Natalie Don MSP has welcomed a Scottish Government announcement that families of children and young people with a disability or terminal illness in Renfrewshire and across the country can apply for Social Security Scotland’s new Scotland’s Child Disability Payment from 22 November 2021.
The MSP for Renfrewshire North and West is delighted that the Child Disability Payment will be the first disability benefit in the UK that can be applied for online, with local families also having the option to apply by post, phone, or face-to-face (COVID-19 restrictions permitting).
Families already receiving the UK Government’s Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children do not need to make a new application as Social Security Scotland will contact them ahead of their award being automatically transferred.
Young people who have a terminal illness or are aged 16 or over will see their benefit being transferred to Social Security Scotland from mid-October onwards, with other claimants aged up to 15 having theirs transferred from spring 2022.
Natalie Don MSP said: “I welcome the Scottish Government taking on responsibility for providing financial assistance to help meet the additional expenses for families associated with their children having a disability, for example extra care and mobility costs.
“I am delighted that such families were involved throughout the entire process of developing the new Child Disability Payment to ensure a more simplified, less time consuming and stressful system than the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) version which many parents often perceived as being too complex and a negative experience.
“It will be reassuring for families in Renfrewshire North and West and across Scotland who may need to apply for the Child Disability Payment, from 22 November onwards, that they will be treated with dignity, fairness and respect by the SNP Government’s social security agency which is designed to meet the person-centred needs of people requiring support.”
For more information about the Child Disability Payment, go to www.mygov.scot/child-disability-payment or call telephone: 0800 182 2222.