Devolved social security benefits: stakeholder engagement toolkit

Spreading the word about the devolved social security benefits

Intranet Article

You can add this article, for your staff, onto your organisation's intranet about the Scottish Government's social security plans.

The Scottish Government is establishing a new social security system administered by Social Security Scotland.

Once fully operational, it will deliver benefits to 1.4 million people and provide £3.5 billion in payments every year.

The benefits (shown in the table below) will include a number of payments previously offered through the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), including Disability Assistance, as well as brand new benefits such as the Scottish Child Payment and the Young Carer's Grant.

The Scottish Government will gradually introduce the benefits that it is creating, including the ones that will replace the DWP benefits in Scotland.

On Thursday 28 February, the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People updated the Scottish Parliament on the high level delivery timetable for benefits. On the 26 June 2019, the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government introduced a new benefit for low income families called the Scottish Child Payment. These announcements are reflected in the table below.

The people that we support and work with may have an interest in what this means for them. The Scottish Government has created a question and answer document that they will continue to add to. This can be found at www.gov.scot/policies/social-security

Department for Work and Pensions benefit	Our replacement benefit	Date available
Not applicable - new benefit	Carer's Allowance Supplement	Available now
Sure Start Maternity Grant	Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment	Available now
Not applicable - new benefit	Best Start Grant Early Years Payment	Available now
Not applicable - new benefit	Best Start Grant School Age Payment	Available now
Healthy Start Vouchers	Best Start Foods	Summer 2019
Funeral Expense Payment	Funeral Support Payment	Summer 2019
Not applicable - new benefit	Young Carer Grant	Autumn 2019
Not applicable - new benefit	Job Grant	As soon as practicable.
No equivalent	Scottish Child Payment for under 6s	By the end of this parliamentary term (March 2021)
Child Disability Living Allowance	Disability Assistance for Children and Young People	Summer 2020
No equivalent	Children who receive the highest care component of Disability Assistance become entitled to Winter Heating Assistance	By end of 2020
Personal Independence Payments	Disability Assistance for Working Age People	Early 2021
No equivalent	Additional payments to carers who look after more than one disabled child	Early 2021
Attendance Allowance	Disability Assistance for Older People	2021
Winter Fuel Payment	Winter Heating Assistance	Winter 2021
Cold Weather Payment	Cold Spell - Heating Assistance	Winter 2021
Carer's Allowance	Scottish Carer's Allowance	Early 2022
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit	Employment Injury Assistance	Autumn 2022
No equivalent	Scottish Child Payment for under 16s	By the end of 2022

Website Newsletter/Article

You can add this news story to your organisation's website or newsletter to inform your clients about the Scottish Government's plans.

Spread the Word about Best Start School Age Payment

Have you a child starting school? You could be due £250

The Scottish Government has increased the level of financial support available to low income families with children with the launch of its Best Start Grant School Age Payment.

The £250 School Age Payment is made around the time a child normally starts Primary 1 to help with the costs of a child starting school. You can use it for anything from school bags, shoes, a warm coat, after school clubs, books or days out - it is not a loan so does not have to be paid back.

Delivered by Social Security Scotland, the School Age Payment is part of the Best Start Grant, a package of three payments that gives extra money to parents and carers on certain benefits or tax credits during the early years of a child's life. The other payments include the Pregnancy and Baby Payment - £600 for your first child and £300 for all other children - and Early Learning Payment - £250 when a child would normally start nursery.

You should apply for a payment if your child was born between 1 March 2014 and 28 Feb 2015. This also applies to parents who have deferred entry for their children who should still apply in the 3 June to 29 February window. If you wait until next year it will be too late and you will miss out on your payment. You do not need to take up a school place to get this payment.

Are you eligible?

• You have a child starting Primary this August.
• You live in Scotland, regardless of whether you are in work or not.
• You receive certain qualifying benefits including: Universal Credit Income Support, Income-Based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income Related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.
• If you are under 18 you are automatically eligible and don't have to be on a qualifying benefit.
• If you are 18 or 19, in full time education or training and dependent on someone else like a parent or carer who is claiming either child benefit, child tax credit, pension credit or universal credit for you, then you are eligible.

How do you apply?

• Social Security Scotland are taking applications via their freephone helpline on 0800 182 2222, by post or online at: mygov.scot/schoolpayment

How long to get a payment?

• You should receive your money within 14-21 days. If we need any more information or further evidence to check that you are eligible it could take longer.

Blogs

If you have a blog channel and would welcome guest blogs, please find below content that can be attributed to the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People, Shirley-Anne Somerville. Please also feel free to use any quotes from this blog in any news pieces that you wish to produce.

School Age Payment Launched: Fairer Scotland

It is projected that by 2030, one in three children could be living in poverty in Scotland as a result of UK Government welfare cuts. This is not acceptable in the 21st century.

