Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018: progress report 2025 to 2026

5. Delivery of Social Security Benefits

The introduction, implementation and ongoing administration of Scottish social security is a key priority of the Scottish Government. The following section provides information about the introduction of new Scottish benefits within the reporting year as well as the ongoing delivery of existing Scottish benefits.

More details about the benefits delivered by Social Security Scotland, including official statistics, can be found on the Social Security Scotland website.

5.1 Support for Carers

Carer Support Payment

Carer Support Payment, which replaced the DWP’s Carer’s Allowance in Scotland, has been available across the country since November 2024. The benefit provides income for unpaid carers in recognition of their role and its impact on their ability to take on paid work. From launch, it was extended to many carers in full-time education, helping remove barriers to study. Throughout the year we have delivered and attended several events to raise awareness of the availability of this support for carers in full-time education, including the National Student Carer Conference and as part of National Student Money Week.

In April 2025, we significantly increased the ‘earnings threshold’ for Carer Support Payment from £151 a week to £196 per week, a rate equivalent to the National Living Wage, meaning carers could earn an additional £45 per week and continue to receive support.

In November 2025, regulations were introduced to provide for improvements to Carer Support Payment. These included provision for extra support when a caring role ends due to bereavement (payments extended from 8 to 12 weeks) and support during a break in care from the start of an award, regardless of how long a carer was providing care for before their award began.

In 2025 the transfer of benefits was completed for all carers in Scotland from Carer’s Allowance to Carer Support Payment.

Social security support for carers forms part of a wider, cross‑government approach to recognising and supporting carers, as set out in the National Carers Strategy and underpinned by the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016. Carer Support Payment services signpost carers to wider support in social security and beyond through client emails, letters and online content.

Official statistics show that by 31 March 2026, 48,090 Carer Support Payment applications had been received, of which 39,215 applications were processed with a decision made, with 75% authorised. In 2025-26, we invested £426.5 million in Carer Support Payments.

Scottish Carer Supplement / Carer’s Allowance Supplement

By the end of 2025, carers in Scotland continually in receipt of Carer’s Allowance Supplement since launch in 2018 had received up to £4,400 in support above the value of Carer’s Allowance. Since its introduction, almost 1.4 million payments of Carer’s Allowance Supplement totaling over £390 million have been made to 186,650 carers. Official Statistics show that in the 2025-26 financial year, £56.1 million was issued in Carer’s Allowance Supplement payments.

In March 2026, Scottish Carer Supplement replaced Carer's Allowance Supplement for the majority of carers receiving Carer Support Payment. Only a small number of people will continue to receive Carer’s Allowance Supplement, for example people who are living abroad or who were aged 65 or over in 2002 and continue to get Carer’s Allowance. In 2025-26 Scottish Carer Supplement was worth an extra £11.29 per week, equivalent to over £500 annually. Carers who receive Carer Support Payment are automatically awarded Scottish Carer Supplement.

Scottish Carer Supplement provides more regular support for carers, ensuring they will not miss out on entitlement to the supplement for a whole 6-month period if they were not in receipt of Carer Support Payment on specific qualifying dates, as was the case for Carer’s Allowance Supplement. This is fairer for all carers, particularly those who may have changes in their entitlement throughout the year.

Carers were notified about the change to Scottish Carer Supplement through the December 2025 Carer’s Allowance Supplement letters. A range of press activity, social media and stakeholder engagement events was also arranged to help raise awareness of the change with carers and support organisations.

Carer Additional Person Payment

In March 2026, Carer Additional Person Payment was introduced for carers receiving Carer Support Payment and caring for more than one person, the first payment of its type made to carers with multiple caring roles.

The extra payment is worth over £500 per year, paid as a £10 per week award in the 2025-26 financial year alongside Carer Support Payment. Carers need to be paid Carer Support Payment and care for at least one additional cared for person who is in receipt of a qualifying disability benefit, and provide at least 20 hours of care a week to each additional cared for person to be eligible. It is expected that this will provide extra support to around 16,000 carers in 2026-27.

Young Carer Grant

In 2019 we introduced the Young Carer Grant, the first payment of its kind in the UK, for 16 to 18-year-olds. Young Carer Grant can be applied for annually, and was worth £390.25 in 2025-26. The grant helps young carers to access life opportunities that are the norm for many other young people.

