the Disability and Carers Benefits Expert Advisory Group and Experience Panels.
• The Scottish Government is creating a holistic, person centred approach to providing Disability Assistance to ensure the needs of individuals are met.
• Individuals will be provided with a choice of application channels including online, telephone, paper and in-person.
• Case Managers will gather information on an individual's behalf, where possible, to inform the decision making process. Various sources of information, suggested by the individual, will be accessed. Only in circumstances in which there is no other practicable way to make a decision about entitlement to Disability Assistance for Working Age People will an individual be required to attend a face to face assessment.
• The Scottish Government will provide suitably qualified staff to undertake assessments for people with conditions that may require more specialist knowledge. In addition, the Scottish Government will provide a proportion of assessors with additional training in the impact of mental health conditions and learning disabilities, to enable them to carry out face to face assessments of people with these conditions.
• When invited to attend a face to face assessment an appointment will be made for the individual at a location that suits them, taking into account where they live and their access needs.
• No one applying for Scottish Disability Assistance will be assessed by a private sector provider; all face to face assessments will be delivered by Social Security Scotland.
• Individuals will have a right to be accompanied to an assessment and to have that person participate. Social Security Scotland will also ensure access to advocacy support for disabled people.
• Individuals will routinely be provided with a copy of the report written by the assessor without having to request it. Assessments will be audio recorded as standard.
• The Scottish Government carried out a wide ranging public consultation on all of our proposals relating to Disability Assistance, which closed on 28 May 2019. The results are available here.

Factsheet 5:

Disability Assistance awards and entitlements

• The principles being adopted by the Scottish Government for the duration of disability awards was informed by the Disability and Carer Benefits Expert Advisory Group and the Ill Health Reference Group.
• The Duration of Award Principles specify that all awards should be made on a rolling basis, with no set date for an award ending; and that there will be no auto-entitlement thus ensuring all decisions will be person-centred.
• The Principles also make it clear that Disability Assistance should not stop whilst an award review is being undertaken; that review dates will be set at a date that takes account of the likelihood of that person's needs changing; and that reviews will be light-touch and, as far as possible, minimise stress.
• The Disability Assistance regulations will include a requirement to set an Award Review date for each individual's award, and also provide a framework for awards to be made on a rolling basis.
• Under the Scottish Government's Principles moving into work will not be regarded as a change of circumstance.
• The Principles will also require Social Security Scotland to give a reason to individuals where their award is reviewed earlier than the date set, and to publish the numbers of cases where awards are reviewed earlier than the date set at initial decision.
• In cases where there is no likelihood of improvement there will be at least five years between Light-Touch reviews and awards will have a maximum period of 10 years between Light-Touch Reviews.

Factsheet 6:

Disability Assistance qualifying periods

• Disability Assistance in Scotland will be made up of three forms of assistance:
  • Child Disability Payment;
  • Disability Assistance for Working-Age People; and
  • Disability Assistance for Older People.
• Qualifying Period rules are time limits that ensure that people must have had, or be expected to have, a disability or long-term condition for a certain period of time to be eligible for Disability Assistance.
• As part of the Scottish Government's development of the new disability benefits it has carefully considered whether any of these qualifying periods should be changed. It concluded that these Qualifying Periods should not be changed for the following reasons:
  • Significant policy changes could impact on the fundamental purpose of Disability Assistance which is to target long-term conditions. Keeping eligibility targeted to those for whom Disability Assistance is intended would be a significant challenge with any reduction in the qualifying periods. If the qualifying periods are reduced this willextend eligibility to people with shorter term conditions, who may not have significant additional financial requirements associated with their condition as many disabled people have, but who are able to meet the immediate requirements of the disability assessment.
  • The challenges associated with identifying specific benefits or age groups for change.
  • Any change in policy that increases entitlement may incur additional costs and threaten eligibility for reserved passported benefits.
  • It would incur significant financial costs.

