Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
FOI Reference: FOI/202500458636
Date received: 21 March 2025
Date responded: 17 April 2025
Information requested
Request for Information 1:
How many people who had their social security benefits moved from DWP to the Scottish Government had an appointee?
Request for Information 2:
Of the appointees that these people had how many have been checked by the Scottish Government to see if they are right?
Request for Information 3:
Of the ones that have been checked how many did they change and/or take away?
Response
Response for Information 1:
While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.
We have management information for 33,900 case transfers from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) as of 2 April 2025, which contain acting body information for Adult Disability Payment, Pension Age Disability Payment and Carer Support payment. However, the information held shows whether a client has ever had an acting body relationship, it does not specify if this relationship was in place at the time of the benefit transfer to Social Security Scotland.
Please note that acting bodies will include appointees and other relationship types such as guardians and power of attorneys.
These figures are based on management information sourced from Social Security Scotland’s case management system. As these figures are based on management information, they have not been quality assured to the same standard as Official Statistics.
This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.
Response for information 2:
8,600 appointee assessments have been completed.
Of the 33,900 case transfers outlined in response to question 1, not all of them will require an appointee assessment. This is because an acting body could be an appointee or another relationship type such as a guardian or power of attorney.
Please note that clients remain in payment throughout these checks.
This information is based on clerical data sources which are manually recorded, and they have not been quality assured.
Response for information 3:
Of the appointees that have been checked:
This information is based on clerical data sources which are manually recorded, and they have not been quality assured.
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.