In November 2025 we extended eligibility to 19-year-olds, following feedback from stakeholders on our Carer Support Payment regulations that 19-year-olds in full time education were not eligible for Young Carer Grant or Carer Support Payment. Our initial estimates expect the extension to provide support to an extra 1,200 carers in its first full year in 2026-27. The extension will also mean eligible young carers can receive up to four payments of the Grant from age 16, increasing its overall value and positive impact. Carers can sign up to receive reminders to reapply for support one year after receiving the grant.

Young Carer Grant official statistics show that since its launch in 2019, 13,080 young carers have received the Young Carer Grant, which is an investment of almost £7.5 million. Between April 2025 and March 2026, we issued 4,900 payments worth £1.9 million - the highest number of payments made in any financial year since launch.

5.2 Funeral Support Payment

Social Security Scotland began taking applications for the Funeral Support Payment in September 2019. This is a one-off payment for eligible people on a low income to help towards the costs of a funeral. The payment is made up of three parts comprising: burial, cremation or alkaline hydrolysis costs (including some document and medical costs); a flat rate payment for other expenses; and some transport costs.

The Scottish Government substantially widened eligibility for Funeral Support Payment compared to the UK Government’s funeral payment when it launched. We have continued to support bereaved people by providing assistance for funerals abroad in exceptional circumstances and removing some restrictions on funeral costs for funerals outside the deceased’s local area.

This year Social Security Scotland provided over £12.7 million of support to 5,800 individual clients. The mean average Funeral Support Payment award issued in 2025-26 was £2,179.

Throughout 2025-26, Social Security Scotland have continued to engage with key stakeholders such as registrars, funeral directors, public bodies and third sector organisations to help raise awareness of Funeral Support Payment, eligibility criteria and the application process.

5.3 Winter Heating Benefits

Social Security Scotland now delivers three forms of winter heating support across Scotland each winter; Child Winter Heating Payment, Winter Heating Payment, and Pension Age Winter Heating Payment.

In winter 2025-26, following the successful delivery of Pension Age Winter Heating Payment, over 1.46 million individual clients received at least one of our three winter heating benefits. The vast majority of clients received these payments automatically by the end of December 2025, with the remaining payments being issued throughout the winter.

These benefits provide guaranteed support to people who have an identified need for additional heat over the winter months, including low-income households, families with disabled children and young people, and pensioners.

Child Winter Heating Payment

Child Winter Heating Payment is a payment that is unique to Scotland, which helps to mitigate the additional winter heating costs faced by households with disabled children and young people under 19 who have the highest care needs.

For winter 2025-26, 44,525 Child Winter Heating Payments were issued at a value of £255.80 per eligible person, totalling £11.4 million of investment. The vast majority of payments were made by the end of October 2025, with the remaining payments being issued throughout the rest of the winter. In total, from November 2020 to 31 March 2026, 183,465 Child Winter Heating Payments were issued, with a total value of £42.9 million.

Winter Heating Payment

In February 2023 we introduced our Winter Heating Payment, replacing the UK Government's Cold Weather Payment in Scotland. Winter Heating Payment supports people on low incomes to help with their heating expenses every winter, including pensioners, disabled people and families responsible for a disabled child or a child under five. It provides a reliable payment to those in receipt of certain low income benefits, and by removing the reliance on weather conditions, we can ensure that every person identified as requiring additional support receives it.

In winter 2025-26, 472,815 Winter Heating Payments were issued to low-income households at a value of £59.75, a total investment of £28.3 million. Since its introduction in February 2023, over 1.79 million Winter Heating Payments have been issued, with a total value of £100.6 million. For the vast majority of people, our payment provides more support than they would have received on average previously through the DWP benefit.

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment was delivered by Social Security Scotland from winter 2025-26, replacing the UK Government’s Winter Fuel Payment.

Our Pension Age Winter Heating Payment provides support towards heating costs for people of pension age each winter. The payment value is dependent on the age of the client and takes into consideration their living circumstances, including if they live with other eligible individuals within the same household.

In 2025-26 pensioner households generally received £203.40 if there was no person living in the household who was 80 or over, or £305.10 if there was someone aged 80 or over in the household. The payment is issued to all eligible pensioners but is recovered from those with an income of over £35,000 by HMRC, ensuring support is targeted to those who are on a lower income. Clients have the option to request to opt out of receiving Pension Age Winter Heating Payment by completing a form or by phone. By 31 March 2026, a total of 1,800 clients had opted out.

