FOI/202500466956 · FOI · cost limit
Social Security Scotland late and overdue benefit payments: FOI release
Information requested
Under FOI, I am requesting a late payment breakdown report for the calendar years 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. Please include the following information:
Request for information 1: Number of late Benefit payments made, broken down by benefit
Request for information 2: How long each payment was delayed by. You can break this down by whatever duration categories you use to measure late payments, and state how many payments fell under each duration category, for each benefit
Request for information 3: What is defined as late internally for each of the benefits you administer
Request for information 4: The value of late payments – e.g the monetary value of the late benefit payments, broken down by benefit, per calendar year
If you only hold information by financial year, this is also acceptable (so 2021/22, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25, 2025-date.
Response
Request for information 3: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) process payments on Social Security Scotland’s behalf. Social Security Scotland provide payment information to DWP which includes a payment due date. When the payment is not achievable, DWP flag these payments and report these to us. To assist you, these figures have been provided below.
You may find it helpful to know that some delays in payment are necessary due to safeguarding considerations for vulnerable clients. We also undertake an enhanced approval process for high value payments; although these may miss the payment due date these are not classified as late payments. These payments are included within the information provided in the below tables.
Requests for information 1,2 and 4: While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. To locate and retrieve the information requested would require us to interrogate the individual cases below. Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.
You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website at: https://www.foi.scot/how-doi-ask
Year 2020/21
Benefit Type Volume of Late and Delayed Payments Value of Late and Delayed Payments Average Days Delayed Maximum Days Delayed Best Start Grant 30 £8,200.00 23 44 Child Winter Heating Payment 74 £14,800.00 4 15 Funeral Support Payment 138 £297,143.27 21 262 Scottish Child Payment 33 £2,920.00 1 2 Young Carer Grant 2 £610.20 3 3 Job Start Payment 1 £400.00 1 1
Year 2021/22
Benefit Type Volume of Late and Delayed Payments Value of Late and Delayed Payments Average Days Delayed Maximum Days Delayed Best Start Grant 54 £17,864.00 2 15 Child Winter Heating Payment 163 £32,758.00 4 23 Funeral Support Payment 108 £265,583.74 13 332 Scottish Child Payment 166 £40,550.00 4 53 Young Carer Grant 11 £3,389.65 4 13 Job Start Payment 7 £2,676.50 2 8 Child Disability Payment 82 £13,805.81 4 18
Year 2022/23
Benefit Type Volume of Late and Delayed Payments Value of Late and Delayed Payments Average Days Delayed Maximum Days Delayed Best Start Grant 20 £10,800.60 5 14 Child Winter Heating Payment 7 £1,474.50 8 34 Funeral Support Payment 76 £206,333.70 41 799 Scottish Child Payment 614 £547,285.00 3 71 Young Carer Grant 48 £15,642.20 3 13 Job Start Payment 15 £6,423.75 2 4 Child Disability Payment 584 £99,713.03 4 68 Adult Disability Payment 350 £73,380.36 2 19 Winter Heating Payment 107 £5,350.00 4 13
Year 2023/24
Benefit Type Volume of Late and Delayed Payments Value of Late and Delayed Payments Average Days Delayed Maximum Days Delayed Best Start Grant 11 £6,391.40 2 8 Child Winter Heating Payment 18 £7,870.20 71 127 Funeral Support Payment 41 £122,414.50 2 9 Scottish Child Payment 560 £799,691.00 4 104 Young Carer Grant 1 £325.65 2 2 Job Start Payment 1 £294.70 1 1 Child Disability Payment 385 £1,741,034.31 4 219 Adult Disability Payment 1829 £8,387,016.02 5 54 Winter Heating Payment 129 £7,295.95 2 2
Year 2024/25
Benefit Type Volume of Late and Delayed Payments Value of Late and Delayed Payments Average Days Delayed Maximum Days Delayed Best Start Grant 6 £5,157.00 7 18 Child Winter Heating Payment 25 £11,559.00 27 166 Funeral Support Payment 19 £57,427.58 3 19 Scottish Child Payment 303 £306,281.46 9 947 Child Disability Payment 375 £1,455,098.45 9 749 Adult Disability Payment 1885 £8,902,973.55 5 216 Winter Heating Payment 494 £33,495.75 8 471 Pension Age Disability Payment 1 £434.20 9 9 Carer Support Payment 81 £138,302.10 5 28
2025/26 Year to Date*
Benefit Type Volume of Late and Delayed Payments Value of Late and Delayed Payments Average Days Delayed Maximum Days Delayed Child Winter Heating Payment 5 £2,436.00 5 37 Scottish Child Payment 67 £26,294.25 39 77 Child Disability Payment 178 £302,109.52 9 369 Adult Disability Payment 273 £1,211,380.33 7 70 Winter Heating Payment 5 £348.80 3 7 Pension Age Disability Payment 6 £15,893.23 26 55 Carer Support Payment 74 £171,465.90 6 41
* Year to Date as of 27/05/2025
About FOI
The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.
Contact Please quote the FOI reference Central Correspondence Unit Email: contactus@gov.scot Phone: 0300 244 4000 The Scottish Government St Andrew's House Regent Road Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Detected exemption language
Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600 by Regulations made under section 12.
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