Take-up rates of Scottish benefits - 2026

Annex D: Future analytical developments

Scottish Government analysts continue to develop methodologies to estimate take-up rates for Scottish benefits not yet reported on, including disability and carer benefits, and those transferring from the Department for Work and Pensions.

Estimates of take-up have not been included for the following benefits:

Child Winter Heating Payment is paid automatically to children and young people who receive Child Disability Payment, Adult Disability Payment, Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment at a certain rate.

Similarly, Winter Heating Payment is paid automatically to people on low-income qualifying benefits and most people eligible for Pension Age Winter Heating Payment are paid automatically and do not need to apply.

Carer’s Allowance Supplement, was paid automatically to people who receive Carer’s Allowance or Carer Support Payment until March 2026, when it was replaced by Scottish Carer Supplement. Carer Additional Person Payment, which provides additional support to carers receiving Carer Support Payment who care for more than one person, became available in March 2026.

Carer Support Payment only became available across Scotland in November 2024 and case transfer continued until October 2025. A take-up rate methodology has not yet been developed for carer benefits.

Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance has replaced Disability Living Allowance for adults in Scotland but is not open to new applications.

Pension Age Disability Payment was piloted in October 2024 and launched in April 2025, so case transfer from DWP continued during the period over which we have performed take-up analysis, and a take-up rate methodology has not yet been developed.

Estimates of take-up have also not been produced for Child Disability Payment or Adult Disability Payment. This publication does not include an estimate of take-up, but instead provides a benchmark based on stylised modelling, along with a discussion of the challenges that exist to producing a robust estimate at this point in time. Future developments may include exploring whether eligibility benchmark estimates can be produced for smaller population groups. While the methodology can in principle be applied to some subgroups, data on disabled recipients and non-recipients remain limited.