Social Security Scotland - Current volume of unallocated Adult Disability Payment (ADP) review cases: FOI Review

Information requested

Original request 202600503216

Request for information 1: Current volume of unallocated ADP review cases.

As at the most recent date for which management information is available, please provide:

a) the total number of ADP review cases received by Social Security Scotland; and
b) the total number of ADP review cases awaiting allocation to a caseworker and/or decision maker (i.e. in an unallocated queue).

Request for information 2: Waiting times for unallocated ADP review cases.

For ADP review cases awaiting allocation (as at the same date as Q1), please provide:

a) the average time (in days) those cases have been waiting unallocated; and
b) the maximum/longest time (in days) any case has been waiting unallocated.

Request for information 3: Targets / standards for allocation.

Please provide any internal targets, service standards, operating expectations or guidance currently in place that relate to:

a) timescales for allocating ADP review cases to a caseworker and/or decision maker; and/or
b) expected time a review case should remain in an unallocated queue.

Request for information 4: Monitoring and reporting.

Does Social Security Scotland routinely monitor and/or report on how long ADP review cases remain unallocated? If so, please provide:

a) the frequency of monitoring/reporting (e.g., daily/weekly/monthly); and
b) the role, team or business area responsible for producing or overseeing that monitoring/reporting.

Request for information 5: Recent internal material about backlog/unallocated queues.

Please provide copies of any internal guidance, management information, briefing papers, performance reports, or similar documents produced within the last 12 months that refer to:

a) backlogs of ADP review cases; and/or
b) delays caused by unallocated queues (including any discussion of causes, mitigation actions, resourcing, prioritisation, or improvement plans).

Response

I have now completed my review of our response to your request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA). You are dissatisfied that we did not provide you with specific information.

You asked for information in relation to Adult Disability Payment (ADP) review cases administered by Social Security Scotland.

Your original request:

Request for information 1: Current volume of unallocated ADP review cases.

As at the most recent date for which management information is available, please provide:

a) the total number of ADP review cases received by Social Security Scotland; and
b) the total number of ADP review cases awaiting allocation to a caseworker and/or decision maker (i.e. in an unallocated queue).

Request for information 2: Waiting times for unallocated ADP review cases.

For ADP review cases awaiting allocation (as at the same date as Q1), please provide:

a) the average time (in days) those cases have been waiting unallocated; and
b) the maximum/longest time (in days) any case has been waiting unallocated.

Request for information 3: Targets / standards for allocation.

Please provide any internal targets, service standards, operating expectations or guidance currently in place that relate to:

a) timescales for allocating ADP review cases to a caseworker and/or decision maker; and/or
b) expected time a review case should remain in an unallocated queue.

Request for information 4: Monitoring and reporting.

Does Social Security Scotland routinely monitor and/or report on how long ADP review cases remain unallocated? If so, please provide:

a) the frequency of monitoring/reporting (e.g., daily/weekly/monthly); and
b) the role, team or business area responsible for producing or overseeing that monitoring/reporting.

Request for information 5: Recent internal material about backlog/unallocated queues.

Please provide copies of any internal guidance, management information, briefing papers, performance reports, or similar documents produced within the last 12 months that refer to:

a) backlogs of ADP review cases; and/or
b) delays caused by unallocated queues (including any discussion of causes, mitigation actions, resourcing, prioritisation, or improvement plans).

You have contacted Social Security Scotland to express your dissatisfaction in that you disagree and consider that the response provided is inaccurate, and you believe that we have not provided the information you have requested.

You have informed Social Security Scotland that your request referred to cases awaiting allocation to a caseworker and/or decision maker, i.e. cases not yet assigned to an individual for substantive consideration. The interpretation that had been taken for the response was in relation to “unallocated queues”, rather than as you have stated, the allocation to a named caseworker or decision maker.

Decision:

I have concluded that a fresh decision should be substituted.

Revised decision:

Social Security Scotland is unable to obtain historic figures to answer this request. Therefore, all figures contained in this review response were captured at a moment in time at 2.20pm on 12 March 2026.

Request for Information 1:

Adult Disability Payment review cases are split into 2 categories, Unscheduled Reviews (where a client has informed us of a change) and Scheduled Reviews (a planned reviews).

a) I have interpreted this question to relate to Unscheduled Reviews which we have received from the client. As at 12 March 2026, 4,944 cases had not yet been allocated.to a decision maker.

b) The total number of Unscheduled and Scheduled Reviews caseload yet to be allocated to a decision maker is 28,524.

Request for Information 2:

a) While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. To obtain this information would require someone to manually access each case within scope of the request to record the Review received date and the date the case was first pulled by a case manager, which would then enable the calculation to be made.

Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.

The cost calculation is limited to the time to sift through each case. A sample of 5 cases indicated that it would take 5 minutes on average to sift through each case to extract the in-scope information. On 12 March there were 2,521 cases which would require manual interrogation. The upper cost limit equates to 40 hours. Based on the sample undertaken, it is estimated that it would take roughly 210 hours to sift through the in-scope cases, which would exceed the upper cost limit.

Furthermore, we do not have a way to extract the date that a review was received without a manual sift and therefore we are unable to obtain this information by any other means.

You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs be brought below £600. For example, a request which would involve manually interrogating a lower number of cases held by case managers at a snapshot in time, which would be within the upper cost limit.

We can only determine which cases fit within scope of this request when they have been pulled in by the case manager and being worked on. Both the number of in-scope Scheduled review cases, and the number of Unscheduled review cases alone at this snapshot in time would exceed the upper cost limit. Therefore, I am unable to advise how you would be able to narrow the scope of your request to obtain the information requested.

You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: https://www.foi.scot/how-do-i-ask

b) As at 2.20pm on 12 March 2026, the oldest review case pending processing for:

Unscheduled reviews is 69 working days

*Scheduled Reviews is 151 working days

*Period from the date the Review pack is issued to the client.

Request for Information 3a and b:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have the information you have requested. Cases are not allocated on an individual basis, therefore there is no defined timescale for when a review will be taken forward for a decision.

Review cases are drawn from the work queue by case workers to process, with the oldest cases addressed first. There is no set period for how long a review case may remain in an unallocated queue.

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

No prioritisation criteria permit a case to be taken out of chorological order. As a result there is no such documented guidance.

Request for Information 4a and b:

Social Security Scotland monitors the status of Adult Disability Payment review cases on a daily basis. This monitoring is carried out by the Reviews team. Summary information is reported on a weekly basis to senior management.

Request for Information 5a and b:

Senior management briefings, management information, performance reports and similar documents within the past 12 months were searched. No information which could be interpreted as referring to backlogs or delays to ADP review cases could be found.

For information, there is no set statutory timescale for completing a Scheduled or Unscheduled review, as the length of time required depends on individual circumstances and the information required to make a fully informed determination. However, we recognise that longer review periods can cause uncertainty for clients and we are strengthening how we manage review workflows and monitor performance.

We can provide information in relation to when a review case is impacted by a longer review period, which is in scope of this part of your request. Attached are two internal guidance documents titled:

1. ‘What we consider to be a delayed review’

2. ‘When a determination is being made more than 12 weeks after client returned the review pack’

Please note that this guidance is currently under review and is subject to change. It is being released because it falls within the scope of your request.

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.

FOI 202600507643 - Information released - Documents

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