Factsheet 7:

Employment Injury Assistance

• The Industrial Injuries Benefit Scheme (provided by the UK Government) provides no-fault compensation for people who are disabled because of an accident at work, or who have one of certain prescribed diseases caused by their work. The main benefit in the scheme is Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB).
• The number of new cases has been on a general downward trend since 2002. Responses to the Scottish Government's 2016 Consultation on Social Security in Scotland demonstrated that there is little consensus on the scheme.
• It will be difficult to undertake significant reform of the scheme since key policies relating to the benefit remain reserved, for example, employment, insurance, occupational health and safety, and self-employment.
• While the scheme has a relatively low caseload in Scotland, it is likely to be one of the most complex to transition. Detailed information about current and previous scheme recipients is almost entirely held by the DWP in paper files in remote storage. Transferring these paper files and cases would require entirely new processes and an electronic system to be designed, built, tested and implemented.
• Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC) has a role in scrutinising Industrial Injury benefits regulations. The UK Government has decided that the role of IIAC should remain unchanged and that it should provide advice to UK Ministers only.
• In advance of transferring the scheme the Scottish Government will have to decide whether, and how, to provide a Scottish equivalent of IIAC. Securing the necessary expertise could be challenging.
• For the above reasons, IIDB will continue to be delivered by the DWP using an Agency Agreement until we begin delivering new claims in Autumn 2022. This allows the DWP to carry out functions on behalf of Scottish Ministers, and specifies what the DWP is being asked to do.

Factsheet 8:

Severe Disablement Allowance

• Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) is a work-related benefit and designed to replace income lost due to someone being unable to work due to illness or disability. It has been closed to new applicants since 2001.
• In May 2018 around 2,000 individuals in Scotland received SDA, of which only 2% of these were under age 65.
• The equivalent benefit available now for people unable to work due to illness or disability is Employment Support Allowance (ESA), which is not being devolved to Scotland and is one of the benefits being replaced by Universal Credit.
• Of those who responded to questions on SDA in the Scottish Government's 2016 Consultation on Social Security in Scotland, 83% agreed with the Scottish Government's proposal to continue to deliver SDA without making any changes. Responses to a 2018 Experience Panels survey on SDA did not raise any significant issues.
• The Scottish Government believe that there is no benefit in transferring SDA, because:
  • There will be no new claims for SDA.
  • There is a small and declining caseload for SDA.
  • The Scottish Government is not proposing to make changes to the benefit and this proposal is largely supported by stakeholders and individuals.
  • The interaction with the State Pension could cause unnecessary confusion for clients.
  • Transferring the benefit may cause unnecessary disruption to some SDA clients.
• SDA will continue to be delivered by the DWP using an Agency Agreement. This allows the DWP to carry out functions on behalf of Scottish Ministers, and specifies what the DWP is being asked to do.

Factsheet 9:

Short-term assistance

• The Scottish Government will provide Short-Term Assistance (STA) where Social Security Scotland has made a decision to reduce or stop a continuing payment (such as disability, carer's and employment injury assistance), and that decision is subject to a request for re-determination or an appeal.
• The purpose of STA is to ensure an individual is not discouraged from challenging that decision by having to manage, for a period, with a reduced income.
• Provision for STA is set out in Section 36 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act (the 2018 Act), along with Schedule 10.
• STA is available for devolved assistance where on-going payments are made.
• STA cannot be used to support people whose reserved benefit is reduced or stopped. Similarly, people would not be able to access any passporting entitlements to the reserved system, or those that are not controlled by the Scottish Government in the devolved system during the period that STA is being paid.
• Where there is a successful appeal, an individual's entitlement record would be adjusted from the point at which it was reduced/stopped or from the point as decided by the tribunal, including passport benefits.
• STA can only be made available once the request for a re-determination or an appeal is made.
• STA will be available until the First-tier Tribunal (FtT) has made a determination.
• The Scottish Government undertook a consultation to inform the detailed design and operation of how STA will operate. This was part of the consultation on Disability Assistance and the results can be found here.

