Question reference: S5W-27606
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 26 February 2020
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 March 2020
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many families will no longer receive the Scottish Child Payment once their child turns six.
Answer
The Scottish Government is serious about tackling child poverty. That is why we are introducing our “game-changing” new Scottish Child Payment two years ahead of the timetable outlined in the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan for children under 6 years old. These payments are being made in recognition that of all children living in poverty, almost 60% are in a household where the youngest child is under 6.
This is benefit delivery at an unprecedented speed and in order to allow us to deliver earlier than planned, we have had to work within certain technical parameters. We have been open with stakeholders throughout the development of the payment about the complexities involved.
We estimate that around 40,000 families will have children that will age out of eligibility for the payment, between early introduction and full roll-out in 2022. This is because we do not have the data for over 6s from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which would allow us to continue making payments. The DWP has confirmed that the required data will not be delivered in time for the launch of the Scottish Child Payment later this year, and we are waiting for confirmation of when this data will be made available.