Scotland’s Redress Scheme Statistics December 2021 - June 2023

Applications

In this section the word ‘application’ refers to an application for a Fixed Rate Payment (FRP), an Individually Assessed Payment (IAP) or Next of Kin Payment (see background notes for definitions of each payment type and eligibility criteria). There are circumstances where individuals may apply for more than one type of payment – for example applying for a FRP initially and then submitting a subsequent application for an IAP. These are counted as separate applications for the purpose of these statistics.

The number of applications reported on here does not include any applications for legal fees or expenses, which can also be claimed as part of the Scheme and are discussed in the 'Fees and costs' section. 

Total number of applications received

This section presents the number of applications received for a FRP, IAP, or Next of Kin Payment. These do not include any applications which were subsequently withdrawn.

Survivors can submit a FRP or an IAP application. The partner or child of a deceased survivor can submit a Next of Kin Payment application. There may be more than one child applying in relation to a deceased survivor.

In the first 18 months of the scheme, a total of 2,489 applications were received for redress. Of all applications submitted during the first 18 months of the scheme, 94% were made by survivors and 6% were made by next of kin (Table 1.1). In terms of application types, the most common application types during the first 18 months were IAP applications (65%) followed by FRP applications (29%).

Table 1.1 Applications received for redress by application type in the first 18 months of the scheme.

Number and percentage of IAP, FRP and Next of Kin applications received for redress in the first 18 months of the scheme.

In the first 18 months of the scheme, January 2022 saw the largest number of applications received (398) followed by February 2022 (274; Chart 1). A large number of applications were received in early 2022 at the inception of the scheme. The lowest number of applications received in a full calendar month were in October 2022 (62; Chart 1).

Chart 1 Redress applications received by application type and month [Note 1], [Note 2].

Number of redress applications received during the first 18 months of the scheme by application type and month.

[Note 1] Total includes permission to reapply application type.

[Note 2] Figures for June 2023 have been excluded as they only contain partial monthly data up to 6th June 2023.

Total number of priority applications

Where a survivor or next of kin applicant is suffering from a terminal illness, their application is marked as a “P1” application. Where a survivor or next of kin applicant is aged over 68 years old, their application is marked as a “P2” application. The intention is that these applications are prioritised during the application process.

In total 721 applications of the 2489 applications received during the first 18 months of the scheme were assigned either a P1 or P2 status. This accounts for approximately 29% of all applications received.

Table 1.2 Priority applications received during the first 18 months of the scheme by priority type.

Number and percentage of P1 and P2 applications received during the first 18 months of the scheme by priority type.

Applications passed to Redress Scotland

Applications submitted to Scottish Government are sent to Redress Scotland for review by a panel. This section presents the number of financial redress applications passed to Redress Scotland . This does not include applications sent to Redress Scotland to assess serious convictions, nominated beneficiary eligibility or permission to re-apply under section 30 and section 60 of the Redress Survivor Act.

Application were sent to Redress Scotland from February 2022. Between February 2022 and June 2023, a total of 874 applications were sent to Redress Scotland (35% of all 2,489 applications received by Scottish Government). This includes applications for redress from survivors, nominated beneficiaries and next of kin recorded as sent to Redress Scotland. T Applications not yet sent to Redress Scotland include those awaiting further information from the applicant and those requiring further verification. In some cases, individuals have not yet given Scottish Government permission to send their application to Redress Scotland. The number of applications sent to Redress Scotland by month is presented in Chart 2 below.

Chart 2 Applications sent to Redress Scotland by month [Note 1].

Number of applications sent to Redress Scotland between February 2022 and May 2023 by month.