Factsheet 10:

Social security case transfer

• Over 500,000 existing cases will be transferred from the DWP to Social Security Scotland (around 10% of the total population in Scotland). Our priority in the transfer of powers is a safe and secure transition. This will ensure that all those currently in receipt of benefits will not experience a disruption in their award.
• Case transfer for all existing in scope DWP cases is targeted to complete in 2025 with the majority being completed in 2024. The scope of transfers includes:
  • Adults aged 65 and over, and people in receipt of Disability Living Allowance for children;
  • Working age people in receipt of Personal Independence Payment;
  • People in receipt of Attendance Allowance; and
  • People in receipt of Carer's Allowance.
• A transfer strategy for people in receipt of Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit from the DWP will be designed when plans for new claims for this benefit are more advanced.
• The Scottish Government is not proposing to transfer existing claims of Severe Disablement Allowance.
• The Scottish Government will continue to work with benefit recipients and stakeholders in the co-design of the case transfer processes. The case transfer process will be based on a series of transfer principles including:
  • Continuation of the correct payment at the correct time.
  • No reapplications for benefits as part of the case transfer.
  • No face to face re-assessment by DWP when new claims for PIP/Disability Assistance for Working Age People are open.
  • Completing the transfer as soon as possible, but without endangering payments.
  • Clear communication with clients.
• Experience Panel research on case transfers was published in August 2019, The results can be found here.

Factsheet 11:

Support for carers

• The Scottish Government's first change when the Social Security (Scotland) Act was passed was to introduce Carer's Allowance Supplement (CAS) in September 2018, bringing the amount paid in line with Job Seeker's Allowance through two additional payments a year.
• CAS has helped more than 91,000 Scottish carers, increasing Carer's Allowance by 13%, with an investment of over £33 million in 2018/19, and a commitment to increase CAS annually in line with inflation. This means that in 2019/20 investment will rise to around £37 million.
• Carer's Allowance is delivered by the DWP through an Agency Agreement. This ensured the Scottish Government could pay CAS ahead of building the systems that Carer's Allowance will require.
• The Young Carer Grant was introduced on 21 October 2019. It will help around 1,700 young carers each year through an annual payment of £300. The Scottish Government will also start delivery of additional financial support to carers of more than one disabled child in spring 2021.
• We are introducing Scottish Carer's Allowance after Disability Assistance because it is one of the most complex benefits to be transferred, given its interactions with UK Government tax and low income benefits.
• The Scottish Government will open new applications for all parts of Carer's Assistance by early 2022. To begin with, new claims for Carer's Assistance will be on broadly the same terms as the existing DWP benefit.

Factsheet 12:

Terminal Illness Definition and Rules

• The Scottish Government included provision in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 to introduce a new definition of terminal illness that differs from the current UK Government definition.
• The Act says that "An individual is to be regarded as having a terminal illness …. if ….it is the clinical judgement of a registered medical practitioner that the individual has a progressive disease that can reasonably be expected to cause the individual's death".
• The new definition sets no arbitrary timeframe of prognosis, recognising instead that a person-centred approach to terminal diagnosis should be based on the clinical judgement and expertise of the registered medical practitioner.
• The Chief Medical Officer has established a Short-Life Working Group on Terminal Illness for Disability Assistance to develop guidance. A Reference Group (SHRG), which comprises wider stakeholders, has also been established to enrich the development of the draft guidance.
• The groups have finalised an initial draft of the guidance. A managed consultation process was launched on 12 February and closed on 19 April 2019. Given the clinical nature of the guidance, it has been issued to a wider group of medical professionals, as well as representatives of support and advocacy organisations whose views will inform its continued development.
• Registered Medical Practitioners, who certify that their patient is terminally ill for the purposes of determining eligibility for disability assistance under special rules, will communicate this directly and securely to Social Security Scotland.
• For an eligible person there will be no qualifying period; no requirement to undergo further assessment; awards will be calculated from date of application; and entitlement will be to the highest rate(s) of assistance for the relevant benefit.

Factsheet 13:

Cold Spell and Winter Heating Assistance

• In Scotland, Winter Heating Assistance will replace Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Spell Heating Assistance will replace Cold Weather Payments.
• The Winter Fuel Payment is a universal, annual tax-free payment made to pensioners to help towards their winter heating costs.
• The Scottish Government's first priority is to ensure current and new recipients receive the benefit they are entitled to. However we are working to improve the way that the new Winter Heating Assistance will be delivered to households, in particular, in remote rural and island communities that are not on the gas grid.
• From the end of 2020, any family living in Scotland with a child who is in receipt of the higher rate component of Child Disability Payment will be eligible for Winter Heating Assistance.
• Progressively from Winter 2021 onwards, the Scottish Government will pay Winter Heating Assistance to everyone in Scotland as they reach the State Pension age. Delivery of the Winter Heating Assistance will continue on the basis of existing eligibility.
• Cold Weather Payments are made to households in receipt of certain benefits during prolonged periods of cold weather.
• The first payments of new Cold Spell Heating Assistance will be made from winter 2021 onwards. It will be designed and delivered based upon the existing Cold Weather Payment; there are no plans to change the current eligibility for this benefit or to change the amount of benefit paid.
• The Scottish Government will seek the views of households who have received Winter Fuel Payments and Cold Weather Payments. It has consulted on the introduction of Winter Heating Assistance for severely disabled children as part of the consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland. The results can be found here.