We are putting more money into the pockets of low income families with the Best Start Grant. A package of three payments that will support over 40,000 families this year - with a total investment of around £21m this financial year.

Our Pregnancy and Baby Payment launched in December 2018, replacing the UK Government's Sure Start Maternity Grant increasing funding to families with a new baby. The Early Learning Payment started taking applications in April 2019.

And now eligible families can apply for the new School Age Payment.

The £250 School Age Payment is for low income families with a child old enough to start Primary One this year.

Like the Early Learning Payment, it is a completely new payment that does not exist in the UK benefits system. Covering the costs of a child starting school puts pressure on family finances, and this money will help ease that burden. It can be used for anything from paying school clubs, helping travel costs, days out or buying a warm coat.

We want to use our social security powers to invest in young children and their future. The entire Best Start Grant package will provide total support of £1,900 to eligible families - that's £1,400 more than they would get under the previous UK system.

I have seen for myself the difference this money is making. I recently met families in Midlothian who have had a number of Best Start Grant payments. Some were parents to young babies, while others had children in nursery or about to start school. It was lovely to hear how one mum was using her payment to buy "a big boy bed" for her son, while another family were going to buy a sandpit and a balance bike. These key transitions in a child's life can put real financial pressure on families and I am proud of the difference we are making with these payments.

Meeting these families and hearing their stories shows what can be achieved when we do things differently. By simplifying the application process, providing a range of channels for people to apply and working with frontline service staff who are promoting payments we are able to ensure as many people as possible are aware they can access this support.

Tackling - and ultimately eradicating - child poverty in Scotland is one of this Government's top priorities. And I am determined that our new benefits system plays its part in achieving this.

By building our new public service with people at its heart we can maximise the income available to low income families and ensure Scotland is the best place for a child to grow up.

A benefits system with people at its heart

From 1 April next year, responsibility for all devolved benefits, including their funding, will sit with the Scottish Government.

Beginning from next year, around half a million cases - the equivalent of around 10% of people in Scotland - will transfer from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland.

Within a programme which is already the largest transfer of powers since devolution, these forms of assistance are incredibility complex.

I want to ensure that there is real trust placed in our social security system in Scotland. To gain this trust we must uphold our values of treating people with dignity, fairness and respect.

We will continue to listen to people and gather views to inform our thinking and check that what we are proposing is right before we progress to developing regulations.

For example, in support of the disability benefits due to launch next year and into 2021, the Scottish Government has completed a consultation on the Scottish approach to Disability Assistance.

The consultation sought views on whether the policy proposals, developed on the basis of the findings from 2016 consultation and continued work with Experience Panels and Stakeholders, will meet the needs of the children and adults it is intended to help.

The responses, including some from several events held across Scotland, are now being analysed and they will continue to inform policy development and service design.

Getting it right for Scotland

We have repeatedly heard about the stress and anxiety caused by the current UK Government system. We will ensure that the Scottish social security system is different. We will create a fair, transparent system which respects the needs of individuals and works for people, not against them.

We've come a long way in a short time. I do not underestimate the complexity nor the importance of the work still to be done. But the prize of getting it right is a great one - a social security system with dignity, fairness and respect at its heart which works for the people of Scotland.

Social Media

Here is some social media for you to use.

Tweet 1

The Scottish Government has set out its ambitious timetable for the delivery of replacement benefits that will be introduced using its new Social Security powers.

Tweet 2

Got a question about the new social security system in Scotland and what this could mean for you? Find some common questions and answers available on the Scottish Government website - www.gov.scot/publications/social-security-questions-and-answers/

Tweet 3

The Scottish Government has created a series of documents with updates on the disability assistance they will introduce - www.gov.scot/publications/social-security-policy-position-papers/

Tweet 4

You will be able to communicate with Social Security Scotland in the way that is best for you.

Tweet 5

Once fully operational, you will be able to apply for Social Security Scotland benefits online, by phone, post or in person.

Tweet 6

The Scottish Government will not means test disability assistance and if you are employed this will have no impact on your entitlement.

Tweet 7

Social Security Scotland will take into consideration how your condition affects you and your circumstances.

Tweet 8

The Scottish Government is committed to reducing the number of individuals required to attend a face to face assessment.

Tweet 9

If you do need to have a face to face assessment, you will be able to bring a supporter with you, or have access to independent advocacy if you have a disability that means that you would find it difficult to engage fully in the assessment.

Tweet 10

In the new Scottish social security system, if a face to face assessment is required, it will be audio recorded as standard and individuals will routinely be provided with a copy of the report written by the assessor without having to request it.

Tweet 11 The Scottish Government social security system will make awards that are person-centred. Awards will be made on a rolling basis, which means that awards will not be stopped when a review is underway.

Tweet 12

The Scottish Government will improve provision for people with a terminal illness. There will be no requirement to undergo further assessment, awards will be calculated from the date of application and entitlement to the highest rate of assistance that a person is eligible for.