Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018: progress report 2023 to 2024

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 make a new decision if, for example, the person’s application for assistance is denied, or if the person thinks the amount they are going to be paid is wrong. This is called a re-determination. A person also has the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal against a re-determination of their entitlement to assistance if they disagree with the result of their re-determination. There may be cases where a re-determination is not completed by Social Security Scotland within the timescales set out in regulations. In such cases, a person has the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal without waiting for the re-determination to be made.

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

In total, 24,535 re-determination requests were received between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 across all benefits. The table below shows the number of re-determination requests received in this time period. The number of Carer Support Payment re-determination requests is not published to prevent disclosure of small cohorts.

Benefit: 2023-24

• Adult Disability Payment: 18,805
• Child Disability Payment: 2510
• Scottish Child Payment^[1]: 2010
• Best Start Grant : 645
• Funeral Support Payment: 315
• Young Carer Grant: 205
• Winter Heating Payment: 45
• Carer Support Payment: <5
• Total : 24,535

All figures in the table are rounded to the nearest five and may not sum to total.

In total, 2840 appeals to the First-tier Tribunal were received between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024. The below table shows the number of appeals received in this time period.

Benefit : 2023-24

• Adult Disability Payment : 2475
• Child Disability Payment : 200
• Scottish Child Payment^[2] : 105
• Best Start Grant : 30
• Funeral Support Payment : 30
• Young Carer Grant : 5
• Winter Heating Payment : N/A
• Total : 2845

All figures in the table 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 have 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 and as required, Scottish Ministers will continue to report annually on whether the process for determining entitlement needs to be amended.