As a result of the Scotland Act 2016 a wide range of powers, including welfare powers, have now been transferred to the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament.

Scottish Child Payment was introduced through secondary legislation, using the powers to top up a reserved benefit contained in section 79 of the Social Security Scotland Act 2018.

Social Security Scotland is the executive agency of Scottish Government responsible for delivering social security benefits for Scotland.

On 3 November 2020 the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People announced that Scottish Child Payment would open for applications from 9 November and the benefit would start from 15 February 2021.

Further details about the benefit can be found on the mygov.scot website.