Take-up rates of Scottish benefits: November 2024

Take-Up Strategy Update

Ensuring people in Scotland are aware of, and are encouraged to access, all the financial support they are entitled to in the devolved social security system, is a priority for the Scottish Government. Social security is a human right and we are committed to protecting that right and supporting people to exercise it.

The figures in this publication suggest our approach to maximising take-up in Scotland remains effective, however, we know that more needs to be done. Ahead of publication of the next Benefit Take-Up Strategy, due by October 2026, we intend to publish an updated position on take-up activity. This will specifically consider approaches to support marginalised communities access their entitlements and tackle stigma, which continues to be a barrier to benefit take-up.

Implementing our Benefit Take-Up Principles

Our Benefit Take-Up Strategy is structured around five guiding principles which underpin our approach to maximising take-up in Scotland. In line with these Benefit Take-Up Principles, we have taken the following action to support people to access devolved social security payments:

Principle 1: Prioritise person-centred approaches

The Independent Social Security Advocacy Service, funded by the Scottish Government, has continued supporting people to access and apply for Social Security Scotland assistance. The service is free and provides advocacy to anyone who self-identifies as disabled. Building on our human rights-based approach, it seeks to make Social Security more accessible – supporting and empowering disabled people in Scotland to be more involved in processes and decisions which affect them. To date, the service has supported over 7,900 people.

In November of this year, we rolled out Carer Support Payment nationally, our replacement payment for Carer’s Allowance in Scotland. Delivery of this benefit marks a key milestone in improving support for unpaid carers and will be available to many carers in full-time education who cannot currently get Carer’s Allowance. In delivering Carer Support Payment, tailored signposting has been developed to support carers to access wider services and clear information on the support available to them. We will improve how we deliver the benefit by continuing to work directly with carers and support organisations to understand how well the system is working and identify any changes needed.

We know that there are groups of people who are under-represented and often poorly engaged by public services, including the wider social security system (‘seldom-heard groups’). To support our understanding of these groups and the barriers to take-up they face, the Scottish Government recently published new independent research. In response to the recommendations, we will further explore approaches to maximise take-up and address barriers to access for seldom-heard communities, including the harmful impacts of stigma. Further research has also been carried out with a range of seldom-heard audiences (including Gypsy/Traveller communities, recently released prisoners, care-experienced people and minority ethnic communities). This has helped us to understand the barriers different groups face to applying for benefits and the most effective messaging to improve take-up.

Principle 2: Communicate and engage effectively

Communications activity plays a vital role in helping people get the financial support they are entitled to. Activity raises awareness of benefits that Social Security Scotland delivers and drives applications by communicating key information such as eligibility criteria, payment values and how to apply. It also aims to encourage take-up by breaking down barriers to applying (e.g. stigma) and communicating the positive difference the benefits can make to people’s lives.

Social Security Scotland undertakes a range of activity across different channels - including media relations, social media, stakeholder engagement and paid-for marketing. This helps ensure messages about benefits reach and engage different audiences at the right times, in the right places and in the right formats. Ensuring communications are accessible and inclusive is vital. Social Security Scotland make use of different formats and languages, allowing people to engage in the way they want and need. Information materials are available in 12 community languages, British Sign Language, and over 100 languages are available on request, including Braille.

Examples of communication and engagement work undertaken include:

• Raising awareness of Carer Support Payment via paid-for marketing (local radio, local press, targeted digital) as it rolled out across Scotland in pilot areas.
• Delivering information sessions on Pension Age Disability Payment for staff from advice services, local authorities, health services, and other third sector organisations to ensure information can be cascaded to eligible people.
• Promoting Best Start Foods by working with Gary Maclean, Masterchef winner and the first National Chef of Scotland, to create video content which highlights quick, cost-effective healthy meals which can be made using the payments. This was shared across social channels and with partners.
• Collaborating with Public Health Scotland to make sure information materials – such as posters, leaflets and factsheets – are available in spaces and services people interact with like schools, GP surgeries, registrars and libraries.

