£1.9 billion in payments were made to people in Scotland from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 across 14 Scottish benefits, seven of which are not available anywhere else in the UK.
The information is contained in the Social Security Scotland 2023-2024 Annual Report and Accounts.
Scottish Child Payment Orkney
Since 2020, 10,535 payments were made in Orkney for the Scottish Child Payment benefit amounting to £1,560,760.
The number of individual children benefitting in Orkney, as at 31 March 2024 was 790.
| Year | Number of payments | Value of payments |
| 2020 – 21 | 165 | £6,560 |
| 2021 – 22 | 2,150 | £117,150 |
| 2022 – 23 | 2,845 | £421,800 |
| 2023 -24 | 5,370 | £1,015,250 |
| 2020 -24 | 10.535 | £1,560,760 |
Social Security Scotland Chief Executive, David Wallace, said:
“While our service has continued to expand significantly, our clients remain at the heart of everything we do.
“We have focused on delivering new payments to people across Scotland including Carer Support Payment, while ensuring we give our clients an improved experience. This year, we have reduced call waiting and processing times and made it easier for people to submit supporting information for disability benefit applications.
“As the number of people we serve grows, I am delighted we have maintained high client satisfaction rates with our annual Client Survey showing 90% of people who received a payment from us saying their overall experience was ‘very good’ or ‘good’.”
The client survey showed:
- 81% of respondents rated their overall experience with Social Security Scotland as very good or good
- 5% described their experience as poor/very poor.
- 81% believed that they had been treated with dignity
- 78% believed they had been treated with fairness
- 82% believed they had been treated with respect.
Written comments left by respondents also highlighted the humanising treatment they received from staff, as well as Social Security Scotland processes.
People also reflected on the barriers they had faced getting help from Social Security Scotland. The most common types of barrier across all benefit experiences were those of communication , for instance, ‘I could not get the information or updates I needed.’
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice in the Scottish Government, Shirley-Anne Somerville, said:
“We are committed to tackling poverty and supporting people throughout Scotland. At a time when families are struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, we have been delivering 14 benefits, seven of which are only available in Scotland.
“Winter Heating Payment is a reliable annual payment to people on low incomes in Scotland, including pensioners receiving Pension Credit. We continue to offer vital support to families through our five family payments, including Scottish Child Payment which was helping to support more than 329,000 children and young people by the end of financial year 2023-24.”
“We are focused on ensuring people get the money they are entitled to and that we deliver these payments while treating people with dignity, fairness and respect.”
Payments made in this last financial year were to clients receiving: Carer’s Allowance Supplement, Carer Support Payment, Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment, Best Start Grant Early Learning payment, Best Start Grant School Age Payment, Best Start Foods, Funeral Support Payment, Young Carer Grant, Job Start Payment, Scottish Child Payment, Child Winter Heating Assistance, Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment and Winter Heating Payment.
Fiona Grahame
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