Current status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 27 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that care experienced young people receive (a) appropriate housing and (b) financial support as they transition into adulthood.
The Scottish Government’s Continuing Care and Aftercare policies provide the framework for supporting young people transitioning from care on to more independent living. Through the Local Government Settlement, the Scottish Government funds local authorities to provide this support.
Continuing Care enables eligible young people from age 16, living in foster, kinship or residential care to remain in their care setting with the same level of support until their 21st birthday, maintaining and building on the strong and positive relationships developed with their carers and offering a pathway to safe, sustainable and affordable accommodation. Aftercare provision is available to all young people leaving care from age 16, regardless of their care setting, and enables them to request support, assistance and advice, based on individual need, from their local authority up to age 26, and beyond in some cases.
The type of accommodation that a young person leaving care is provided with should be informed by the Aftercare pathways assessment and plan, undertaken with a holistic and person centred approach. The pathway plan will set out the type of accommodation which best meets the needs of the young person and how this is to be obtained. Some young people will need more support than others on a range of matters and therefore the provision of suitable accommodation should also be accompanied by appropriate levels of support, bespoke to the individual needs of each young person.
Care leavers in receipt of Universal Credit Housing Element or Housing Benefit who find that their benefit does not cover all their rent can apply to their local authority for a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP). DHPs can also be used where local housing allowance (LHA) rates for benefits recipients in the private rented sector are insufficient.
The Scottish Government provides a broad package of financial support for those leaving care. Section 30 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 sets out financial assistance available through Aftercare.
A Care Experience Bursary of £9000 is available for care experienced young people in Further and Higher education. In addition, a Summer Accommodation Grant of up to £1,330 is available to support Care Experienced students with their accommodation costs through the summer break. Some institutions may also offer discretionary support for childcare and travel costs or rent guarantees for private accommodation. The ‘Care Leavers Council Tax Exemption’ means that young people leaving care are not liable for Council Tax until their 26th birthday.
Work is also currently underway to develop the Care Leaver Payment. The Care Leaver Payment as currently proposed will provide a one-off payment of £2,000 to young people leaving care, with the intention of helping to reduce some of the financial barriers young people face whilst transitioning into adulthood and more independent living.
Following the publication of the analysis of our ‘Moving On’ from care into adulthood consultation on the current and potential package of support for young people leaving care, work is underway across the Scottish Government and with our partners to ensure that our response to the changes called enables young people to access the support they need to thrive in young adulthood