Exclusive:'Open to abuse': Fewer than 1% of disability benefits claims are independently assessed
Social Security Scotland’s ‘dignity’ ethos has raised concerns about how Adult Disability Payment is awarded
Scotland’s benefits system has been left “open to abuse” as it emerged only a fraction of disability claims are being independently assessed.
New figures show less than one percent of claims for Adult Disability Payment (ADP) saw a consultation by a health and social care practitioner.
Social Security Scotland employs hundreds of staff to oversee ADP claims - but statistics show last year they carried out fewer than four checks each.
Alexander Stewart, Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for social security, said: “The SNP has let the bill for their bloated benefits system soar out of control.
“Their abject failure to ensure there are an adequate number of basic checks is inflating those costs even more.
“Thanks to their reluctance to introduce the assessments in place elsewhere in the UK, we’ve seen a massive rise in benefits overpayments, as well as an increased risk of error and fraud.
“John Swinney’s government’s incompetence and complacency leaves the system open to abuse, lets down those in genuine need of support and hammers Scottish taxpayers with punitive taxes.”
A spokeswoman for Social Security Scotland said the agency had made a “deliberate choice” not to use the private sector assessments used by the DWP as “many disabled people described the as ‘inhumane’”.
Figures released to The Scotsman under freedom of information legislation show an increasingly small number of “consultations” carried out each year.
These can be by phone or in person.
Of the total number of ADP claims that were awarded or denied, in 2022 just 2.85 per cent were subject to a consultation.
For 2023 that figure was 1.07 per cent, falling to 0.87 per cent in 2024.
There are no comparable figures yet for 2025 but Social Security Scotland numbers released to The Scotsman show the number of consultations nearly halved from 2024 to 2025.
In 2024 some 1685 consultations were carried out but in 2025 that number was just 878.
Scottish Labour Social Security spokesperson Claire Baker said: “The extraordinarily low rate of checks is bound to raise some eyebrows.
“It is crucial that we have a social security system that is fair and transparent.
“The SNP must explain what safeguards are in place to ensure the system works as it should and ensure the public can have trust in this system.”
When the benefit was devolved to Social Security Scotland from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in 2022, it was renamed ADP.
Scottish ministers pledged to put “dignity and respect” at the heart of the system, mandating that claimants can self-report their ailments.
Checks are predominantly only carried out when would-be benefit recipients ask for them - but figures show this rarely occurs.
Instead, benefits are awarded almost solely without that person having direct contact with staff.
Claimants are asked to provide supporting evidence for their claim, in a similar manner to the system used by the DWP for Disability Living Allowance.
Meanwhile, the DWP has announced a major overhaul of how PIP claims are assessed following the Budget last autumn.
The UK government announced a sixfold increase in in-person appointments to ensure more claimants are seen by health professionals in assessment centres.
The Social Security Scotland spokeswoman said: “We make decisions on benefit applications based on the expert advice of our in-house health and social care team, using information from professionals including GPs, psychologists and social workers who know the people applying.
“Consultations are carried out when required and are needed less often as we have strengthened our ability to gather and verify supporting information directly from health and social care professionals.”
The revelation comes after The Scotsman told in January how staffing levels at Scotland’s benefits agency are up to 5200 per cent higher than the equivalent at the UK government’s DWP.
The “staggering disparity” was criticised as “disregard” for taxpayers’ cash and comes as the Scottish government pledged to cut its civil service headcount.
Figures also released to The Scotsman under freedom of information legislation show an overall difference in staffing to administer three equivalent benefits as 200 per cent higher for Social Security Scotland.
However, the difference soars to 5220 per cent higher for administrative staff working on Pension Age Disability Payment compared to DWP staff dealing with Attendance Allowance.
A Social Security Scotland spokesman said the two agencies could not be compared as Scotland has built a “radically different” service.
The SNP’s benefits agency has faced repeated criticism over ballooning costs since its inception in 2018.
Last year, The Scotsman revealed how social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville withdrew consent for the DWP to recover overpaid and fraudulent benefits from Scots welfare claimants.
The cabinet secretary said new Westminster legislation was overly punitive and did not fit with Social Security Scotland’s kinder ethos.
However, this means Scotland’s benefits agency currently has no way to recover the £36 million of debt.
According to Social Security Scotland guidance for its 239 health and social care practitioners, they must only assess claims using evidence observed during consultations.
Anything they see immediately before or after a consultation cannot be used for decision making, in what the agency deems strict rules necessary to protect claimants “dignity”.
Consultations between practitioners and ADP clients can take place via phone, video call, at a local public venue or in the client’s own home.
Social Security Scotland said health and social care is “an integral part of operational delivery, supporting decision making by providing advice via case discussion and quality assurance processes in relation to new applications, reviews, redeterminations and appeals”.
Assessments are undertaken where there is specific need for additional information during the application and decision making process and can be requested by the client themselves.
As well as consultations, they “focus on verifying and supporting decisions through assessment of a wide range of supporting information”, the agency added.
The Scotsman also exclusively told how Scotland’s benefits agency is failing to implement safeguards designed to protect thousands of disabled Scots.
Measures were introduced to prevent financial abuse and fraud in the wake of the murder of vulnerable teenager Margaret Fleming, who was killed by her carers in Inverclyde.
They hid her death for 17 years while continuing to claim her benefits and her body has never been found.
When a person is incapable of dealing with their financial affairs and they do not have a guardian or power of attorney, an “appointee” is allocated to receive benefits on their behalf.
New legislation was passed that states Social Security Scotland is legally required to carry out face-to-face checks on those who have been deemed unable to mange their own money and their appointee.
However, new figures released under freedom of information legislation show just 8600 recipients out of 33,000 have so far received in-person checks.
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