Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government’s Play Park Renewal programme provided £60 million to Local Authority partners between September 2021 and March 2026. The funding was to accelerate the Local Authorities’ plans and improve play opportunities for children across Scotland. By March 2026 the programme had supported the renewal of 1,960 play parks, including 54 across Dumfries and Galloway. There are no plans to extend this programme in the current parliament.

The funding allocation for Dumfries and Galloway was:

As set out in the answer to question S7W-00422 on 3 June 2026, Social Security Scotland has the legal powers to undertake enforced deductions and pursue civil recovery where appropriate.

At the time the referenced report was published, recovery activity had been focused on voluntary overpayments because it is always preferable to agree arrangements for repaying with individuals if possible. However, as of January 2026 Social Security Scotland has now expanded its use of available recovery powers in relation to existing and newly accrued debts, including by developing options for enforced recovery and commencing civil recovery through the courts.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

The Scottish Government is delivering the strongest package of winter support in the UK. Child Winter Heating Payment is an automatic payment unique to Scotland that helps families and carers of disabled children under 19 with winter heating costs. It is paid to those who receive the highest rate of the care component of Child Disability Payment or the enhanced rate of the daily living component of Adult Disability Payment.

Official statistics published on 19 May 2026 shows that as of 31 March 2026, over 44,000 Child Winter Heating Payments were made to eligible clients, with the vast majority paid automatically in December 2025. The information requested for April 2026 is not yet published.

Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Heating Benefits: Statistics for Winter 2025/2026 - Social Security Scotland.

The Scottish Government is delivering the strongest package of winter support in the UK.

Pension Age Winter Heating Payment is an automatic annual payment that helps people of State Pension age with winter heating costs.

Official statistics published on 19 May 2026 shows that as of 31 March 2026 over 1.055 million Pension Age Winter Heating Payments were made to eligible clients, with the vast majority paid automatically in December 2025.The information requested for April 2026 is not yet published.

People could apply for Pension Age Winter Heating Payment if they believed they were eligible but had not received a payment by 31 March 2026. Social Security Scotland may therefore make payments after that date where applications are received, awarded or accepted late in certain circumstances.

Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Heating Benefit Statistics.

Alongside our ongoing commitment to continuous improvement as set out in the social security principles, further enhancements are being made to the review process. These enhancements will include improvements to the scheduled review form, which will strengthen the gathering of relevant information at award review.

We will design these enhancements with disabled people and stakeholders to facilitate fair and robust decision-making and ensure that the values of dignity, fairness and respect are embedded throughout.

The Scottish Government is delivering the strongest package of winter support in the UK.

Winter Heating Payment replaced the UK Government's Cold Weather Payment in February 2023. The payment is made automatically and provides stable and reliable support to help low-income households with winter heating costs, regardless of the temperature.

Official statistics published on 19 May 2026 shows that as of 31 March 2026, over 472,000 Winter Heating Payments were made to eligible clients, with the vast majority paid automatically in December 2025. The information requested for April 2026 is not yet published.

Further details are available on Social Security Scotland’s website at: Winter Heating Benefit Statistics.

Social Security Scotland regularly publishes statistics relating to its staffing, although it does not routinely publish a breakdown of its staff by corporate function.

The most recent workforce statistics, published on 19 March 2026, show overall staffing levels of 4,140 full-time equivalent staff in December 2025 but do not include a breakdown by corporate function.

Staff work flexibly across all benefits and are deployed to meet demand.

Seven provisions of the Act are now in force. Implementation planning continues on the remaining 16 sections, working closely with key partners such as Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service to ensure the necessary technical and operational arrangements are in place to deliver the efficiencies and improved services to clients that will be achieved under the provisions. A consultation period will close on 10 June for section 18 (Information for Audit), which allows Ministers to request information to estimate the levels and the monetary value of fraud and error in the system, with regulations to follow shortly thereafter.

The outcome of the initial design and assessment work to identify a preferred route option for the bypassing of Springholm and Crocketford is expected to conclude in 2027.

The UK Government launched a Crisis and Resilience Fund (CRF) from 1 April 2026, replacing English Discretionary Housing Payments and the Household Support Fund. The CRF also now incorporates elements similar to Scotland’s Scottish Welfare Fund. The CRF is discretionary in nature and designed to meet a broad set of short-term pressures.

The approach to Discretionary Housing Payments in Scotland differs in both purpose and delivery. Our policy is to fully mitigate the bedroom tax and provide targeted support so that low income households are protected as far as possible from the impacts of other UK welfare reforms, including the benefit cap and the freeze to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates.

Given these different policy objectives and delivery mechanisms these schemes are not directly comparable.

However, Scotland’s investment represents a significant commitment to protecting low income households, with spending per head notably higher than that in the rest of the UK.

This year alone the Scottish Government is investing £115 million in Discretionary Housing Payments, supporting up to 92,000 households and nearly 20,000 children impacted by the bedroom tax; up to 3,000 families impacted by the benefit cap; and up to 15,000 families affected by the freeze to LHA rates. In addition, £41 million is being invested in the Scottish Welfare Fund to provide vital crisis support and help people establish independent living.