Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202500470633
Date received: 12 June 2025
Date responded: 10 July 2025
Information requested
Request for Information 1:
The number of applications for Carer Support Payment that were completed in each month since it was launched that took (a) 51 to 60, (b) 61 to 70, (c) 71 to 80, (d) 81 to 90, (e) 91 to 100, (f) 101 to 110, (g) 111 to 120 and (h) 121 or more working days to process.
Request for Information 2:
The total number of applications for Carer Support Payment processed in each month.
Response
Request for Information 1:
Please find attached document which contains the information requested. To note, this document does not contain information relating to applications completed in fewer than 51 days.
Request for Information 2:
An exemption under section 27(1) of FOISA applies to this information. The total number of applications for Carer Support Payment processed in each month is routinely published on our website and our most recent publication provides data up until 31 March 2025:
Social Security Scotland - Carer Support Payment statistics to 31 March 2025
The information you have requested will be published on our website on 12th August 2025. This publication date falls within 12 weeks of the date of request, so is exempt from early release.
This exemption is subject to the 'public interest test'. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption. We recognise that there is some public interest in the release of up to date monthly application figures up until the date of request, however, this is outweighed by the public interest in accurate data which has gone through our standard quality assurance processes ahead of publication.
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.
FOI 202500470633 - Additional Information