Scottish Welfare Fund
Scottish Welfare Fund
From April 2013 the Scottish Government will introduce a new national provision called the Scottish Welfare Fund which will be administered by Local Authorities. The new scheme will offer grants or in kind support and will initially be a 2 year delivery model and made up of:
• Crisis Grants: payable to those with insufficient resources to meet a short term need where an award is the only means to prevent serious damage or risk to health or safety of the applicant or their family, and
• Community Care Grants: payable to those in receipt or likely to be in receipt of income related benefits when financial help to live independently in the community is required.
You will be able to apply to the Scottish Welfare fund in a number of ways including, online, telephone and post. More information will be available on this website from April 2013.
To apply for a grant please contact us on Tel. 0800 083 1887
From April 2013 the Department for Work and Pensions will continue to administer:
DWP Short Term Advances
When a claimant experiences a delay in benefit the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be introducing a new national scheme called Short Term Advances to replace the current provision of Crisis loan Alignment payments.
DWP Budgeting Loans
DWP Budgeting loans will continue to be available to eligible applicants until Universal Credit is fully rolled out. As claimants migrate across to Universal Credit they will have access to a new system of Budgeting Advances that will replace Budgeting Loans for Universal Credit recipients.
Other help available from DWP
DWP will continue to be responsible for the following payments and further information can be found:
• Funeral Payments: www.gov.uk/funeral-payments
• Sure Start Maternity Grants: www.gov.uk/sure-start-maternity-grant
• Cold Weather Payments: www.gov.uk/cold-weather-payment
• Winter Fuel Payments: www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment