Question reference: S5W-36226
- Asked by: Shona Robison, MSP for Dundee City East, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 12 March 2021
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 March 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Dundee receive the Scottish Child Payment, and (a) how many people it estimates will be eligible and (b) what the total value of these payments will be in Dundee in each of the next three years.
Answer
At present we have not published information on how many people in local authority areas receive Scottish Child Payment. More detailed information on application outcomes and payments, including at a local authority level, will be included in the next release of Official Statistics which will cover the period to the end of March and is due to be published on 11 May 2021.
Using the latest available forecasts published by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in January 2021, Scottish Government analysis estimates there could be around 4,300 families receiving the payment in Dundee in 2021-22, which equates to around 5,400 eligible children.
Subject to receiving data from the Department for Work and Pensions, it is our intention to extend the payment to under 16s by end 2022. Therefore using the above forecasts our analysis estimates that 15,500 children in Dundee could be eligible in 2022-23. In 2023-24, the first full financial year of the under 16s payment we estimate 15,000 children could be eligible.
The total value of Scottish Child Payment in Dundee could be £2.3 million in 2021-22, £3.5 million in 2022-23 and £6.1 million in 2023-24. The increase in spending in 2023-24 reflects that under 16s will only be paid for part of the previous year 2022-23.