Scotland’s Redress Scheme Statistics December 2021 - June 2024

Applications

This section presents figures showing the number of applications received and applications passed to Redress Scotland. The word ‘applications’ 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 and eligibility criteria). There are circumstances where individuals may apply for more than one type of payment – for example applying for an FRP initially and subsequently applying for an IAP. For the purpose of these statistics, these are counted as separate applications. The number of applications reported in this section does not include those for legal fees or expenses, which can be claimed as part of the scheme and are discussed in the ‘Fees and costs’ section.

Total number of applIcations received 

This section presents figures on the number of applications received for FRP, IAP and Next of Kin Payments. These include any applications which were subsequently withdrawn.

In the first 30 months of the scheme, a total of 3,905 applications were received for redress. Of all the applications submitted during the first 30 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 were IAP applications (67%) followed by FRP applications (27%).

Table 1.1 Applications received for redress by application type.

Number and percentage of IAP, FRP and Next of Kin applications received for redress in the first 30 months of the scheme.

Shortly after the launch of the scheme, in early 2022, a large number of applications were received, peaking at 397 in January 2022 (Chart 1). Monthly applications have broadly been stable since June 2022, with a slight upward trend since June 2023. The lowest number of applications received in a calendar month was 63 in October 2022.

Chart 1 Redress applications received by application type and month.

Number of redress applications received during the first 30 months of the scheme by application type and month.

[Note 1] Chart shows number of applications for complete months. Figures for June 2024 have been excluded as these contain partial monthly data up to 6th June 2024 only.

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. These applications are prioritised when being allocated to a Scottish Government caseworker.

In total, 1,084 of the 3,905 applications (28%) received during the first 30 months of the scheme were assigned either a P1 or P2 status.

Table 1.2 Priority applications received during the first 30 months of the scheme by priority type.

Number and percentage of P1 and P2 applications received during the first 30 months of the scheme by priority type.

Applications passed to Redress Scotland

Applications submitted to Scottish Government are sent to Redress Scotland for consideration by a panel. This section presents the number of financial redress applications passed to Redress Scotland during the first 30 months of the scheme. This does not include applications sent to Redress Scotland to assess serious convictions, nominated beneficiary eligibility or permission to re-apply.

Applications were sent to Redress Scotland, for consideration, from February 2022. Between February 2022 and June 2024, 2,215 applications and subsequent requests for additional information from survivors, nominated beneficiaries, and next of kin were sent to Redress Scotland (57% of all applications received by the Scottish Government).

Applications not yet sent to Redress Scotland include those awaiting further information from the applicant, organisations who hold records or where verification of information provided is still required. In some cases, individuals have not yet given Scottish Government permission to send their application to Redress Scotland even though all necessary supporting information has been provided and verified. In other cases, applications may have been withdrawn or paused on the applicant’s request, before these have been sent on to Redress Scotland.

Chart 2 shows the number of applications sent to Redress Scotland by month. Applications began to be sent to Redress Scotland from February 2022 and the number of applications sent increased over time before reaching a peak of 139 in November 2023. Following this, numbers declined until February 2024 before rising back to similar levels in May 2024.

Chart 2 Applications sent to Redress Scotland by month.

Number of redress applications sent to Redress Scotland during the first 30 months of the scheme by month.

[Note 1] Chart shows the number of applications sent to Redress Scotland for complete months. Figures for June 2024 have been excluded as these contain partial monthly data up to 6th June 2024 only.