Benefit Take-Up Strategy 2026-2031

1. Why maximising benefit take-up matters

Social security as a human right

Social Security Scotland’s Charter^[1]states that social security is a human right, an investment in the people of Scotland, and a public service that any of us could need at any time. It protects people from financial hardship, supports children and families, recognises the additional costs that can come with disability, ill health and caring responsibilities, and helps people live healthier and more secure lives.

Promoting benefit take-up is about upholding that right. It means ensuring that people understand what they are entitled to, know where to turn for support, and can access assistance without unnecessary barriers, stigma or complexity.

Scotland’s social security system is built on the principles of dignity, fairness and respect. Those principles must be reflected not only in how benefits are delivered but in how people are supported to access them in the first place.

Our statutory duty

The Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018^[2]places a duty on Scottish Ministers to promote take-up of Scottish social security entitlements.

The Act also requires Scottish Ministers to prepare and publish a Benefit Take-Up Strategy. The Strategy must set out Ministers’ best estimate of the extent to which eligible people are receiving the assistance they are entitled to, and the steps Ministers intend to take during the Strategy’s lifetime to promote take-up. A new Strategy must be prepared every five years.

In preparing the Strategy, Scottish Ministers must consult such persons as they consider appropriate. This must include people who have received assistance through the Scottish social security system, and people who work with or represent households whose income is adversely affected, or whose expenditure is increased because a member of the household has one or more protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010.

The Act also recognises that promoting take-up depends on inclusive communication, accessible information, independent information, advice and advocacy, and the effective use of available data. Ministers must have regard to the possibility that information obtained to determine eligibility for one type of assistance could be used to identify eligibility for other types of assistance.

Reducing child poverty and improving wellbeing

The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan 2026-2031^[3] identifies income from social security and benefits in kind as one of the three drivers of poverty reduction, alongside income from employment and reducing the cost of living. It also recognises take-up as a critical part of increasing household incomes from social security.

When people receive support for which they are eligible, household incomes increase, financial pressures are reduced and families are better able to meet essential costs. This is particularly important for tackling child poverty. Social security payments, including devolved benefits such as Scottish Child Payment, play a direct role in putting money into families’ pockets. The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan states that Scottish Child Payment alone is estimated to keep 50,000 children out of relative poverty in 2026-27, and that improving take-up of both UK Government and Scottish Government benefits could reduce child poverty rates by up to a further three percentage points in 2030, representing around 30,000 children being lifted out of poverty^[4].

Maximising benefit take-up of this critical support is therefore central to Scotland’s wider efforts to reduce poverty, improve financial wellbeing and support better outcomes for individuals, families and communities.

A joined-up approach to public services

Improving benefit take-up is not only about increasing access to financial assistance. It is also about making public services work better together so that people can access the right support at the right time.

This aligns directly with Scotland’s Public Service Reform Strategy ambitions^[5]. A more joined-up approach to benefit take-up, underwritten by lawful data sharing, improved signposting and implementation of referral pathways, can help services work together around people’s needs, reduce duplication, and make better use of information to identify where and when people need different kinds of support and services. The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan also highlights the importance of making best use of data to support children and families and improve public services.

By ensuring better join up across Social Security Scotland, local authorities, central government, health services, advice providers and community organisations, we can help people access the full package of support they are entitled to across devolved, reserved, local authority and wider services.