Social Security Scotland - Adult Disability Payment ineligible claim information: FOI release

Information requested

Request for information 1: Could you supply how many requests Social Security Scotland have made to claimants to pay back Adult Disability Payments, and how much this was worth overall and how many said yes and no, and how much was handed back?

Request for information 2: What is the average time between an interview with a claimant suspected of claiming ADP illegally and a decision being made to either stop the claim or claim the money back?

Response

An overpayment is the difference between what a client has received and what they are entitled to. Benefit overpayments arise where a change of circumstances has been processed retrospectively or where error or fraud have been identified. You can find more information about our preventative approach to overpayments caused by error in our Error Control Strategy.

We seek to recover overpayments where it is economic and reasonable to do so, in line with the Scottish Public Finance Manual. For example, we do not attempt to recover overpayments that have small values, or are caused by small administrative delays, or that have no liability to repay. Our proactive debt recovery work was suspended from 1 April 2020 to February 2022 due to the COVID- 19 pandemic. You can find more information on our approach to recovering overpayment in our Debt Management Strategy.

Request for information 1:

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance Social Security Scotland does not have some of the information you have requested. This is because no analysis has been undertaken which, to the date of your request, disaggregates volume of recoveries initiated by benefit  the value of these nor the volume of successful recoveries in relation to Adult Disability Payment.

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

The below table presents overall financial value of overpayments recovered in relation to Adult Disability Payment, broken down by financial year:

Benefit	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26 Year to Date	Total
Adult Disability Payment	£34,996	£344,508	£743,052	£1,122,556

Note: The figures provided in this table may change depending on the status of the overpayments, including whether they are under appeal or review. As the status of overpayments is continually being reviewed and updated, the numbers in this response may differ from those in previous reports or publications.

Information on the total value of overpayments for all reasons is available from Social Security Scotland’s published Annual Reports.

Publication	Table(s) of Note
Social Security Scotland - Annual Report and Account 2019-2020	15
Social Security Scotland - Annual Report and Account 2020-2021	9
Social Security Scotland - Annual Report and Account 2021-2022	22
Social Security Scotland - Annual Report and Account 2022-2023	25 and 26
Social Security Scotland - Annual Report and Account 2023-2024	18 and 19
Social Security Scotland - Annual Report and Accounts 2024-2025	18 and 19

Further information relating to overpayments can be found in prior Freedom of Information responses:

Social Security Scotland information pertaining to overpayments: FOI release - gov.scot

Information regarding Social Security Scotland reclaiming funds: FOI release - gov.scot

Number of Overpayments made by Social Security Scotland: FOI release - Social Security Scotland

Request for information 2:

Information held shows that the average time between an Interview Under Caution (IUC) and a Fraud Decision being completed is 142 days.

Following an IUC, as with all investigations, additional enquiries or clarification of points raised during the interview may be required. Only when this has been completed is a full report of all evidence prepared for Decision Makers.

Decision making depends on the individual facts and evidence of each case. Each case requires a full review of all information from the initial application through to the conclusion of the investigation. Specialist advice may also be sought before a benefit decision is made, and all decisions are subject to a quality assurance check.

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