Award win for our Scottish Child Payment project

Scotland’s Social Security delivery has been recognised at the 2024 Government Project Delivery Awards.

Social Security Scotland’s Project Management Team won the Digital and Transformation Project of the Year Award, alongside colleagues from the Scottish Government's Social Security Directorate.

We were recognised for our work supporting the expansion of Scottish Child Payment and introducing automation for Best Start Grant payments.

Scottish Child Payment is one of our five family payments, providing vital support to low-income families.

Following expansion, Scottish Child Payment became available to eligible children under 16. The value of the payment also increased from an initial £10 to £25 per week, per child.

These changes will help to lift around 50,000 children out of poverty in the current financial year, according to the latest Scottish Government estimates published in June 2023.

We also streamlined the application process, reducing average waiting times for parents and carers.

As part of these changes, we introduced automatic awards, which removed the need for clients to apply separately for related benefits. Families getting Scottish Child Payment are now automatically awarded Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment and School Age Payment when their child becomes eligible. This means more families receive these important payments when they need them.

To deliver these improvements, we worked directly with our Client Panels. Comprised of more than 2,000 people with experience of the benefits system, our panellists help us to improve our processes by taking part in focus groups, workshops, co-design sessions, user testing, interviews and surveys.

Aaron Smith, Social Security Scotland’s Head of Business Change Management, said:

“Being shortlisted for the Government Project Delivery Awards was a fantastic achievement in itself. Bringing home the trophy takes it to an extra level.

“The team worked intensely on the expansion of Scottish Child Payment and the introduction of automation for Best Start Grants. Winning this award is testament to the collaboration that has got us to where we are.

“Colleagues across the government were extremely complimentary about our work in this space. They recognised the clear impact it has on hundreds of thousands of clients.”

Families and carers can apply at mygov.scot/scottishchildpayment or by calling Social Security Scotland free on 0800 182 2222