Scottish Government high level action plan in response to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

11: Social Security

Thematic Tags

Social Security; Cost of living; Adequate standard of living; Maximum available resources; Digital exclusion; Disability

Concluding Observation 41a

The Committee urges the State Party, along with the devolved governments […] To assess the impact of the welfare reforms introduced since 2010 on the most disadvantaged groups and to take corrective measures, including reversing such policies as the two-child limit, the benefit cap and the five-week delay for the first Universal Credit payment.

Context

Social security plays a central role in Scotland’s efforts to reduce poverty and promote social justice. Since the passage of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, we have established a devolved social security system built on dignity, fairness, and respect, aiming to support Scotland’s most vulnerable people and address inequality. We have deliberately built a radically different system to both tackle the worst impacts of UK Government cuts and to tackle inequality and child poverty, as well as providing vital assistance to enable older people to heat their homes and to help disabled people live independent lives.

Existing work related benefits paid to people in Scotland remain reserved to the UK Government. This includes Universal Credit and the decision to enforce a two child limit, the benefit cap and the five week delay for the first Universal Credit payment. We continue to believe the UK Government’s benefit cap and bedroom tax policies should be reversed. We believe that the Universal Credit five week wait pushes people who need support into a deficit and that no one should be automatically forced into debt when applying for support by having to repay an advance. We have called on the UK Government to replace advance payments with a non-repayable grant once the application for Universal Credit is verified. On 4 December 2024 we set out plans to mitigate the two child cap in Scotland as part of the annual budget statement to the Scottish Parliament.

Key Actions

We will launch the new two child limit payment on 2 March 2026 to support low income families in Scotland impacted by the UK Government’s two child limit policy in Universal Credit. Social Security Scotland will begin issuing payments as soon as possible thereafter aiming to reduce the number of children living in relative poverty in Scotland by 20,000 in 2026-27 compared to no mitigation. The Scottish Fiscal Commission estimates that the mitigation will be paid to 42,000 children at a cost of £3,609 per child per year in 2026-27 (equivalent to Universal Credit child element payments for a year), rising to 49,000 children at a cost of £3,845 in 2029-30.

We are making over £99 million available to local authorities in 2025-26 to spend on discretionary housing payments, an increase of nearly £9 million in 2024-25. £79.7 million of this is to fully mitigate the bedroom tax, helping over 94,000 households in Scotland sustain their tenancies, 14,000 of which are families with over 20,500 children.

In 2025-26 we have made £9.4 million available for benefit cap mitigation, helping to support around 3,400 families with almost 10,500 children. This is an increase of £1.6 million over 2024-25.

Concluding Observation 41b

The Committee urges the State Party, along with the devolved governments […] To increase its budget allocation for social security and ensure that social benefits, including unemployment benefits […] are regularly indexed to the cost of living through an independent and transparent mechanism to provide recipients with an adequate standard of living.

Context

Scottish Ministers are legally required, under the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, to consider the impact of inflation on social security payments when deciding the level at which they should be up-rated in the following financial year to meet the duty to up-rate. Following this, a report containing this analysis and the approach we intend to take to address the impact is then laid in the Scottish Parliament.

It remains the case that the action which would have the biggest impact on the standard of living for the most marginalised people would be an increase in the level of the UK Government’s Universal Credit so that it provides sufficient income to cover essential living costs. Indeed, as the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights alluded to in his 2023 report, increasing Universal Credit would be the single most important step that the UK Government could make towards meeting its international obligations.

We have called on the UK Government to deliver progress towards an essentials guarantee, this would ensure that social security benefits adequately cover the cost of food and other essential items.

Key Actions

We increased social security payment rates by 1.7% in April 2025. We will review social security assistance using the recognised measure of inflation, the 12-month rate of the Consumer Prices Index, which is taken from September 2024.

In 2025-26, approximately £6.9 billion is being allocated towards social security benefits and other payments. This will support around 2 million people, that is one in three people in Scotland, and is £1.2 billion more than the funding received from UK Government for social security.

We are planning, subject to budget processes, to increase our investment in social security benefits and other payments to around £9 billion by 2029-30.

