Wednesday - Social Security Scotland

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Social Security Scotland is part of the Scottish Government and is the agency which delivers a range of benefits to residents within Scotland. With specifically designed services so that as many people as possible understand what they do and how they can communicate with them and access their services in the way they want to, they offer a range of benefits and support to families at this very challenging time.

Within Dumfries and Galloway, Social Security Scotland work in partnership with Dumfries and Galloway Council, Dumfries and Galloway Citizens Advice Service and other organisations to reach and support as many families as possible.  Social Security Scotland are also members of our new Poverty and Inequalities Partnership and are actively supporting our new Partnership to both tackle and reduce poverty in all of it's forms.

We want to reach as many potential applicants for these benefits as we can so that they can increase their incomes by applying for and receiving all of the benefits which they may be eligible for. The more families in need that we can reach, the more lives will be improved by the support received from Social Security Scotland and their partners. Every effort is made by this Agency to ensure that all of their services are as accessible as possible including ensuring that their Factsheets are easy to read and understand.

Detailed below are a list of all of the benefits which are currently delivered at this time with a link to more information on each which takes you to the Social Security Scotland dedicated Webpages.

Even if you don't know if you would be eligible to receive any of the Benefits listed below, please take the time to make contact with Social Security Scotland to check. It won't take long to find out if you would be eligible or not and the potential increase to your and your families income could benefit you all for years to come.

• Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment - one off payment of up to £606 from 24 weeks in pregnancy up until a baby turns 6 months for families who get certain benefits.
• Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment - one off payment of £252.50 when a child is between two and three years and six months for families who get certain benefits.
• Best Start Grant School Age Payment - one off payment of £252.50 when a child would normally start primary one for families who get certain benefits.
• Best Start Foods - a pre-paid card from pregnancy up to when a child turns three for families on certain benefits to help buy healthy food.
• Carer's Allowance Supplement - an automatic payment made twice a year to people who get Carer's Allowance through the DWP on certain dates each year.
• Funeral Support Payment - money towards the costs of a funeral at a difficult time like this for people on certain benefits who are responsible for paying for a funeral.
• Job Start Payment - £252.50 for 16 to 24 year olds who have been on certain benefits for six months or more to help with the costs of starting a job.
• Young Carer Grant - an annual payment of more than £308.15 for people 16, 17 or 18 who care for people who get a disability benefit from the DWP for an average of 16 hours a week or more.
• Child Winter Heating Assistance - a new £202 payment to help families of a child on the highest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance for Children to heat their homes. Payments will begin on Friday 27 November and these are expected to be complete by Friday 11 December.
• Scottish Child Payment - a new, unique to Scotland, benefit that will give qualifying parents and carers £40 every four weeks to help towards the costs of looking after each child under 6. It is planned to be fully rolled out to children under the age of 16 by the end of 2022.
• Child Disability Payment - a payment providing extra money to help with the costs of caring for a child with a disability or ill-health condition. It replaces Disability Living Allowance for children in Scotland that was previously delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions. Child Disability Payment is available to new applications from people who live in Dundee City, Western Isles and Perth and Kinross. It will be open to people who live in every Local Authority area in Scotland from November 2021.

To find out more about these benefits or to apply for them, please visit mygov.scot/benefits.People can find out about all the help that may be available to them on mygov.scot.

If you would like to find out more or apply for one of these benefits over the phone, you can do this by calling 0800 182 2222.

This information can be provided in alternative languages or formats by calling 0800 182 2222.

Text Relay Service:
18001 +0300 244 4000
(for the hard of hearing)
British Sign Language users: contactscotland-bsl.org/device-direct/

If English is not your first language and you would like an interpreter, please call 0800 182 2222 and they can arrange that for you.

You can also contact one of Social Security Scotland's Client Advisers on their web chat service at mygov.scot/contact-social-security-scotland

If you have already applied for a benefit and you've been asked to provide some evidence, you can do this at mygov.scot/uploading-your-document

The Scottish Government is developing a number of other benefits that we will deliver. The latest information on these can be found at gov.scot/policies/social-security/