Low Income Winter Heating Assistance payments begin in Scotland

Scotland started making payments of the new Low Income Winter Heating Assistance benefit in February 2023, according to a timetable of planned benefit changes published by the charity Turn2us¹. The payment is listed among changes running through 2023 and 2024, and is the only Scottish heating benefit named in that month¹.

The same timetable sets out other changes to the benefits system over the year. In January 2023 the Administrative Earnings Threshold rose to £617 per month for single people and £988 per month for couples¹. In April 2023 most benefits and the state pension are to be uprated by 10.1%, and the benefit cap is also to be uprated by 10.1%¹.

Extra cost of living payments are also listed: £900 for people on means-tested benefits including Universal Credit, Pension Credit and income-related Employment and Support Allowance; £300 for people over pension age; and £150 for people who get disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment or Attendance Allowance¹. The Department for Work and Pensions "intends to move all tax credits only claimants onto Universal Credit during 2023/2024"¹.

Other Scottish changes are scheduled later in the year. The Scottish Government "intends to have transferred all recipients of child Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Scottish Child Disability Payment" in spring 2023, and Scottish Carers Assistance is to begin in late 2023 and be fully rolled out in spring 2024¹. Changes to Support for Mortgage Interest are also listed for spring 2023, with the waiting period reduced from 9 months to 3 months and changes to zero earnings rules¹. From September 2023, changes to in-work conditionality will require people earning the equivalent of over 15 hours per week at National Living Wage, but less than full time hours, to look for more work or better paid work¹.

The sources do not give the value of the Low Income Winter Heating Assistance payment, who qualifies for it, or how it interacts with the Winter Fuel Payment or the Winter Heating Payment in Scotland. Those details have not been reported.

Why it matters for households

The February 2023 start means households in Scotland receiving the new payment see it as a separate item from the UK-wide cost of living payments listed for the same period¹. The £900, £300 and £150 cost of living payments are set out for people on means-tested benefits, people over pension age and people receiving disability benefits respectively, with eligibility depending on the benefit received¹.

For working households, the January 2023 rise in the Administrative Earnings Threshold to £617 per month for single people and £988 per month for couples changes the point at which claimants are expected to look for more or better paid work¹. The April 2023 uprating of 10.1% applies to most benefits and the state pension, and to the benefit cap, so the cap on total household benefit income rises by the same percentage¹.

Scottish households in receipt of child Disability Living Allowance face a transfer to Scottish Child Disability Payment in spring 2023, and carers see Scottish Carers Assistance begin late in the year¹. The timetable notes that information about some changes may be limited and subject to further change¹.

What happens next

The timetable lists the April 2023 uprating of 10.1% for most benefits, the state pension and the benefit cap; the September 2023 in-work conditionality changes; and Scottish Carers Assistance beginning in late 2023 with full rollout in spring 2024¹. The Department for Work and Pensions intends to move all tax credits only claimants onto Universal Credit during 2023/2024¹.