Factsheet 14:

Scottish Child Payment

• The Scottish Government has announced it will introduce a new benefit for low income families to reduce levels of child poverty in Scotland. The Scottish Child Payment will be made to children under the age of 6 by Christmas 2020 and to all eligible children aged under 16 by the end of 2022. It will be administered by Social Security Scotland.
• We anticipate that an estimated 410,000 children will be eligible for the benefit. We anticipate that around 170,000 of those children in around 140,000 households are in the under age 6 group.
• It will be an application-based payment to families in receipt of Universal Credit delivered by Social Security Scotland. Given the lifetime of our plan and our desire to reduce child poverty and as payments will begin before UC is fully in place to all families, we have also included other qualifying benefits.
• It will be a regular cash payment for families who are in receipt of qualifying benefits and who have responsibility for a child. The rate will be £10 per week, per child, to be paid on a four-weekly basis.
• The Scottish Child Payment will not have any cap on the number of eligible children a family can receive a payment for.
• Payments will be made to an individual, on behalf of a household. The payment process will use technology being built for the existing devolved benefits, with payments made four weekly into the client's bank account.

Factsheet 15:

Best Start Grant Eligibility

What affects whether you can apply

If you're under 18, you do not need to be on any payments or benefits to apply for any of the Best Start Grants or Best Start Foods.

If you're a parent over 18, you can apply whether you're in work or not, as long as you're getting one of these:

• Universal Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• Working Tax Credit
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support
• Pension Credit
• Income-based Jobseekers Allowance (JSA)
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

You cannot get Best Start Grant or Best Start Foods if you only get Child Benefit. You must still be getting one of the benefits or payments from this list to be able to get Best Start Grant or Best Start Foods.

For Best Start Grant, we do not need to know about your income. For Best Start Foods, some of the benefits have an income limit.

If you're not getting any of these benefits or payments, but have applied for one, you can still apply for Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods. If you've already been paid the Sure Start Maternity Grant (by the UK Government) for a baby, you cannot be paid the Pregnancy and Baby Payment for the same baby.

Best Start Foods and income limits

The benefits you need to be on to get Best Start Foods are the same as Best Start Grant, but some of the benefits have an income limit.

The benefits that have an income limit are:

• Universal Credit – if you or your partner have a job, your joint income from working must be less than £610 a month, after tax and National Insurance – Universal Credit payments are not counted as part of this
• Child Tax Credit, if you're not getting Working Tax Credit – you and your partner's joint income from working must be less than £16,190 per year
• Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit - your income from working must be less than £7,320 per year
• Housing Benefit – you and your partner's joint income from working must be less than £311 a week

If you're 18 or 19 and do not get benefits

If you're 18 or 19 and do not get any benefits or payments, you can still apply for Best Start Grant or Best Start Foods if your parent or carer gets one of these for you:

• Child Tax Credit
• Child Benefit
• Universal Credit child payments
• the child addition part of Pension Credit

Factsheet 16:

Best Start Grant – Pregnancy and Baby Payment

You can apply for the Pregnancy and Baby Payment from 24 weeks pregnant up to the day your baby is 6 months old. This goes up to 1 if you've taken over looking after a child, such as if you've adopted.

You can apply whether a child is your 1st or not, as long as you apply when your baby is the right age. If you can get the Pregnancy and Baby Payment for your 1st child, you'll be paid £600.

You'll be paid £300 for any child that comes after your 1st, such as your 2nd or 3rd child, or any child after these.

