Scottish Welfare Fund - statutory guidance update: Fairer Scotland Duty assessment - April 2025

Stage 1 - planning

Background:

There has not been a Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment carried out for the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) as the duty came into force after the fund was in place. As part of the work being carried out in relation to updating the statutory guidance, the opportunity is being used to review evidence on the impact of the Fund on inequality as good practice. Although the revisions mainly relate to updating wording in the statutory guidance, there are also changes made to the guidance, including the methodology for calculating cost of living awards and determining eligibility under the low income criteria focused on making a positive impact on reducing inequality.

What is the aim of your policy/strategy/plan?

The Scottish Government commissioned an Independent Review^[1] of the SWF to ensure that it works as well as possible in all parts of the country and to ensure the fund is safeguarded for the future. The Independent Review published at the end of March 2023. In response to the Review, Scottish Ministers committed to deliver an Action Plan to make improvements to the SWF after a decade in place.

The SWF Action Plan was published on 30 June 2023^[2]. Informed by the evidence within the Independent Review, this Action Plan was developed collaboratively with a Policy Advisory Group. Members of the Group included representatives from CoSLA, local authority delivery partners, third sector and public body organisations. The Group’s input ensured robust and expert oversight of the 22 actions featured within the Plan.

The SWF Action Plan sets out three ambitious workstreams to deliver policy improvements to the SWF. The improvements set out in the action plan include nine actions relating to updating the Statutory Guidance in order to make it clearer and to improve its accessibility. Actions also relate to reviewing key areas of the guidance such as income thresholds used to determine eligibility, supporting information gather and the methodology to calculate the cost of living award rate for Crisis Grants.

A standing Statutory Guidance Review Committee was established with a programme of work to run between March-October 2024 to help guide and develop proposals around the relevant actions to update the statutory guidance. The Committee is made up of multi-stakeholders such as the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), CoSLA, local authority representatives, Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and third sector representation (Citizen Advice Scotland, CPAG). To ensure the lived experience of people living in poverty, Scottish Government also engaged with the Poverty Alliance ‘Get Heard Scotland’ Citizen Panel on specific actions relating to accessibility of the guidance and ensuring key principles around dignity and respect.

The statutory guidance updates are due to be completed with a revised document published in April 2025.

Who will it affect (particular groups/businesses/geographies etc)?

The SWF was established on 1 April 2013 and remains an essential source of occasional support for those most in need. It is administered by all Scottish Local Authorities and provides two forms of discretionary award:

• Crisis Grants to help meet immediate short-term needs arising from an emergency or disaster.
• Community Care Grants to help eligible people establish or maintain a home.

The changes that are being made to the Statutory Guidance ensure that it is clearer, easier to understand and more accessible; including for local authority decision makers and members of the public. While the changes to the statutory guidance are not designed to target specific population groups, they have the potential to impact different areas of society, including those with protected characteristics and particularly those faced with socio-economic disadvantage, due to factors such as low income, area deprivation and socio-economic background.

(i) What outcomes do you expect the policy/strategy/plan to deliver?

These changes were recommended as part of the SWF independent review^[3] in order to make the application process easier for people who apply to the fund and also for local authority decision makers. Clearer, more accessible guidance for decision makers and applicants could have a positive impact for those identified in the independent review as being less likely to apply to the fund, such as those who are “working poor”, new claimants, digitally excluded or older people. People may be more likely to apply to this discretionary grant scheme if the guidance is clearer and more accessible to all.

These changes will affect local authority decision makers too, as they use the information located in the statutory guidance during the application process to determine awards. The changes to the guidance could help them make more informed decisions which could potentially benefit a greater amount of people.

What is your timeframe for completing the Fairer Scotland Duty assessment?

The Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment was completed on 17 January 2025. The final Fairer Scotland Duty Summary will be published with the revised Statutory Guidance in April 2025.

Who else will be involved in the assessment and what roles will they play? We’d expect involvement from policy and analytical teams as a minimum. It’s rarely appropriate for one person to conduct the assessment alone.

The Policy leads for this assessment are the Policy Manager and Policy Officer for the SWF. There was also engagement with the Scottish Government Legal Department, Community Analysis Division and the Office of the Chief Social Policy Adviser in developing this assessment.