Scottish Child Payment set at £28.20 per week for children under 16

The Scottish Child Payment was extended to eligible low-income families with children aged under 16 on 14 November 2022, according to Social Security Scotland¹. The payment had previously been available only for children under six². The Scottish Government said the commitments set out in its March 2022 child poverty delivery plan, including delivery of the benefit in full to all eligible children under 16, were delivered on that date².

The rate is £28.20 a week for each child under 16, paid every four weeks, so £112.80 per eligible child per four-week period³. The mygov.scot guidance, last updated 14 November 2022, states the payment is a weekly amount of £28.20 for every child the claimant looks after who is under 16, paid every four weeks if the application is successful⁴. There is no limit on the number of children in a family who can get the payment³.

The payment is administered by Social Security Scotland through an application-based process and paid on a four-weekly basis². Applications can be made online, by phone, by paper form or through local delivery³. Only one person can get Scottish Child Payment for a child; where two people apply for the same child, Social Security Scotland has a process for deciding who is paid, known as a double claim⁴. The payment does not affect any other UK or Scottish Government benefits the claimant or anyone in their household currently gets⁴.

Eligibility requires living in Scotland, being responsible for a child under 16 (or having a partner who is), and receiving a qualifying benefit³. The qualifying benefits listed by Social Security Scotland are Universal Credit, Income Support, Pension Credit, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance and income-related Employment and Support Allowance³. A claimant can apply before the Department for Work and Pensions approves their qualifying benefit application, but the qualifying benefit must be awarded within 14 days of the Scottish Child Payment application being made³. Kinship carers can apply³. One Parent Families Scotland states that Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and Child Benefit on their own are not qualifying benefits⁵.

The rate at which the payment was set on 14 November 2022 is reported differently across the sources. The Scottish Government's policy page states that the commitment was to increase the value to £25 per child, per week, by the end of 2022, and that this was delivered on 14 November 2022². Turn2us records that on 14 November 2022 the Scottish Child Payment increased to £25 per week and was expanded to families in Scotland with children under 16⁶. The mygov.scot page updated on the same date gives the weekly amount as £28.20⁴, as does Social Security Scotland's own page³. The sources do not reconcile these figures.

Why it matters for households

Families in Scotland with children aged 6 to 15 who receive one of the qualifying benefits became able to claim for those children from 14 November 2022¹. The payment is made per child, with no cap on the number of children in a family who can be paid³, and it is paid every four weeks rather than weekly⁴. Because it does not count against other UK or Scottish Government benefits⁴, receiving it does not reduce those awards. Only one person can be paid for a given child, so households where more than one adult might claim face a double claim decision⁴. One Parent Families Scotland states that payments are backdated to the date of application, and that processing can take some weeks before a first payment arrives⁵.

What happens next

Social Security Scotland reviews the payment on a yearly basis, so the amount could increase³. Applications for children aged 6 to 15 have been taken since 14 November 2022, and claimants already receiving the payment for a child under six can add other children to an existing claim online or by calling the Social Security Scotland freephone helpline on 0800 182 2222⁵.