If you apply for twins and have no other children under 16

Your payment for 1st twin	Your payment for 2nd twin	Extra payment for twins	Total
£600	£300	£300	£1200

If you apply for twins and have other children under 16

Your payment for 1st twin	Your payment for 2nd twin	Extra payment for twins	Total
£300	£300	£300	£900

If you have triplets, you'll be paid an extra £300 on top of what you get for twins. £1500 if you do not have any other children under 16, £1200 if you do.

Your first child is your oldest child under 16. This includes a stepchild, if you have one. It also includes any child you've taken looking after, such as if you've adopted.

If you need help or you want to apply by phone

If you need help, or you'd prefer to apply by phone, you can call 0800 182 2222. You can apply online here.

Factsheet 17:

Best Start Grant – Early Learning Payment

You can apply when your child is aged between 2 years old and 3 years 6 months old.

If you get the Early Learning Payment, you'll get £250 for each child you can get the payment for. You can spend this money on any of the things you need for your child at this age. This includes toys to help them learn or trips to new places.

If you need help or you want to apply by phone

If you need help, or you'd prefer to apply by phone, you can call 0800 182 2222. You can apply online here.

Factsheet 18:

Best Start Grant – School Age Payment

When you need to apply for the School Age Payment depends on when your child was born:

Your child's date of birth	When you need to apply
Between 1 March 2014 and 28 February 2015	Between 3 June 2019 and 29 February 2020
Between 1 March 2015 and 29 February 2016	Between 1 June 2020 and 28 February 2021

You cannot apply outwith these dates.

If your child was born later than February 2016, you'll be able to apply after May 2021. You cannot apply for the School Age Payment for a child born before 1st March 2014.

If you get the School Age Payment, you'll get £250 for each child you can get the payment for.

The School Age Payment has not replaced the School Clothing Grant. The School Age Payment is a new payment and does not affect in any way payments of the School Clothing Grant. If you want to apply for both, you can.

If you need help or you want to apply by phone

If you need help, or you'd prefer to apply by phone, you can call 0800 182 2222. You can apply online here.

Factsheet 19:

Best Start Foods

Best Start Foods is a prepaid card that you can use to buy healthy foods for children under 3. You can use the card in shops and online.

You can apply for Best Start Foods when you're pregnant, or any time up to your child turning 3 years old. This goes up to 4 years old for a child:

• who's over 2 years old when you apply
• that you also get Healthy Start Vouchers for

If you're getting Healthy Start Vouchers for a child you apply for, you'll be moved from Healthy Start Vouchers to Best Start Foods.

The payments of Best Start Foods are:

• £17 every 4 weeks during pregnancy
• £34 every 4 weeks from your child being born up until they're a 1 year old
• £17 every 4 weeks between the ages of 1 and 3

If your child was between 2 and 4 years old when you applied, and you were getting Healthy Start Vouchers for them, you'll be paid £17 every 4 weeks until they're 4 years old.

You can find out more about how you can use your Best Start Foods card in shops.

Social Security Scotland look after Best Start Foods payments, but a business called Allpay will look after your Best Start Foods card. This includes things like lost Best Start Foods cards and new cards.

If you need help or you want to apply by phone

If you need help, or you'd prefer to apply by phone, you can call 0800 182 2222. You can apply online here.

Factsheet 20:

Funeral Support Payment

• Funeral Support Payment (FSP) has now replaced DWP Funeral Expenses Payment for clients living in Scotland. This one-off payment will help people meet the costs of a funeral. The average DWP payment in Scotland was £1,372 and we will provide a similar level of support.
• Clients can apply with a paper application form, by calling 0800 182 2222 or for the first time online here.
• FSP has three elements (further information on what is included in these sections and how much is awarded is available in the pre-application information is available here):
  • Burial or cremation costs,
  • Certain transport costs
  • Flat rate payment for other expenses (for applications received on or after 1 April 2020): the standard award of £1,000 for most clients, or £122.05 if a funeral plan is in place.
• The flat rate element of payment (£1,000 or £122.05) will be uprated annually, taking into account the impact of inflation.
• Eligibility for Funeral Support Payment has widened compared to DWP resulting in a 40% increase in the number of people receiving support, and will provide help to people who would receive nothing from DWP. Our new assessment process will also help people understand if they are entitled to support; reduce intrusive questions; and assist in our work to increase take-up.
• Recipients are free to make whatever funeral arrangements are appropriate for their circumstances, and for the payment to be made to them unless they provide consent for the award to be paid to the funeral director directly. This is in line with our principles set out in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 to treat all clients with dignity, fairness, and respect.
• The target for processing applications is 10 working days of receipt of a completed application, once all the evidence required has been received, with payment made as soon as practicable thereafter.

