Fairer Scotland action plan: progress report 2020

Social security and benefit up-take

Social Security Scotland was established in 2018 and is a system based on dignity, fairness and respect that places clients at its heart. Already, the Agency is successfully delivering eight benefits, four of which are new and the others more generous and/or with increased eligibility than the UK benefits they have replaced.

Scottish Child Payment opened for applications for families with children under six years old on 9 November. We are expecting a significant demand and are asking families to get their applications in early so that we can process and start making payments as quickly as possible once the benefit starts on 15 February 2021.

Scottish Child Payment will provide £10 per child per week, with no limit on the number of eligible children that can be claimed for, and combined with the Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods this means that low income families are eligible to receive over £5,200 of support for their first child by the time they turn six.

Our ambition remains to roll out Scottish Child Payment to under 16s by the end of 2022. However, we are absolutely dependent on DWP giving us the data we need to make payments to 6-16 year old children. Once fully rolled-out to under 16 year olds, in 2022-23 499,000 children could be eligible^[9].

Recognising the importance of maximising people's incomes in tackling poverty and disadvantage, on 21 October we published the first Benefit Take-up Strategy^[10] 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 introduces 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. We will publish our next strategy by October 2021 and will produce a benefits eligibility checker available online.

We will consider which benefits need specific attention and how partners and online content can help us strengthen our approach. We will also explore with COSLA how to embed Scotland's Social Security principles and human rights‑based approach within the local authority level benefits and payments system.

We will work with COSLA to build on good practice in relation to automation of local level benefits and payments and to consider a national approach where possible.

Updates on the recommendations and actions listed above can be found in the Tackling Child Poverty Progress Report.

Carer's Allowance Supplement

As a result of lockdown, unpaid carers have had to take on additional responsibilities, including balancing the challenges of home working and increased caring responsibilities, often without the same support which would have previously been available to them. Emerging research suggests there may be an additional 400,000 people undertaking unpaid care as a result of COVID‑19.

In June, the Scottish Government made a one‑off Coronavirus Carer's Allowance Supplement payment of £230. This was in addition to the regular six monthly Carer's Allowance Supplement, benefitting around 83,000 of Scotland's lowest income carers with some of the most intense caring roles. This additional payment, together with the existing six‑monthly Carers Allowance Supplement, will mean that eligible carers in Scotland in receipt of Carer's Allowance will receive an additional £690 this year on top of their Carer's Allowance

Scottish Child Payment

The 'game-changing' Scottish Child Payment for under 6s opened for applications on 9 November. It is a significant new benefit and the most ambitious anti-poverty measure currently being undertaken anywhere in the UK. It is the biggest benefit that we have introduced to date, and could support up to 194,000 children this financial year^[11].

Forecast expenditure on the benefit for the first full year of the Scottish Child Payment's roll-out to under 6s stand at £77 million^[12] in 2021/22. It is therefore a significant investment in the people of Scotland and as a demand led benefit, we guarantee that all those who apply and are eligible will receive their entitlement. Our plans to promote Scottish Child Payment are set out in a publicly available policy position paper^[13], and these include: providing information in midwife and health visitor packs; issuing materials through nursery and school enrolment packs; and advertising online, on radio and in print.