Information relating to video calls and processing times for ADP/CDP: FOI release

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

FOI Reference: FOI/202200320905
Date received: 20 September 2022
Date responded: 18 October 2022

Information requested

1. How many video calls in total have been made to applicants for Adult Disability Payment to complete Part 2 of the assessment since ADP was rolled out across Scotland?
2. How many of those calls lasted:
   1. Under an hour
   2. Between 1 and 2 hours
   3. Between 2 and 3 hours
   4. 3 hours and more
3. How long, on average, it takes between completing Part 2 of the assessment and a decision on payment being made and communicated to the applicant.
4. How long, on average, it takes between completing Part 2 of the assessment and the applicant’s first payment being made.
5. How many video calls in total have been made to applicants for Child Disability Payment to complete Part 2 of the assessment since CDP was rolled out across Scotland (broken down by calendar month)?
6. Broken down by calendar month, how many of those calls lasted:
   1. Under an hour
   2. Between 1 and 2 hours
   3. Between 2 and 3 hours
   4. 3 hours and more
7. How long, on average, it takes between completing Part 2 of the assessment for CDP and a decision on payment being made and communicated to the applicant, broken down by calendar month since CDP was rolled out.
8. How long, on average, it takes between completing Part 2 of the assessment for CDP and the applicant’s first payment being made, broken down by calendar month since CDP was rolled out.

Response

I have interpreted your request as relating to video calls with our Client Advisors as part of the application process.

1. There have been 82 completed video appointments since Adult Disability Payment was fully rolled out nationally across Scotland on 29 August 2022 following a phased pilot. The information is correct from that date to 26 September 2022. It should be noted it has been obtained from management information used for monitoring and managing workload, and as such has not been quality assured to the same standard as official statistics.

2. The recording of the length of Adult Disability Payment video calls is not a mandatory requirement, therefore we do not hold a full data set.

However, we do collect some data internally for modelling and managing workloads, and whilst it is incomplete, the recorded information we do hold is shown below.

3. When an application is processed and moved to payment, a decision letter is automatically generated and issued to the applicant. Data on processing times is available within our published Adult Disability Payment statistics here:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/adult-disability-payment-statistics-to-end-of-31-july-2022

The information requested is within Table 9 of the Excel document available at the above link.

Further statistical information on all benefits administered by Social Security Scotland is available at our Statistics Publications page here:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications

4. The first payment including any arrears will be issued following a successful decision made on the application. This payment should reach the applicant within five working days. Information on processing times is provided in Part 3 of the response above.

5. There have been 239 completed video appointments since Child Disability Payment was fully rolled out across Scotland on 22 November 2021 following a phased pilot. The information is correct from that date to 26 September 2022. It should be noted it has been obtained from management information used for monitoring and managing workload, and as such has not been quality assured to the same standard as official statistics.

6. The recording of the length of Child Disability Payment video calls is not a mandatory requirement, therefore we do not hold a full data set.

However, we do collect some data internally for modelling and managing workloads, and whilst it is incomplete, the recorded information we do hold is shown below.

• Sometimes there will be multiple video calls for one client. This may be for convenience at the applicants request.
• These multiple calls can be recorded as one appointment, which would affect the number of recorded long video calls.

7. When an application is processed and moved to payment, a decision letter is automatically generated and issued to the applicant. Data on processing times is available within our published Child Disability Payment statistics here:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/child-disability-payment-high-level-statistics-to-30-june-2022

The information requested is within Table 9 of the Excel document available at the above link.

Further statistical information on all benefits administered by Social Security Scotland is available at our Statistics Publications page here:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications

8. The first payment including any arrears will be issued following a successful decision made on the application. This payment should reach the applicant within five working days. Information on processing times is provided in Part 3 of the response above.

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