Factsheet 21:

Young Carer Grant

• Young Carers Grant launched on 21 October 2019. It is a new yearly payment of £300 for young carers aged 16 to 18 who live in Scotland. It's a cash benefit to spend as they choose and they can apply if they are at school, in further education, employed or unemployed.
• Young carers may be eligible for Young Carer Grant if they meet all of the criteria below:
  • they live in Scotland
  • they are aged 16 to 18
  • they have been providing care for an average of 16 hours a week, for the last three months. The support they provide may be physical, mental or emotional.
  • the person or people being cared for are getting a qualifying benefit
  • they are not caring for any of the people in the application as a volunteer
  • they are not being paid to provide care for any of the people in the application
  • they have not applied for, or received Carer's Allowance from the DWP, or Northern Ireland's Carer's Allowance.
• If more than one carer applies for the same cared for person, only the first eligible application will get the grant. If the young carer provides shared care with someone else aged 16 to 18, they should agree who should apply for the grant.
• They must have been caring for one or more people on average for at least 16 hours a week for the last three months. Up to three weeks break in care will be allowed during the 13 week qualifying period. As long as they still carry our 208 hours in total over the 13 week period.
• Before applying, the young carer should know the details of the financial account they wish the money to be paid into. If they know their National Insurance number and their cared for person's then this will allow their application to be processed quicker.
• Young Carers can apply with a paper application form, by calling 0800 182 2222, or online here.

Factsheet 22:

Advocacy

• To protect eligible people's rights and ensure that they are involved in the decisions affecting them Scottish Government will ensure that advocacy support is available to disabled people who require it. This will mean that an independent advocacy worker can help someone make a claim from Social Security Scotland. There are also provisions in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 for Ministers to set advocacy service standards. This is a key part of delivering our system based on dignity, fairness and respect.
• The Scottish Government consultation on draft social security advocacy service standards closed on 7 October 2019. The responses to the consultation are being analysed and considered before the standards are finalised.
• The Scottish Government plans to run a procurement process over early 2020 for the delivery of advocacy services. The intention is to have funding awarded in sufficient time for services to recruit staff and prepare for delivering social security advocacy support by summer 2020.

Factsheet 23:

Benefit Take-up

• The first Benefit Take-up Strategy was published on 21 October 2019, under the provision of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018.
• The Strategy sets out a number of new activities and initiatives which aim to progress the ultimate goal of increasing awareness of and supporting access to Scottish benefits:
  • A new £500,000 fund available for 2020 to assist organisations who are preparing their services and staff to support people who will be applying for Scottish benefits.
  • A new £100,000 take-up accessibility fund available for 2020 to assist organisations who support people to increase their household incomes, with an emphasis on ensuring people are aware of the financial support available to them.
  • A stakeholder take-up reference group will be established to provide advice and support in the implementation of this strategy, as well as feeding into the development of the next strategy.
  • Two roundtable events on access to social security – co-designed with key organisations – will bring together people with experience of the system, and organisations that support them, to explore solutions to issues such as stigma, barriers to access, and the human rights-based approach.
  • We will continue to forge relationships with a wide range of national and local stakeholders to enable us to continue making progress with Social Security Scotland's stakeholder engagement strategy.
  • Communications and marketing will continue to draw on strategic insights to deliver co-ordinated and consistent activities to best promote Scottish benefits.
  • In the interests of continuous improvement, we will continue to work with the Experience Panels, conduct targeted research with seldom-heard groups, and develop the work of Social Security Scotland's Client Insights.
• The Strategy also sets out our best estimates of take-up for Best Start Grant – as the only application-based Scottish benefit being delivered at time of preparation of the strategy.
• The Benefit Take-up and Income Maximisation Funds both closed for application on 31 January 2020, announcement of successful bids will be made by the end of February 2020.