Death in service payments: FOI release

Information requested

Information relating to death in service payments made by The Scottish Government to named survivors of employees on the front line of care and health services who have died as a result of that work.

You clarified your request by asking for details of the number of front line social care staff, front line health staff, and other front line public sector staff, who have died from Covid-19, how many lump sum payments have been made to the survivors of such individuals; and you also asked for the average lump sum payment made to each of these three groups of survivors.

Response

The following figures are correct as of 30th July 2021,

31 social care staff have died from Covid-19

The Coronavirus (COVID-19): Social Care Worker Death In Service Scheme provides a lump sum payment of £60,000 to the dependants of these individuals; 19 eligible claims have been made and subsequently paid.

21 NHS employees have died from Covid-19.

10 lump sum payments have been made to the dependants of these individuals, and the average lump sum made is £106,053.68.

The Scottish Government do not centrally hold details of other public sector employees who have died from Covid, nor does it hold details of any payments made to the dependants of such individuals.

In addition, I can advise you that the NHS Pension Scheme (Scotland) provides a death in service lump sum for active members of the scheme which is broadly equal to 2 x annual salary.

The Coronavirus Life Assurance Scheme (CLAS) was established to provide financial assistance to surviving dependants of NHS Scotland workers who do not otherwise have equivalent life assurance cover provided through NHS Pension Scheme membership. The CLAS provides a death in service lump sum of £60,000 in respect of eligible relevant persons whose death is attributable to Covid-19 and it also provides an additional death lump sum to cover any shortfall where the full death lump sum (2 x annual salary) is not payable from the pension scheme because the deceased was not an active member of the scheme at the time of death.

I can also advise you some of the information you have requested is available from The Scottish Governments website, Coronavirus (COVID-19): daily data for Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) where it is routinely published. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you, however, on this occasion I have provided this information, in order to prevent any unnecessary delays.

The Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have asked for because the Scottish Government is not responsible for the operation of such schemes in relation to other Public Sector Employees. 

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.