Scottish Welfare Fund Statistics: update to 30 September 2023

From when the Scottish Welfare Fund scheme began on 1 April 2013 until 30 September 2023, 526,290 individual households have received awards totalling £420.3 million. A third of households receiving an award were families with children, while half were single person households with no children.

During July to September 2023, local authorities received 21,790 applications for Community Care Grants, a decrease of 6% compared to July to September 2022. At the same time, local authorities made 10,275 Community Care Grant awards, a decrease of 15%, spending £8.0 million, a decrease of 6% compared to July to September 2022. The average award was £778, 11% higher than during July to September 2022. Local authorities received 65,670 Crisis Grant applications in July to September 2023, a 3% decrease compared to July to September 2022. At the same time, local authorities made 41,750 Crisis Grant awards, spending £4.7 million, both decreasing 7% compared to July to September 2022. The average award was £113, marginally higher than during July to September 2022.

During July to September 2023, 29% of Community Care Grant applications and 13% of awards were repeats, a 2% decrease, and unchanged respectively compared to July to September 2022. At the same time, 72% of Crisis Grant applications and 63% of awards were repeats, four and three percentage points higher respectively than July to September 2022.

From July to September 2023, 81% of Community Care Grant applications and 94% of Crisis Grant applications were processed within target times.

Local authorities have been allocated £35.5 million for Scottish Welfare Fund awards in 2023/24. There was also an estimated underspend of £3.2 million carried forward from 2022/23. Of the estimated total £38.7 million available for awards this year, £26.1 million (67%) had been spent in the first six months of the financial year.

We have previously highlighted data quality issues with the official statistics, discrepancies between the official statistics and management information, and quality issues for certain local authorities (described in the data quality section).

Management information to November 2023 has been provided for comparison in Tables 44 and 45, which can differ from the official statistics by a few percentage points. However, the official statistics provide much more detailed information and breakdowns that are not available from the monthly management information and remain the recommended primary source for analysis and commentary