Social Security Scotland - Adult Disability Payment additional spending query: FOI release

Information requested

In a recent report by Audit Scotland entitled ‘Adult Disability Payment’, it states on page 20:

‘In 2023/24, ongoing operational spending was £275 million more than the block grant funding received. In addition, while operational running costs have been in line with the expected business case costs up until 2023/24, we note that the forecast spending for 2024/25 is likely to be higher than predicted by around £40 million’.

Based on this paragraph in the Audit Scotland Report, I am requesting the following information:

Where the additional ‘around £40 million’ has been allocated to and what it has been spent on or planned to be spent on.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested. This is because the Audit Scotland report is not a publication produced by Social Security Scotland.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested.

We can confirm that there was an increase in operational expenditure for Social Security Scotland between 2023/24 and 2024/25. This increase is primarily attributed to:

• Workforce growth across the organisation, and
• Pay inflation.

The expansion of Social Security Scotland’s responsibilities, including the introduction of new benefits and increasing demand for existing ones, has required additional staffing to maintain service levels and meet statutory obligations.

A full breakdown of operational expenditure for 2024/25 will be published in Social Security Scotland’s Annual Report and Accounts 2025, scheduled for publication in November 2025.

You can also find up-to-date information on workforce numbers in the Social Security Scotland workforce statistics to June 2025.

About FOI

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