Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202300381660
Date received: 19 October 2023
Date responded: 16 November 2023
REQUEST UNDER THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 2002 (FOISA)
Thank you for your request dated 19 October 2023 under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA).
Your request
Request for information 1: How many people eligible for winter heating payment did not receive it this year? How many received it overall?
Request for information 2: Full list of dates when people did receive the winter heating payments?
Request for information 3: What plan has been put in place to improve the winter heating payments next year following delays this year?
Request for information 4: All correspondence between the Scottish Government, Social Security Scotland and the UK Government regarding the payment of the adult disability allowance between November 2022 and the date of this FOI.
Response to your request
Request for information 1:
As at 15 November 2023, 2,575 eligible people remained still to be paid. These cases continue to be worked on and require additional information from clients or clients’ representatives. 396,996 payments had been issued overall for Winter Heating Payment by that time.
Request for information 2:
The full list of dates when Winter Heating Payments were issued can be found on the attached document. It can take up to four working days for payments to reach recipients’ accounts once issued, dependent on banks.
Request for information 3:
Social Security Scotland requires a transfer of quality assured data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to identify clients eligible for Winter Heating Payment. Subject to the necessary client data being provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the dates and to the quality standards agreed, Social Security Scotland will begin processing Winter Heating Payments from mid-December 2023.
Payments will be made in batches with the first payments expected to be made before the end of December 2023.
We anticipate that the vast majority of payments to the remaining clients will be made by the end of January 2024.
Request for information 4:
This is a repeat of part of your request 202300381634. Under section 14(2) of FOISA, Scottish public authorities do not have to comply with requests that are repeated.
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.
FOI 202300381660