Financial redress for survivors of historical child abuse in care: review of the Advance Payment Scheme

2. Overview of scheme statistics

2.1 Key statistics for the Advance Payment Scheme from its launch on 25 April until the end of September 2019 are shown in the annex and are summarised below.

• A total of 230 payments had been made as at end September 2019.
• The majority of applications (88%) were on age grounds, the remainder were on terminal illness grounds. Applications from those with a terminal illness are always prioritised.
• Average time from submission of application to approval was 26 days. In some cases it can be within a fortnight, in other cases longer, for a range of reasons to do with receipt or confirmation of supporting documentation.
• The average age of all applicants during this period was 74, the eldest applicant was 91.
• A slightly higher number of applications were received from men (54%) compared to women (46%).
• Around 6% of applications were ineligible based on the criteria set out in the application form, either in relation to age, not being confirmed as terminally ill or not being in care in Scotland.
• The majority of applications (63%) were from survivors resident in Scotland, with a further 20% being resident in England.
• There were a number of applications from survivors living abroad, most of them from Australia.

2.2 The pattern of applications and payments to end of September (see graph below) shows a peak in the early months of the scheme opening, followed by a largely downward trend, albeit with spikes often indicating media activity and awareness of the scheme reaching new audiences.