Scottish Welfare Fund Statistics: Annual Update: 2021-22

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation

Scottish Welfare Fund awards tend to go to applicants living in more deprived areas of Scotland. Around one in five people in Scotland live in the 20% most deprived areas in Scotland, as defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). However, in 2021-22 around half of Community Care Grants (53%) and Crisis Grants (51%) were awarded to applicants living in these areas. In comparison, around 2% of Community Care Grants and 3% of Crisis Grants were awarded to applicants from the 20% least deprived areas (Table 59 and Table 61). In January to March 2022, the distribution of Community Care Grant and Crisis Grant awards between the SIMD deciles remained similar to January to March 2021.

Community Care Grant applicants in more deprived areas also tend to receive a higher average award value than applicants in less deprived areas in 2021-22 (Chart 14). Applicants in the 10% most deprived data zones received an average award that was around £107 higher than applicants in the 10% least deprived data zones (£718 compared to £612, Table 59). For Crisis Grants, average awards were similar across the different SIMD rankings (Table 61).