Scottish Welfare Fund Statistics: annual update 2022-2023

Decisions were made on 92,810 Community Care Grant applications in 2022-23 and 48,800 awards were made, representing an acceptance rate of 53% (Table 19), two percentage points lower than 2021-22 (Table 23). At the same time, decisions were made on 288,880 Crisis Grant applications in 2022-23 and 186,330 awards were made with an acceptance rate of 65% (Table 24), one percentage point lower than 2021-22. (Table 28).

The highest Community Care Grant acceptance rate was in Orkney (84%), and the lowest was in Fife (32%). Midlothian has a rate of 25%, but this includes some estimates, so may not be accurate. Compared to 2021-22, acceptance rates increased in 13 local authorities and decreased in 19 local authorities (Table 23). The highest Crisis Grant acceptance rate was in Angus (82%) and the lowest was in East Lothian (45%). Compared to 2021-22, acceptance rates increased in 14 local authorities and decreased in 18 local authorities (Table 28).

There were fewer variations in Community Care Grant and Crisis Grant acceptance rates during the year compared to the peak periods of Covid (Table 22, Table 27, Chart 6). However, more variation has been seen between local authorities, where often high levels of demand have sometimes stretched available resources, impacting on the ability of authorities to deal with SWF applications.

Chart 6: Community Care Grant and Crisis Grant acceptance rates – Quarterly

The number of Community Care Grants awarded in 2022-23 (48,800 awards) was slightly higher (180 awards) than in 2021-22; and the number of Crisis Grants awarded in 2021 (186,330 awards) was 6% higher (10,250 awards) than in 2021-22 (Table 21, Table 26).

During the year, there were sharp fluctuations in Crisis Grant awards (Chart 7). The dips seen in July and November 2022 coincide with Cost of Living Payments, and the peak corresponds to the usual increase seen around January.

The number of Community Care Grant awards has returned to something like its pre-pandemic stability, although the common drop seen around December was more pronounced in 2022 than in previous years.

Chart 7: Number of Scottish Welfare Fund Awards – Scotland – Monthly

At local authority level, the greatest increase in Community Care Grant awards compared to 2021-22 was in Scottish Borders (35% increase) (Table 21). The greatest decrease was in Shetland (-39%). The greatest increase in Crisis Grant awards was in Orkney (69% increase), although this is only based on around 30 awards (Table 26, Table 6). The greatest decrease was in Highland (-23%).

In 2022-23, the most common reason for Community Care Grant application rejections remained ‘Reasons for application do not meet the conditions for an award’ (59%) (Table 30), and the most common reason for Crisis Grant application rejections remained ‘Excluded as a result of previous application history’ (31%) (Table 32).