Concluding Observation 41c

The Committee urges the State Party, along with the devolved governments […]: To conduct an independent review of the eligibility criteria for social security, including the temporary reduction and suspension of benefits, and the reliance on a digital-only, automated approach to ensure that those measures are reasonable, comply with due process and do not create barriers to the uptake and maintenance of benefits.

Context

In addition to concerns about adequacy, we oppose the widespread use of UK Government sanctions due to the hardship they cause, with evidence showing they simply do not work. The UK Government should also address digital barriers to Universal Credit to improve accessibility and inclusion, particularly for vulnerable clients with complex needs.

For example, we and Social Security Scotland are committed to ensuring that digital and language barriers do not prevent individuals, particularly those from marginalised communities and seldom heard groups, from accessing the support they are entitled to. Our benefit take-up strategy places a strong emphasis on person-centred approaches, recognising that inclusive communication is essential at every stage of the social security journey.

We do not rely on a digital only approach and offer multiple channels for engagement, including online, telephone, postal, and in person options. This ensures that digital exclusion does not act as a barrier to benefit take up for those accessing their entitlements. Key benefit information is proactively translated into languages commonly spoken in Scotland’s communities, including Urdu, Polish, and Scottish Gaelic, with additional materials in Ukrainian and Russian to support displaced people. Social Security Scotland also provides interpretation and translation services in over 100 languages, and all written materials are available in accessible formats such as Braille, large print, Easy Read, and audio. Interpreter assisted calls are available through the Social Security Scotland helpline, and in person interpretation is offered where needed.

In support of the British Sign Language (BSL) national plan, we have reviewed our provision for the deafened and hearing-impaired community and developed new service specifications with stakeholder input. A BSL video relay service is available through Contact Scotland, and we also offer video remote interpreting via our supplier, Sign Language Interactions.

Key Actions

Lessons learned from the implementation of the first benefit take-up strategy (2019) will inform the development of the next update to the strategy which will be published by October 2026. This strategy will continue to embed our human rights based, person-centred approach and will contain tangible activity that tackles known barriers to take-up such as lack of awareness, complexity of the system, and stigma.

In August 2025, we published a Seldom-Heard Groups Action Plan. The plan sets out practical actions we will take with Social Security Scotland to better engage and support the communities who face structural barriers to accessing social security. It covers a focused 12-month programme of work.

Concluding Observation 41d

The Committee urges the State Party, along with the devolved governments […] To ensure that disability-related benefits […] adequately cover additional disability-related costs, in line with the human rights model of disability, taking into account the recommendations of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Context

We recognise that disabled people, and those with a long-term health condition that impacts daily life, face additional costs compared to non-disabled people. When not mitigated, these costs create poorer living standards which can contribute to poorer outcomes for disabled people. Our disability benefits are designed to help cover the costs of everyday tasks such as washing, going to the toilet, getting dressed, and eating, as well as the additional costs of leaving the house and getting around. Social Security Scotland delivers four non means tested forms of disability assistance: Child Disability Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Pension Age Disability Payment and Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance. They are not taxed, rise in line with inflation and passport to other types of support, such as disability premiums, a Blue Badge, Housing Benefit, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit, and are exempt from the benefit cap. 74% of people surveyed in Social Security Scotland’s 2023-24 client survey gave a high rating for how much disability payments helped make a difference to their life and helped them pay for what they needed.

As set out in chapter 3 of part 2 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, any determination regarding an individual’s entitlement to social security assistance may be contested through a re-determination process. During this process, an independent decision maker reviews all relevant new and existing information to reach a fresh decision on entitlement. The individuals may then appeal the re-determination to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber). Short-term assistance is available for people in Scotland challenging a reduction or end to their disability benefits. This financial support is distinct to Scotland and helps maintain household income by restoring a person’s disability award to its previous level for the duration of their appeals or re-determinations.

Key Actions

We commissioned an independent review of the Adult Disability Payment which was published in July 2025. The report made 58 recommendations to improve systems and client experience. We will publish a response in early 2026.

In 2025-26 we are investing £320 million more in our Adult Disability Payment than we are forecasted to receive from the UK Government through the corresponding social security block grant adjustment.

We remain committed to the Adult Disability Payment in response to the cuts to Personal Independence Payment previously announced by the UK Government.