Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202300349553
Date received: 30 March 2023
Date responded: 25 April 2023
Request
Request for information 1: Information regarding the number of applications for social security benefits received by Social Security Scotland in the last year (2022), broken down by type of benefit and geographical location of the applicant.
Request for information 2: Details of any reports or assessments conducted by Social Security Scotland regarding the effectiveness of the current social security benefit system in Scotland, including any proposed or implemented changes to this system.
Request for information 3: Information regarding the number of appeals lodged with Social Security Scotland in the last year (2022), broken down by type of benefit and the outcome of each appeal.
Response
Request for information 1: For the below benefits, the information that we hold is available as fiscal years, rather than calendar years. You can find information regarding the number of applications received broken down by local authority, for each benefit using the below links.
Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods:
(information available on ‘Table 5 – full data.’)
Funeral Support Payment:
(information available on ‘Table 3 – full data.’)
Scottish Child Payment:
(information available on ‘Table 4 – full data.’)
Young Carer Grant:
(information available on ‘Table 4 – full data.’)
Job Start Payment:
(information available on ‘Table 4 – full data.’)
For Adult Disability Payment and Child Disability Payment, we have provided the information requested in two attached files. Please note that information for Adult Disability Payment is only held from March 2022 onwards due to this being a new benefit.
Some benefits delivered by Social Security Scotland are not benefits with an application process. For example, Carer’s Allowance Supplement is paid to everyone who is in receipt of Carer’s Allowance as part of an automated process.
Request for information 2: Our Charter sets out the principles that Social Security Scotland adheres to in the delivery of devolved benefits in Scotland and what this means in practice. Our Charter is available to view here:
https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/our-charter
We measure performance in achieving the aims set out in Our Charter using our Charter Measurement Framework, which was co-designed with people of lived experienced of the social security system. It is available to view here:
https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/measuring-our-charter-2021-2022
Further reporting on the performance of Social Security Scotland is available in our Annual Report and Accounts, which summarises the activity of Social Security Scotland for each fiscal year. The most recent report is available here:
https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/annual-report-2021-2022
We also survey our clients regularly and report our findings. Please find recent reports at the below links:
https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/client-survey-2021-2022
https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/client-survey-five-family-payments
https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/client-survey-child-disability-payment
Request for information 3: Information regarding the number of appeals in the last year (2022) is available as part of our published statistics which can be accessed via the below links.
Best Start Grant:
(information available on table 13b).
Best Start Foods:
(appeals are not applicable to Best Start Foods, but is available on table 14 regarding reviews).
Funeral Support Payment:
(information available on table 8b).
Scottish Child Payment:
(information available on table 10).
Child Disability Payment:
(information available on table 19). Please note, there were no appeals prior to February 2022.
Adult Disability Payment:
(information available on table 17). Please note, there were no appeals prior to November 2022.
Young Carer Grant:
(information available on page 6 of the publication document).
Job Start Payment:
(information available on table 9).
Some benefits delivered by Social Security Scotland are not benefits with an appeal process. For example, Carer’s Allowance Supplement is paid to everyone who is in receipt of Carer’s Allowance as part of an automated process.
About FOI
Social Security Scotland is committed to publishing responses to requests. The Scottish Government also publishes responses to requests. You can view the responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.