Most people receive Pension Age Winter Heating Payment automatically and do not need to apply. For winter 2025-26, 1.055 million Pension Age Winter Heating Payments had been issued, with a total value of £189.1 million prior to payment recovery by HMRC from pensioners with an individual income over £35,000.

5.4 Five Family Payments

Our Five Family Payments - Scottish Child Payment, Best Start Foods and the three Best Start Grant payments - aim to give children the best start in life. They offer financial support to families, both in and out of work, who receive certain benefits.

The Five Family Payments could be worth over £11,000 by the time an eligible child turns six and around £26,000 by the time an eligible child turns 16. This compares to less than £2,000 for families in England and Wales, where support ends when an eligible child turns 4.

Three of the payments are unique to Scotland and there are no limits to the number of children per family who can receive these benefits.

The Five Family Payments are making a difference for low-income families, both in and out of work. From launch in 2018 to the end of March 2026 over £1.8 billion of support has been provided. We published an evaluation of the Five Family Payments in September 2025 which clearly shows the significant positive impact that our payments are having on the day-to-day living costs experienced by some of Scotland’s most challenged households and the impact that this in turn is having on improving overall health and wellbeing.

Scottish Child Payment

Tackling child poverty is the Scottish Government’s defining mission. From its introduction to 31 March 2026, we have invested almost £1.6 billion in the Scottish Child Payment, £460.5 million of which was invested in this reporting year: money directly in the pockets of those families who need it most.

In order to further drive take-up of the payment in 2025-26, Social Security Scotland ran a specific Scottish Child Payment campaign, with advertising running on radio, local press and digital channels. This targeted parents and carers throughout Scotland with a particular focus on rural communities and ethnic minorities where take-up of the benefit is lower than for other groups.

Social Security Scotland hosted regular digital events in 2025-26, aimed at promoting Scottish Child Payment and the other Family Payments to stakeholders throughout Scotland. These were attended by individuals from a variety of organisations from the public sector, third sector and private sector.

In the ‘Bringing Hope, Building Futures: Tackling child poverty delivery plan 2026-2031’, published on 12 March 2026, the Scottish Government announced an increased rate of the Scottish Child Payment for under-1s, which will increase the total payment amount to £40 per week during 2027-28. It is estimated that this will benefit around 12,000 children.

Best Start Grant

Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, Best Start Grant has provided £19 million to families on a low income to help with expenses during their children’s early years.

Social Security Scotland issued a series of news releases aimed at raising awareness of these payments, targeting pregnant women and parents of children due to start school.

Best Start Foods

While Best Start Foods is not under the 2018 Act, it is delivered by Social Security Scotland alongside the other Family Payments. Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, Best Start Foods provided £16.6 million to families on a low income to help with expenses during their children’s early years.

Social Security Scotland carried out a range of advertising campaigns throughout 2025-26, including a partnership with Gary Maclean, Scotland’s national chef, aimed at increasing awareness of Best Start Foods in order to drive take-up and giving ideas for meals which can be made with products purchased using a Best Start Foods card. Social Security Scotland also partnered with national retailers Iceland and Food Warehouse as part of a nationwide marketing campaign that placed contextually relevant messaging in stores where Best Start Food Cards can be used. This was coupled with messaging on buses and near food retailers such as Asda and Tesco, in areas where deprivation is highest, according to the Scottish Index of Material Deprivation.

Job Start Payment

While Job Start Payment is not under the 2018 Act, it is delivered by Social Security Scotland and between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, Job Start Payment provided £220,330 of support for young people entering employment.

Social Security Scotland worked with stakeholder organisations including DWP Job Centres, Developing the Young Workforce and Skills Development Scotland by sending out print materials such as table toppers, posters and leaflets. They also hosted bespoke digital events to educate job coaches on Job Start Payment, eligibility and application processes to encourage uptake.

Social Security Scotland attended eight Scottish Careers Fairs across Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth and Inverness engaging directly with young people actively seeking employment.

5.5 Two-Child Limit Payment

During the reporting period, work was undertaken on the Two Child Limit Payment (TCLP) which was due to be introduced and delivered by Social Security Scotland from 2 March 2026, subject to Parliament’s approval.

It was intended to support low-income families in Scotland impacted by the UK Government’s two-child limit policy in Universal Credit by mitigating, as far as possible, the reduction in income that families receiving UC experienced if they were affected by the two-child limit.

