Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202200313374
Date received: 29 July 2022
Date responded: 22 August 2022
Information requested
I'd like to know how many people in Scotland have accessed the Benefits Assessment under Special Rules in Scotland (BASRiS) funding due to terminal illness in each year since it was brought in under the Social Security Act (Scotland) 2018?
Response
For the purposes of this response we have interpreted the request as relating to how many people we have paid having applied Special Rules for the Terminally Ill.
When a client makes an application for Child Disability Payment or Adult Disability Payment and are terminally ill, the supporting evidence that is required is a Benefits Assessment for Special Rules in Scotland (BASRiS) form completed by a Registered Medical Professional.
Social Security Scotland began to deliver Child Disability Payment in July 2021 and Adult Disability Payment in March 2022. The figures below for Child Disability Payment are from 26 July 2021 up to and including 28 July 2022 and the Adult Disability Payment figures are from 21 March 2022 up to and including 28 July 2022.
There have been 41 approved cases with Special Rules for the Terminally Ill applied for Child Disability Payment.
There have been 94 approved cases with Special Rules for the Terminally Ill applied for Adult Disability Payment.
This gives a total of 135 approved cases with Special Rules for the Terminally Ill applied since July 2021.
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.