Parents and carers of children who receive Free School Meals will get a payment of £24.00 (£2.40 per day), per child during the Easter holidays. There is no need to apply for this, payments for those entitled will be paid into bank accounts on Wednesday 2nd April.
Children in Primary 6 or 7 receiving Free School Meals based on Scottish Child Payment entitlement only will not receive this payment.
The Improvement service has recently published a report which included information on children living in poverty:
"Children living in poverty are at a higher risk of homelessness with rising housing costs as one of the main contributing factors. Housing tends to be the largest expense for most households, and rapidly increasing housing costs are pushing families into financial hardship. The Scottish Government’s data shows that, before housing costs, 19% of people in Scotland live in relative poverty; after housing costs, this rises to 21%, meaning 140,000 people in Scotland experience housing cost-induced poverty. This impact is particularly severe for children, with 240,000 children in Scotland living in poverty after housing costs, 30,000 of whom have been pushed into poverty due to rising housing costs. As families struggle to meet housing costs, many fall into debt, which compounds their financial difficulties. Around 55% of families receiving Universal Credit in Scotland have public debt, and debt-related deductions from benefits can reduce their income by as much as £1,000 a year."
The full report can be found here: Children's Rights and Homelessness in Scotland
Citizens Advice Scotland has recently published a report to highlight the serious implications for the estimated 1.1 million individuals who are financially excluded by not having access to a bank account. Covering the practicalities and implications of this issue, CAS are keen share their recommendations and work with stakeholders and decision makers.
Holding to Account: improving access to banking services | Citizens Advice Scotland
Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP) is now open for applications in Fife along with 12 other Local Authority Areas. It will be available throughout Scotland from the 22nd April. This is a new benefit from Social Security Scotland and is a replacement for Attendance Allowance administered by the DWP. No new applications for Attendance Allowance will be accepted from Fife postcodes. Existing claimants of Attendance Allowance will automatically move over to the new benefit sometime between 24th March and the end of the year.
When a benefit is automatically moving over from the DWP to Social Security Scotland’s replacement benefit you will receive a letter from DWP informing you that the benefit will be transferring, this is known as a “goodbye” letter. This will be shortly followed up by Social Security Scotland in a “hello” letter confirming the move and asking you to contact them if you have any changes to report. If there are no changes, there is no need to make contact. They will then send you a new award letter once the transfer is complete so that you can evidence your entitlement to the new benefit and confirm when your award is due for renewal. Payments into your bank account will continue on your usual payment date, but it will have a different reference number as the payment is from Social Security Scotland (SSS) and not from DWP.
If there are any problems with your payment or if it is less than you expected Social Security Scotland’s contact details are within their letters, alternatively you can seek assistance from Citizens Advice & Rights Fife (CARF) on 03451 400 95 between 10am and 3pm, Monday to Friday.
As always, please get in touch with Sheena Watson or Audrey Whyte if you would like more information on any of this week’s content.
Contact: Sheena Watson
Email: sheena.watson@fife.gov.uk
