New PIP-style benefit projected to support 475,000 more people in next five years

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The delivery of social security benefits in Scotland has been praised in a new report, but “substantial” risks remain.The report, published by Audit Scotland on Thursday, notes that “new and complex” benefits have been launched by the Scottish Government despite challenges presented by the pandemic, and acknowledges that existing programmes have continued successfully.

However, the Auditor General for Scotland has warned that a “huge amount” of work remains.New benefits introduced in Scotland over recent months include the Scottish Child Payment, Child Disability Payment, which replaced Disability Living Allowance for Children, and Adult Disability Payment, which is replacing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a phased rollout that began in March.Some 305,000 existing PIP claimants and 142,000 people on Disability Living Allowance will start to be moved from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) system to Social Security Scotland from August 29.The Scottish Government has committed more than £3.9 billion for benefit expenditure in 2022-23, which is set to provide support to more than one million people.Audit Scotland says that while people have voiced positivity about their experience of Social Security Scotland, the scale of activity undertaken by the department will increase over the next few years - with the direct administration of devolved benefits jumping from around 20% to more than 70% by 2025.The number of benefits cases administered by Social Security Scotland is expected to rise - an example being the Adult Disability Payment, which is projected to increase from 20,000 in 2022 to 475,000 by 2026/27.The department also requires a doubling of its current workforce within the next year in order to deal