The Scottish Child Payment – episode transcript

Hi. My name is Derek and I’m an adviser on Contact’s free Helpline for families with disabled children. This podcast is about the Scottish Child Payment a benefit for low income families in Scotland.

If you are a low income family in Scotland you may be able to get a payment of £25 a week from Social Security Scotland, for each child in your family who is aged under 16. However, you only qualify if you or your partner gets any one of the following means tested benefits – child tax credit, working tax credit, Universal Credit, Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance or Pension Credit.

So long as you receive one of these benefits, no matter how small the payment, you can apply for the Scottish Child Payment for any child you have aged under 16. You can get a payment for each child in your family who is young enough to qualify. You can still get a payment even if you don’t receive tax credits or Universal Credit amounts for that child because of the two child limit.

In order to claim you also need to show that you are the person who has main responsibility for the child in question. For example you get child benefit for them. Special rules apply if more than one household applies for the same child.

The Scottish Child Payment is ignored as income for benefits, so it won’t effect any other benefits or tax credits you are getting.

You can apply for the Scottish Child Payment by calling Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222 or on-line at mygov.scot website. Once payments start they are paid into your account, every 4 weeks.
Thanks for listening.