Fairer Scotland Duty (FSD) for Scottish Welfare Fund Statutory Guidance amendments: April 2026

Stage 1 - planning

Background:

As part of the work being carried out in relation to updating the statutory guidance, the opportunity is being used to review evidence on the impact of the Fund on inequality as good practice. The revisions mainly relate to updating and clarifying wording.

What is the aim of your policy/strategy/plan?

The Scottish Government commissioned an Independent Review of the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) to ensure that it works as well as possible in all parts of the country and is safeguarded for the future.

The Review published at the end of March 2023, highlighted that the SWF continues to provide an essential source of crisis support and helps people with independent living. In response to the review, Scottish Ministers committed to deliver an Action Plan to make improvements to the SWF after a decade in place.^[1]

The SWF Action Plan published on 30 June 2023. Informed by the evidence within the Independent Review, this Action Plan was developed collaboratively with a Policy Advisory Group. Members of the Group included representatives from Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), local authority delivery partners, third sector groups and public body organisations. The Group’s input ensured robust and expert oversight of the 22 actions featured within the Plan.

Following the completion of the Action Plan, the Scottish Government committed to review and update the SWF Statutory Guidance on an annual basis. As set out in the Action Plan, updates and improvements to the statutory guidance in April 2025 focused on making the guidance clearer and improving its accessibility. Changes also related to reviewing key areas of the guidance, such as the income thresholds used to determine eligibility, the process for supporting information gathering and the methodology to calculate the cost of living award rate for Crisis Grants. A Fairer Scotland Duty (FSD) Assessment was completed for those changes.^[2]

Continuing the process to ensure that the statutory guidance is clearer and more accessible to those who use it, we are making some further improvements. These changes will include key areas of the guidance such as the low-income threshold tables for 2026/27 being revised to include a rate for those without housing costs and also clarifying wording in the guidance regarding applications received from people who are homeless. The proposed changes follow conversations with local authorities through our regular Practitioners’ Forum as well as meetings with stakeholders such as the British Red Cross, Royal British Legion, Poppyscotland and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO).

Our standing Statutory Guidance Review Committee was established in 2024 to help guide and develop proposals around the updates for the April 2025 revision and will continue for the next revision due in April 2026. The Committee is made up of multiple stakeholders such as the SPSO, COSLA, local authority representatives, Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and third sector representation from Citizens Advice Scotland and the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG).

The updated statutory guidance is due to be published on 25 March 2026 and will take effect from 1 April 2026.

Who will it affect (particular groups/businesses/geographies etc)?

The SWF was established on 1 April 2013 and remains an essential source of occasional support for those most in need. It is administered by all Scottish Local Authorities and provides two forms of discretionary award:

• Crisis Grants to help meet immediate short-term needs arising from an emergency or disaster.
• Community Care Grants to help eligible people establish or maintain a home.

The changes that are being made to the Statutory Guidance ensure that it is clearer, easier to understand and more accessible; including for local authority decision makers and members of the public. While the changes to the statutory guidance are not designed to target specific population groups, they have the potential to impact different areas of society, including those with protected characteristics and particularly those faced with socio-economic disadvantage, due to factors such as low income, area deprivation and socio-economic background.

(i) What outcomes do you expect the policy/strategy/plan to deliver?

These changes were recommended to make the application process easier for people who apply to the fund and also for local authority decision makers. Clearer, more accessible guidance for decision makers and applicants could have a positive impact for those identified in the independent review as being less likely to apply to the fund, such as those who are “working poor”, new claimants, digitally excluded or older people. People may be more likely to apply to this discretionary grant scheme if the guidance is clearer and more accessible to all. The SWF independent review found that of groups who are eligible for the Fund but less likely to apply were older people, people who are not on benefits and/or those in work on low incomes; those new to the benefits system and people who are digitally excluded.^[3]

These changes will affect local authority decision makers too, as they use the information located in the statutory guidance during the application process to determine awards. The changes to the guidance could help them make more informed decisions which could potentially benefit a greater amount of people. The independent review also highlighted the need to improve the clarity and consistency of the statutory guidance. It also noted that there was considerable uncertainty for applicants and wider-stakeholders over the exact eligibility criteria of the Fund. It showed this deterred people from re-applying or engaging with the review process.

What is your timeframe for completing the Fairer Scotland Duty assessment?

The Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment was completed on 18 February 2026. The final Fairer Scotland Duty Summary will be published with the revised Statutory Guidance on 25 March 2026 and take effect on 1 April 2026.

Who else will be involved in the assessment and what roles will they play? We’d expect involvement from policy and analytical teams as a minimum. It’s rarely appropriate for one person to conduct the assessment alone.

The Policy leads for this assessment are the Policy Manager and Policy Officer for the SWF. There was also engagement with the Scottish Government Legal Department, Community Analysis Division and the Office of the Chief Social Policy Adviser in developing this assessment.