Principle 3: Bring services to people

As part of the wider advice services landscape, and supporting key partners in efforts to maximise incomes, to date, the Scottish Government has invested over £4.7 million since 2021 into Welfare Advice and Health Partnerships. These partnerships, targeted in deprived communities and remote and rural locations, see Welfare Rights Advisors placed into accessible and non-stigmatising primary care settings. Evaluation to date has shown that over 16,000 people have taken up support in a participating GP Practice during the evaluation period, with over 89% of individuals accessing advice for the first time through this initiative.

To build on the success of the Welfare Advice and Health Partnerships work, this year we have allocated up to £1.5 million to increase the provision of advice within services that people already go to through our Advice in Accessible Settings Fund. The fund is supporting and encouraging partnerships between advice providers and a range of other community based services including youth charities, housing and homelessness services, faith based charities, specialist mental health services, carers support services and Disabled People’s Organisations. Since the fund was launched in July 2023, it has supported more than 7,900 clients and unlocked more than £12 million in financial gains.

Principle 4: Encourage cross-system collaboration

We value the vital role that our stakeholders and partner organisations play in promoting benefit take-up and championing the interests of different client groups. The Scottish Government continues to facilitate a Benefit Take-Up Stakeholder Reference Group to provide expert advisory input into the development of benefit take-up approaches. Following recent research into seldom-heard groups, membership of this Reference Group was expanded to organisations representing the interests of these communities.

We know that income from social security is one of the main drivers to eradicating child poverty – a national mission for this Government. The Fairer Futures Partnerships, focussing on systems change for better child poverty outcomes, are working with Social Security Scotland to support targeted income maximisation activity by seeking new ways to share data across organisations. In order to support public sector reform by sharing key information with organisations that need it, the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland agree that safe, secure and proportionate data sharing holds potential opportunities for benefit take-up, income maximisation and ultimately tackling poverty. We are working with local authorities as part of the Fairer Futures Partnership programme to explore this further.

While the Scottish Government has no formal role in the administration of reserved benefits, we continue to work with DWP officials to look at ways the benefit system can be improved to make it more accessible for those eligible for these payments. For example, the Scottish Government has undertaken a range of activity to support promotion of Pension Credit take-up, including engagement with stakeholders through newsletters, roadshows and forums, reposting DWP related content on Scottish Government social media platforms, and promoting the new dedicated Pension Credit webpage, which launched recently.

Principle 5: Continuously learn and improve

The Social Security Scotland User Research Team regularly engage with a wide variety of clients to understand how people learn about Social Security Scotland and their experience of the service. Recent research has included people where English is a second language, British Sign Language users and people with experience of a range of health conditions including complex PTSD, stroke and chronic fatigue. Research was also conducted this year with a perinatal mental health group, young mums (16–20-year-olds) and a range of parent groups to explore barriers to take-up of Best Start Foods. Working with communications teams, insights are shared through regular engagement to ensure learning about different client groups is fed into communication strategies. User research findings are also shared to help shape policy development. For example, the Best Start Foods benefit take-up research was shared across relevant Scottish Government policy areas and with UK policy officials to provide insight into the barriers that people face in accessing this payment.

The Scottish Government has acted on Job Start Payment evaluation findings showing low levels of awareness and high application denial rates could be impacting take-up rates. In 2023 Social Security Scotland implemented operational and guidance changes to address high application denial rates, including: redirecting people who don’t meet eligibility criteria to call Social Security Scotland, extending the application window from within 3 months of a job offer to 6, disregarding income from a work trial, and simplifying evidence requirements for job offers.

The Social Security Charter sets out what people can expect from the Scottish social security system. As part of the first review of the Charter since its introduction in 2019, the Scottish Government adopted a co-design approach, working with people with lived experience of the Scottish social security system. This involved clients, including from groups who may experience barriers when engaging with public services, partner organisations, colleagues in Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Commission on Social Security. The revised commitments contained within the updated Charter, including our commitment to help people to receive everything they are entitled to, reflect the priorities identified by those engaged and demonstrates the experience gained now Scotland’s social security system is operational.