Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202500459274
Date received: 26 March 2025
Date responded: 23 April 2025
Information requested
Request for information 1: Number of ADHD applicant(s) whom where authorised mandatory decision by adult disability payment decision maker.
Request for information 2: Number of applicants whom have applied for adult disability with minor health problem(s) Such as... Anxiety depression etc
Request for information 3: How much revenue does ADP be given through tax payers.
Request for information 4: Number of successful application since 2021 or date when ADP transferred over to ALD (Disability Living Allowance)
Response
Request for information 1:
We have interpreted your request to relate to the number of applicants with approved Adult Disability Payment (ADP) applications that listed Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a primary or secondary condition at the initial decision.
8022 clients that listed ADHD as a primary or secondary condition at the initial decision have been awarded ADP.
Request for information 2:
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.
At Social Security Scotland we do not classify health conditions by severity and do not acknowledge the term ‘minor health problems’.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.
In your request for information, you mentioned anxiety and depression as examples of health conditions for which you would like to know the number of applicants, therefore the following information may be helpful for you.
Number of Applications | Disability Recorded as |
52,488 | Depressive episode |
58,153 | Anxiety disorder |
23,879 | Anxiety and Depressive Disorder |
These figures are based on management information and as such, have not been quality assured to the same standard as Official Statistics.
Please note that information on disabling condition is not automatically recorded on all applications and applications can fail prior to the recording of this information, for example due to lack of residency in Scotland. Further information is only recorded on up to two conditions and if a client had two other conditions and depression or anxiety then that may not be recorded. As such these figures are not and cannot be exhaustive.
Request for information 3 and 4:
For Request for information 3 ‘How much revenue does ADP be given through tax payers?’ we have interpreted this to be the total value of Adult Disability Payments been issued by Scottish Government via Social Security Scotland.
All of the information you have requested is available from our website at Social Security Scotland - Adult Disability Payment statistics to 31 January 2025.
Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website(s) listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
About FOI
Social Security Scotland is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. The Scottish Government also publishes responses to requests. You can view the responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.