We’ll treat you with dignity and respect
Minister’s child disability pledge
AScottishGovernment minister has vowed families will be treated with “dignity, fairness and respect” when a new child disability benefit is launched in Scotland tomorrow.
Thousands of youngsters wi l l star t to see their payments transfer from the Westminster- run DDepartment for Work and PPensions to the new Scottish sysystem, while many more aapplications are expected.
It’s part of sweeping cchanges to the way benefits aare paid in Scotland after seseveral areas were devolved to the Scottish Parliament f o l low i n g t he 2 014 inindependence vote.
From tomorrow, families oof children and young people
with a disability or terminal illness will be able to apply for the benefit – run by Social Security Scotland.
People already receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children from the DWP will see their payments continue and transferred to the new system by spring 2023.
The payment is being rolled out nationwide after a pilot scheme in Dundee,
Perth and Kinross and the Western Isles.
Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson said: “It’s vital families with a disabled child are provided with the support they need.
“This benefit is only for new applications. People receiving DLA for children will not need to do anything – we will transfer those 52,000 cases from the DWP to Social Security Scotland over the next 18 months.
“People will continue to be paid at the same rate to the same bank account with no break in entitlement.
“I look forward to families benefiting from our different approach to delivering social security, which prioritises getting financial support to people who need it and treating them with dignity, fairness and respect.”