Social security (miscellaneous amendment) (Scotland) regulations 2025 - islands and communities impact assessment

Policy background

The ‘Move to UC’ is a UK Government programme that is phasing out several existing benefits and replacing them with Universal Credit (UC). New applications for tax credits closed in April 2019, and everyone in the UK who was previously in receipt of tax credits has now been through the managed migration process known as the ‘Move to UC’.

HMRC have stated that the tax credit scheme will formally end on 5 April 2025.

The regulations for a number of Scottish Government social security benefits refer to entitlement to, or payment of, working tax credit and/or child tax credit, to establish eligibility for those Scottish Government social security benefits. These are: Best Start Foods, Best Start Grants, Scottish Child Payment, Funeral Support Payment and Winter Heating Payments.

As tax credits will cease to exist, they will no longer be a route to qualification for Scottish Government benefits. These regulations are a reaction to UK Government policy over which the Scottish Government has no control.

Our objective is to reflect the reality that Tax Credits will no longer exist.

This impact assessment does not relate to the ‘Move to UC’ as that is a UK Government initiative.

The regulations will also include an amendment to the Social Security (Information-sharing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 to replace reference to Discretionary Housing Payments being made under the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001 with reference to Discretionary Housing Payments now being made under the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018.

In addition, there is an amendment for appeals that seeks to ensure that these processes are aligned across all benefits. An ICIA has been prepared for this amendment as part of the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2025. The impact assessment is available on the Scottish Government website.

There are no impacts or outcomes that will differ across the islands as a result of the amendments as Tax Credits will not exist anywhere in the UK, and the Social Security (Information-sharing) (Scotland) Regulations 2021 apply in the same way across Scotland.