Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment

1. Brief Summary

Type of proposal:

• Scottish Statutory Instrument

Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025.

The ‘Move to UC’ is a UK Government programme that is phasing out several existing benefits and replacing them with Universal Credit (UC). New applications for tax credits closed in April 2019, and almost everyone in the UK who was previously in receipt of tax credits has now been through the managed migration process known as the ‘Move to UC’, as of January 2025 – the process will be fully complete for tax credits by 5 April 2025 when tax credits will formally close. These Scottish Government regulations will come into force in June 2025.

Both tax credits and the benefit, which is replacing them, UC, are paid as a form of financial support to people on low incomes. In particular, working tax credit and UC both provide support to people who are in work on a low income. Both broadly support the same groups of people, although tax credits have no limit on the amount of capital a person may have, while UC does have a limit of £16,000.

As tax credits will cease to exist, they will no longer be a route to qualification for Scottish Government benefits. These regulations are a reaction to UK Government policy over which the Scottish Government has no control. Removing Tax Credits from legislation is the end of the process which started when Tax Credits closed for new applications in 2019, and the change was already built into policy assumptions as the devolved benefits were delivered.

The regulations will also include an amendment to the Social Security (Information-sharing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 to replace reference to Discretionary Housing Payments being made under the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001 (the 2001 Regulations) with reference to Discretionary Housing Payments now being made under the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (the 2018 Act). The amendment is necessary because the 2001 Regulations have now been revoked in Scotland and Discretionary Housing Payments are now payable under Part 5 of the 2018 Act.

In addition, there is an amendment on appeals that seek to ensure that processes are aligned across all benefits. A CRWIA has been prepared for this amendment on appeals as part of the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2025. The impact assessment is available on the Scottish Government website.

Start date of proposal’s development:

26 August 2024

Start date of CRWIA process:

2 September 2024

2. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (Annex 1), which aspects of the proposal are relevant to/impact upon children’s rights?

Although some children as defined by the UNCRC (up to the age of 18) may be parents themselves and so able to claim Scottish Government child-related benefits, they would not have been reliant on tax credits to establish eligibility for those Scottish Government benefits prior to these regulations coming into force. This is because applications for tax credits closed to new applicants in 2019.

The regulations could have an indirect effect on a small number of children (those who live with an adult who had been entitled to tax credits and who, upon losing that qualifying benefit, did not apply for or did not meet the eligibility criteria for Universal Credit so have therefore fallen out of entitlement to Scottish Government benefits). This could potentially reduce the overall income of the household in which the child lives.

However, the number of indirectly affected children will be very small, and some indirectly affected children are in households who would not meet the eligibility criteria for the Scottish Government benefits if they were applying today. This is because their household income is not low enough to meet the test for Universal Credit.

The overarching policy for the affected Scottish Government benefits was designed to use the eligibility criteria for Universal Credit as an indication of need, with tax credits only included as an interim measure while they still existed. As people transfer from all the legacy benefits to Universal Credit this overarching policy intent is achieved.

The evidence gathered shows that during the period known as ‘Move to Universal Credit’ – from August 2023 – the numbers or eligibility of those applying for and receiving Scottish Child Payment, Best Start Foods, Best Start Grants or Funeral Support Payment has remained relatively stable for each Scottish Government benefit. This may be attributable to the fact that Social Security Scotland wrote to people who were affected in order to explain that their Scottish Government benefits would also end if they did not follow the ‘Move to Universal Credit’ process as outlined by DWP and issued social media communications to amplify DWP’s messaging.

The amendment to the Social Security (Information-sharing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 is technical in nature. However, it may facilitate the sharing of information related to children to support decision making in relation to a Discretionary Housing Payment application i.e. to confirm the household composition of an applicant.

Our overall assessment, therefore, is that the impact of these regulations is neutral when considering all children.

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used to inform your decision-making and the content of the proposal

DWP statistics for Scotland, up to the end of September 2024 show around 27% of people who had previously received Tax Credits failing to move to UC.

Despite this drop out rate, the number of families receiving Scottish Child Payment over the same period has not shown a corresponding drop and there is no evidence that the ‘Move to UC’ has affected the numbers or eligibility of those applying for Best Start Foods, Best Start Grants or Funeral Support Payment with both applications and awards remaining relatively stable for each Scottish Government benefit.

Due to the steady state of caseloads and take-up, and as our actions in amending the existing regulations are administrative and post-date the DWP’s ‘Move to Universal Credit’ programme in relation to tax credits, we do not believe there will be any future impact.

4. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed

Not applicable

5. Analysis of Evidence

Not applicable

6. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment?

Not applicable