Scotland’s new “trust”-based disability benefits system has fuelled a three-fold rise in successful claims, figures show.
Around 80,000 new applications for state support were approved in the year to April, while another 8,400 claims were granted after being reassessed.
This marks a near tripling from the 30,000 approved applications in the 12 months to February 2020.
Claims for disability benefits have surged across the UK since the pandemic, amid an uptick in mental health issues and back problems.
However, successful claims have surged at a much faster rate in Scotland than in England and Wales since Holyrood reformed the disability benefits system north of the border in August 2022.
David Phillips at the Institute for Fiscal Studies said: “There is a higher rate of sickness and disability benefit claims in Scotland. What we had been seeing actually for a number of years is that gap [with England and Wales] narrowing.
“But with the rollout of Scotland’s new system, there has been a substantial increase in the number of new claims relative to England and Wales.”
The Scottish government’s reforms made it simpler to apply for support, requiring only one piece of information from a professional. People can also provide supporting information from friends, carers and family.
Announcing a pilot of the new system in March 2022, then Social Security Minister Ben Macpherson said: “We are developing a system that is rooted in trust to make sure people can access the support that they are entitled to.”
Mr Phillips said the new system was purposefully “designed to be less onerous for people to claim and to keep claiming”.
Adults with disabilities or long-term health conditions can claim benefits to help cover living costs whether in or out of work. The cost of Scotland’s new Adult Disability Payment was £2bn in 2022-23 and is forecast to double to £4.5bn by 2028-29, according to the Scottish Fiscal Commission.
The rapid rise comes amid wider concerns about the sustainability of Scotland’s public finances. Figures last week showed Scotland’s public spending deficit rose to £22.7bn last year amid dwindling North Sea oil revenue.
Finance Secretary Shona Robison last week announced “emergency control measures”, effectively blocking any spending on non-legally obligated activities this financial year.
Mr Phillips said many of the issues facing Scotland were not “one-off pressures”.
He said: “The trade-offs it faces now between tax rises, spending on its more generous social security system and public services are going to become more acute.”
He added: “If it continues with its social security policy and was to prioritise healthcare, that would mean having to make big cuts to other areas of spending.”
The Scottish government spent £20,418 per person on services, benefits and other public spending last year, compared to £18,001 across the UK as a whole. This gap is now at a record level.
A spokesman for Social Security Scotland said: “There has been an increase in applications for disability benefits across the UK, including for Adult Disability Payment in Scotland.
“We designed this payment in consultation with disabled people and are delivering a service based on dignity, fairness and respect for all. We are committed to ensuring disabled people get the financial support they are entitled to.”
The spike in disability benefit claims comes as Scotland grapples with long-standing challenges around worklessness and ill health. Some 23.1pc of the Scottish population is economically inactive, compared with 22.2pc across the UK as a whole.
Hannah Randolph from the Fraser of Allander Institute said the higher rate of inactivity was intrinsically linked to ill health, posing challenges for public finances.
She said: “If you have higher inactivity with fewer people working, then you have a smaller tax base. That combines with greater pressures on the health system, which is then more costly. So you have a crunch from both sides.”
Mental and behavioural disorders were the most common reason for receiving adult disability payment, according to Social Security Scotland, with 38pc of claimants citing it as their primary problem.
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