New Scottish Child Disability Payment launches in pilot areas from next Monday

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Monday 19 July 2021

Tags: scotland, benefits, disability living allowance, welfare benefits, child disability payment

Monday 26 July sees the launch of the Child Disability Payment, a new benefit replacing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children in Scotland. The launch will start in three pilot areas – Dundee City, Perth and Kinross and Western Isles.

If you live in one of these areas, you will not be able to make a new claim for DLA on or after 26 July 2021. Instead, if you have a disabled child under 18 who is not already on DLA, you will need to claim Child Disability Payment instead.

Applications for the new benefit can be made by those in the pilot areas either online at mygov.scot, by phoning 0800 182 2222, or face-to-face by booking an appointment on the number just mentioned.   

Once the pilot in these three areas has completed, the new benefit will then be rolled out across the rest of Scotland in Autumn 2021. This national roll out is expected to start on 22 November.

Initially the Child Disability Payment is only replacing new claims for DLA. Children in Scotland who are already getting DLA won’t be transferred onto the new Child Disability Payment until later, a process that is expected to happen in stages.

Once transfers start, families who currently get DLA for a child will have their awards moved over automatically to the new Scottish benefit, with no change in their payment rates or payment dates.

Child Disability Payment is very similar to DLA, with both a care and mobility component paid at the same rates as DLA. Most of the qualifying rules are very similar to DLA.

Find out more about Scottish Child Disability Payment and other benefits in Scotland on our webpage Welfare benefits in Scotland.