Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202500479732
Date received: 11 August 2025
Date responded: 2 September 2025
Information requested
Request for information 1:
All criteria, guidance or any other assessments used by Social Security Scotland to determine whether an applicant for Adult Disability Payment should receive either the daily living or mobility component of the payment and at which level.
Request for information 2:
A full breakdown of Adult Disability Payments made to those suffering with a ‘mental and behavioural disorder,’ as of 30 April 2023, 2024 and 2025, broken down by condition. This information should also include whether enhanced payments are made, as well as mobility payments.
Request for information 3:
A full breakdown of Child Disability Payments made to those suffering with a ‘mental and behavioural disorder’ as of 31 March 2023, 2024 and 2025, broken down by condition. This information should also include whether enhanced payments are made as well as mobility payments.
Request for information 4:
A full breakdown of Pension Age Disability Payments made to those suffering with a ‘mental and behavioural disorder,’ as of 30 April 2023, 2024 and 2025, broken down by condition. This information should also include whether enhanced payments are made as well as mobility payments.
Response
Request for information 1:
Information on the guidance used by Social Security Scotland to make decisions relating to Adult Disability Payment, and other benefits, can be found within our Decision Making Guide: Social Security Scotland - Decision Making Guide. This includes information and guidance relating to the daily living component and mobility component of Adult Disability Payment.
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 listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
Request for information 2 and 3:
The requested information regarding Adult Disability Payments made to those with a ‘mental or behavioural disorder,’ broken down by condition, can be found in Social Security Scotland’s published statistics: Social Security Scotland - Adult Disability Payment statistics to 30 April 2025. This information can be found within table 19, and also includes information on award type.
This information is also available for Child Disability Payment: Social Security Scotland - Child Disability Payment: statistics to 30 June 2025. This information can be found within table 19, and also contains information on award type.
Further information on award levels for Adult Disability Payment can be found here: Adult Disability Payment - mygov.scot. Information on Child Disability Payment award levels is also available: Child Disability Payment - mygov.scot.
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 listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.
Request for information 4:
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.
Pension Age Disability Payment opened for new applications in the five pilot local authority areas from 21 October 2024. It then rolled out to 13 more local authority areas on 24 March 2025 and became available nationally from 22 April 2025.
For Pension Age Disability Payment, we have not carried out further breakdowns of specific conditions within the Mental and Behavioural Disorders category for caseload by award level. Therefore we do not currently hold any more detailed data on caseload by award level by disability condition than what is published in Table 16 of our published statistics: Social Security Scotland - Pension Age Disability Payment statistics to 30 April 2025.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.
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.