Thousands of families across Scotland with a disabled child or young person will receive a one-off payment later this year to help with energy bills. Child Winter Heating Assistance is paid automatically once a year to those in receipt of disability benefits and will increase by 10.1 per cent to £235.70 for winter 2023-2024.
The latest statistics from the Scottish Government show that more than 26,000 payments of £214.10 - worth £5.7million in total - were made to eligible youngsters in winter 2022/2023, to help heat their homes during the colder months. The majority of payments were made by the end of October.
In total, £13.4million in Child Winter Heating Assistance payments have been issued since the devolved benefit was introduced in November 2020. It is administered by Social Security Scotland and is available to disabled children and young people under the age of 19 who receive a qualifying benefit.
