Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018: progress report 2022 tp 2023

7. Right to appeal

Section 87 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 requires Scottish Ministers to report on the number of people who obtained the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal under section 46 of the same Act, and the number of people who exercised this right.

A person can ask Social Security Scotland to reconsider their decision if their application is denied, or if they think the amount they are going to be paid is wrong. A person has the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal against a re-determination of their entitlement to assistance. There may be cases where the re-determination is not completed by Social Security Scotland within the timescales set out in regulations. In these cases, a person has the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal against the original determination without waiting for the re-determination to be made.

Job Start Payment and Best Start Foods do not have a re-determination process. Instead, there is an internal review process, which means that applicants can request that their decision be looked at again.

In total, 5,225 re-determinations were received between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 across all benefits. The table below shows the number of re-determination requests received in this time period. All figures in the table are rounded to the nearest five and may not sum to total.

In total, 145 appeals were received between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023 across all benefits. Of these, 65 appeals were received for Adult Disability Payment, 40 appeals were received for Child Disability Payment, 10 appeals were received for Scottish Child Payment, 10 appeals were received for Best Start Grant and 15 appeals were received for Funeral Support Payment. The number of Young Carer Grant appeals is not published to prevent disclosure of small cohorts. All figures above are rounded to the nearest five and may not sum to total.

In reporting on the number of re-determinations and appeals, section 87 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 also requires Scottish Ministers to indicate whether it is appropriate to amend the process for determining entitlement. Re-determinations and appeals data has not identified issues relating to the application and determination process within the reporting period. Therefore Scottish Ministers do not consider that changes are required at this time.

Re-determination and appeals data will be kept under review.