Social security assistance - effects of inflation: report

7. Uprating Policy for 2020-21

7.1 It was announced during the Scottish Budget on 6 February 2020 that Carer's Allowance, Carer's Allowance Supplement, Young Carer Grant and Funeral Support Payment will be uprated in line with CPI inflation (according to the September 2019 CPI of 1.7%) from 2020-21. The uprated levels of assistance are presented in Table 3.

Table 3 – 2020-21 inflation-adjusted levels for Funeral Support Payment, Young Carer Grant, Carer's Allowance and Carer's Allowance Supplement

7.2 Best Start Grant will not be uprated in 2020-21. This decision has taken into consideration the significant improvements and extensions of this assistance.

7.3 Best Start Grant was launched in 2018 with a more generous package of support than the equivalent Sure Start Maternity Grant in England and Wales. The increase in payment from £500 to £600, the expansion of eligibility to include a £300 payment to every subsequent birth and the introduction of the Early Learning Payment and the School Age Payment (of £250 each), will all result in a considerably higher investment in the people in Scotland and in more families receiving support. For example, an eligible family with two children would receive Best Start Grant payments totalling £1,900 in their children's early years. This is £1,400more than they would receive if they lived elsewhere in the UK.

7.4 In addition, the Scottish Child Payment that is to be introduced by Christmas 2020 could benefit 170,000 eligible children with an extra ten pound a week for every child under the age of 6. It will be rolled out to all eligible children under 16 before the end of 2022. Once fully rolled out, it could support up to 410,000 children and young people.

7.5 A summary of the devolved Social Security assistance rates to be delivered by Social Security Scotland in 2020-2021 is available in Annex A.

7.6 The UK Government also uprates the reserved social security benefit and pension rates each year. The proposed rates for 2020-21 can be found at:

http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2019-1077/Proposed_benefit_and_pension_rates_28_Nov_2019.pdf and at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-and-pension-rates-2019-to-2020 once the 2020-2021 rates are confirmed.