We convened a short-life working group, with membership drawn from across key stakeholder organisations, to ensure processes and communications for TCLP were as person-centred as possible. The analysis of the responses to our public consultation was published on 11 June 2025 showing broad support for our proposals from key stakeholders, including the Child Poverty Action Group, Citizens Advice Scotland and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

On 26 November 2025, the UK Government announced its intention to lift the two-child limit on Universal Credit from April 2026. Following careful consideration of the options available, the Scottish Government decided that it would no longer proceed with the proposed Two-Child Limit Regulations.

5.6 Disability Benefits

When accessing support in Scotland, disabled people are entitled to:

• Make new applications for disability assistance in a way that best suits them: online, by post, over the phone or face-to-face.
• Within the application, people are able to nominate a friend, relative or organisation to support them when they are dealing with Social Security Scotland.
• The Local Delivery service can provide people with one-to-one support. Staff are available to answer queries about Social Security Scotland benefits, help complete paper, telephone or online applications forms, and offer other support. This support is available across every local authority area in Scotland.
• Taking a human rights-based approach, Social Security Scotland’s person-centred decision making process ensures everyone is treated with dignity, fairness and respect.
• Supporting information from a professional may be sought where it is needed to support the decision-making process. Social Security Scotland will continue to support people by gathering supporting information, where it is required, if an individual does not have this to hand.

Child Disability Payment

Child Disability Payment is a payment designed to help mitigate the additional costs of caring for a disabled or terminally ill child or young person. Our support for disabled people helps cover the costs of basic everyday living tasks such as washing, going to the toilet, getting dressed, communicating and eating. These are tasks which people who are not disabled may take for granted.

We have heard from families about the important difference that Child Disability Payment can make by helping with the extra costs of caring for a disabled child. The payment is non means-tested, non-taxed, will rise with inflation and is a passport to other types of support, such as a Blue Badge, Housing Benefit, Carer’s Allowance, Child Tax Credit, Universal Credit and exemption from the benefit cap.

Over £1.7 billion has been paid to families with disabled children since its introduction. As of 31 March 2026, it is estimated that 101,990 children and young people were in receipt of Child Disability Payment, with the total value of payments being over £574 million from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Adult Disability Payment

Adult Disability Payment provides people with support to help with the additional costs related to being disabled or having a long-term health condition or terminal illness. It has been co-designed with disabled people and other stakeholders to ensure that the values of dignity, fairness and respect are embedded throughout. Eligibility for Adult Disability Payment is based on the impact being disabled or having a condition has on daily life, rather than relating to any particular condition.

A positive and compassionate approach is being taken to deliver Adult Disability Payment, ensuring the application process is as straightforward as possible. Indefinite awards have been introduced for severely disabled people with needs which are highly unlikely to change.

Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, the total value of Adult Disability Payments issued was £3.3 billion. As of 31 March 2026, a total of 504,385 people were in receipt of Adult Disability Payment.

The Final Report on the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment was published in July 2025 and the Scottish Government published its response to the report's recommendations in February 2026. Security Scotland has since begun implementing various measures to improve clients’ experiences of accessing the benefit. These include strengthening trauma-informed practice, enhancing guidance to support more consistent and person-centred decision making, and improving review forms and decision letters.

Pension Age Disability Payment

Pension Age Disability Payment provides money to support people over the state pension age who are disabled or have a long-term health condition that means they need assistance with looking after themselves, or supervision to stay safe.

As of 31 March 2026, total payments of around £509 million have been paid to older disabled people since the start of the first phase of the pilot in October 2024. Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026, 182,745 people received at least one Pension Age Disability Payment.

Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance

Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance replaced Disability Living Allowance for adults in Scotland in Spring 2025. It is not open to new applications. It is only open to adults with a Disability Living Allowance award that transfer to Social Security Scotland from the DWP. People eligible for Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance are in one of two groups:

• People who were born on or before 8 April 1948 and received a commitment from the DWP on the introduction of Personal Independence Payment in 2013, that they could continue to receive Disability Living Allowance for as long as they were eligible to do so.
• People who were born on or after 9 April 1948 who have not yet had their Disability Living Allowance award transitioned to Personal Independence Payment or Adult Disability Payment.

Once in receipt of Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance, people born on or after 9 April 1948 will be able to apply for Adult Disability Payment if they wish but will not be required to do so. We believe people should be able to make an informed choice as to whether Adult Disability Payment is best for them.

Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance eligibility criteria largely mirrors that of Disability Living Allowance for adults, except where there are clear differences in the Scottish system, for example our more generous terminal illness rules.

The process of transferring DLA awards to Scottish Adult DLA was completed at the end of 2025.

As of 31 March 2026, £215.4 million of Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance payments were issued to 65,620 individuals.

Case Transfer

In line with our commitment, we completed the case transfer process for more than 700,000 disability and carer benefit awards by the end of 2025.

This means every disabled person and carer in the country who received Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance or Carer's Allowance now receives their benefit from Social Security Scotland.

5.7 Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Act

During the reporting period, work continued to implement The Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2025 (‘the 2025 Act’), for which the Bill was unanimously passed by Parliament on 3 December 2024 and received Royal Assent on 23 January 2025.

The purpose of the 2025 Act was to achieve continuous improvement of the Scottish system of social security in line with the principles at section 1 of the 2018 Act.

The 2025 Act contains a total of 28 sections covering a broad range of social security topics. Five sections of the 2025 Act came into force on 24 January 2025, the day after Royal Assent. The first set of commencement regulations came into force on 10 May 2025, commencing seven sections of the 2025 Act. This allowed us to prepare for the Care Leaver Payment and to add Best Start Grant, Child Winter Heating Payment, Winter Heating Payment, and Pension Age Winter Heating Payment to our annual uprating exercise so that this applied to all Scottish social security payments delivered under the 2018 Act.

Section 18 of the 2025 Act, which relates to information for audit of social security system, has been partly commenced as of 15 December 2025. This was to enable Scottish Ministers to hold a consultation, which ran from 19 March to 10 June 2026. Following this, work has continued within and beyond the reporting year to fully implement this provision.

Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland officials are working together to deliver successful implementation of the remaining sections of the 2025 Act as quickly as possible.

5.8 Up-rating of social security benefits

Before the end of each financial year, Scottish Ministers are legally required, under the terms of sections 86A and 86B of the 2018 Act, to consider the impact of inflation on social security payments when deciding the level at which the relevant payments should be up-rated at the start of each financial year. A report containing this analysis and the approach the Scottish Government intends to take to address that impact is then laid in Parliament.

The most recent report on the up-rating of social security payments was laid in Parliament in January 2026, alongside the necessary legislation required to increase each form of assistance by 3.8% using the recognised measure of inflation – the 12 month rate of the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) for September 2025. After Parliamentary approval, these new rates took effect in April 2026.

5.9 Appointees

The 2025 Act gives powers to Scottish Ministers that require implementation to refine the experience for clients represented by an appointee in relation to their Social Security Scotland benefits. This will include allowing a DWP appointee to be accepted in certain circumstances, and to find an appointee personally liable to the client where they have been found to have misappropriated funds paid to them.

5.10 Fraud and Error

Social Security Scotland continues to strengthen its approach to preventing and detecting fraud and error through the ongoing review and enhancement of its processes, systems and controls. The Agency remains vigilant to new and emerging fraud threats, working collaboratively with partners and making effective use of data, intelligence and technology to protect public funds and maintain public confidence in the social security system.

Once fully implemented, the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2025 will provide enhanced information-gathering powers to support the robust estimation of the monetary value of fraud and error within the benefit caseload. It will also introduce a statutory liability for individuals managing benefits on behalf of another person, establish new rights of challenge in relation to decisions on liability to repay overpaid assistance to Scottish Ministers, and enable deductions from disability and carer assistance to recover debts relating to top-up benefits, such as Scottish Child Payment, where appropriate.

5.11 Cross border moves

As case transfer completed, a new process was required for people moving from the rest of the UK to Scotland with an existing entitlement to a disability or carer benefit. While our preference was to continue using the like-for-like case transfer process, the DWP was not able to agree to continue sharing the data needed. As a result, we introduced the Social Security (Cross-border Provision, Case Transfer and Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations which came into force on 6 November 2025 to require new applications from people who move to Scotland and seek a continuation of disability or carer benefit entitlement.

The process is designed to minimise the chance of people experiencing a gap in entitlement. If they are entitled to a Scottish benefit, people who apply within the required period can have their award backdated to the day after their previous UK benefit ended, and late applications can be accepted with good reason. Social Security Scotland also works to prioritise these applications as much as possible.