Scottish Welfare Fund Statistics: annual update 2022-2023

87% of Community Care Grant applications were processed within the target time of 15 working days in 2022-23. This is an increase of one percentage point compared to 2021-22 (Table 14, Chart 4). In the latest quarter, processing times varied by local authority, from 39% in Dumfries and Galloway to 100% in eight local authorities: Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire, East Ayrshire, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and North Lanarkshire (Table 15).

92% of Crisis Grant applications were processed within the target time of the next working day in 2022-23, one percentage point less than 2021-22 (Table 17, Chart 5). In the latest quarter, processing times varied from 66% in Falkirk to 100% in seven local authorities: Argyll & Bute, Clackmannanshire, East Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, Na-h Eileanan Siar, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, and Orkney (Table 18).

A chart showing the variation in processing times for Community Care Grant applications within each local authority is included in the separate tables file that accompanies this publication (Chart 4b). This chart illustrates that as well as there being a variation in the proportion of applications processed on time between local authorities (Table 15), there can be considerable variation within local authorities. For example, Chart 4b shows that for Community Care Grants since April 2013, the median processing time (or the middle value of processing times if all applications were ranked from highest to lowest) was lower than the target of 15 working days. However, 95% of applications took up to around 26 days to process, with 5% of applications taking longer than this.

There is much lower variation in processing times for Crisis Grants. Since April 2013, the median processing time (or the middle value of processing times if all applications were ranked from highest to lowest) for all local authorities has been either the same or next working day.

It is possible that cases are currently missing from the dataset used to produce this publication due to delays in processing or late returns, or due to cases being awarded in principle or ‘pending’ on local authority systems. It is therefore possible that estimates of the proportion of cases processed within target times could change for the latest quarter once these cases are received.

Chart 4: Initial Processing Times for Community Care Grants – Quarterly

Chart 5: Initial Processing Times for Crisis Grants – Quarterly