Number of applicants who passed away whilst awaiting a decision on redress: FOI release

Information requested

How many people have died while awaiting a decision on redress payments and for a breakdown by financial year.

Response

I enclose a copy of all of the information you requested. Please find the information below:

It is crucial that eligible survivors receive redress as quickly as possible and feel fully supported through the process. As of 26 November 2025, a total of 86 individuals have died whilst awaiting a determination on their application for redress. It is regrettable that these survivors have passed away whilst awaiting a decision.

The breakdown by financial year, is as follows:

Financial Year	Number of applicants who passed away whilst awaiting a decision on redress
2021/2022	0
2022/2023	25
2023/2024	25
2024/2025	18
2025/2026	18

It should be noted that this information is based on the date of the applicant’s death and not the date that the Scheme was notified so these may not always be in the same financial year.

The Scheme enables applicants, should they wish, to nominate a beneficiary to receive the full amount of redress payment in the event that the applicant dies before payment is made. We know that at least two nominated beneficiaries have received payment in relation to deceased applicants. A nominated beneficiary is only permitted to take over the application in specific circumstances.

Alternatively, a £10,000 next of kin payment may be possible where a survivor, who met the eligibility criteria for the Scheme, dies before a payment was made to them, their estate or a nominated beneficiary. There may be next of kin applications in relation to these deceased survivors.

It was recognised when Scotland’s Redress Scheme was designed that some survivor applicants may be advancing in age or suffering ill health. Therefore, as set out in the legislation for the scheme, priority is given to applicants with a terminal illness and those over 68 years of age.

The Scottish Government set up an Advance Payment Scheme in April 2019 to run in the interim period before the full redress scheme was set up (December 2021). This was specifically focused on eligible survivors who had a terminal illness or were aged 68 or over.

It may be helpful to note that applications are received by Scottish Government with varying levels of completeness including those awaiting further information from the applicant and those requiring further verification. In some cases, individuals have not yet given us permission to send their application to Redress Scotland or have paused their application.

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