Applications

Applications can be made online, by phone, and by paper form (‘application channel’).

At the beginning of the application process, applicants are asked whether they would like to also apply for Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods at the same time as they apply for Scottish Child Payment.

To keep things as simple as possible for the client, if they choose to also apply for Best Start Grant and Best Start foods they are required to complete only one application form.

Applicants can also apply for Scottish Child Payment and Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods separately should they wish to do so.

From the 28th November 2022, the Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment and School Age Payment was paid automatically to eligible individuals in receipt of Scottish Child Payment, without the need to apply.

Where an individual advises that they do not want to receive payment automatically, an automatic payment will not be made and the client can apply for the Payments manually.

In terms of processing and the subsequent reporting of Official Statistics, the joint application can be thought of as two separate applications; one for Scottish Child Payment and one for Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods.

For this reason, only Scottish Child Payment applications are reported on in this publication.

Official Statistics on Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods applications can be found on the Social Security Scotland website.

Decisions

Social Security Scotland processes each application received and makes a decision whether to approve or deny the application.

An application will be denied if the client is not eligible to receive Scottish Child Payment.

An application will be authorised if the client is eligible and provides the appropriate evidence to receive Scottish Child Payment. Applicants may also withdraw their application before a decision is made.

Supporting evidence

Applicants can choose to provide supporting evidence when making an application by post or through online document upload.

If an applicant does not provide all the evidence required for an application, they will be contacted by a client advisor and asked to provide this.

Once this evidence has been received, Social Security Scotland aims to make a decision as soon as possible with payments following soon thereafter.

Managing demand

To help manage the demand expected when Scottish Child Payment officially launched on 15 February 2021, Social Security Scotland enabled clients to apply in advance of the benefit being introduced, from 9 November 2020.

Anyone applying for Scottish Child Payment in this application window was made aware that they would not receive a decision until after 15 February 2021, and that the first payments would be made to clients from the end of February 2021 onwards.

Social Security Scotland processed applications throughout the application window, where the outcomes were temporary and subject to change until a final eligibility check on 15 February when the benefit officially launched.

During this time if a client advisor assessed an application as authorised – subject to this check – the month of decision recorded would reflect the month the client advisor initially processed the application.

Due to the design of Social Security Scotland’s case management system, denials were not processed during the application window and were instead flagged and set aside to be processed after the final eligibility check.

Client advisors began formally denying these applications after the official launch of the benefit and had completed this undertaking by the end of March 2021.