Scottish Welfare Fund: action plan

Introduction and Context

The Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) was established in 2013. It is a national scheme underpinned by legislation and supported by Statutory Guidance^[2]. The SWF is administered by Local Authorities and provides two forms of discretionary grants:

Crisis Grants support eligible individuals facing a disaster of emergency.

Community Care Grants support eligible individuals to establish or maintain a settled home.

As set out in the Statutory Guidance, SWF grants are "intended to meet occasional or short-term needs and not to provide an alternative source of regular income"^[3].

The Scottish Government committed to an independent review (the 'Review') of the SWF as part of the 2021 Bute House Agreement. This was in the context of heightened pressure on the SWF during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Review of the SWF published on 24 March 2023. The Scottish Government then worked to establish a Policy Advisory Group (the 'Group'). The role of the Group was to advise the Scottish Government on proposed actions using the Review findings as the evidence base. The Group consisted of representatives from CoSLA, Local Authority delivery partners, Scottish Prison Service, Citizens Advice Scotland, the Trussell Trust, and Child Poverty Action Group. The diversity of the members ensured a robust variety of viewpoints fed into the policy development process.

This Action Plan was informed by the evidence base from the Review, as well as the consultation with the Group. The publication of both the Review and this Action Plan delivers upon the Scottish Government's Bute House Agreement commitment.