Background
4.The Scotland Act 2016 devolved new social security powers to Scotland, giving the Scottish Parliament the power to create additional benefits, replace existing benefits with new benefits or other payments and to determine the structure and value of such provision. The legal framework under which nine types of social security assistance(1), as well as carer’s allowance supplement, would be given to people by the Scottish Government was then outlined in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (“the 2018 Act”).
5.Section 81 of the 2018 Act places a statutory duty on the Scottish Ministers to pay a supplement on a twice-yearly basis to persons who, on the qualifying date for the supplement, are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance and resident in Scotland (or otherwise meet the eligibility conditions referred to in section 81(2A) of the 2018 Act). The section provides for the Scottish Ministers to determine the “qualifying date”(2) in each half of the financial year and for the calculation of the amount of the supplement.
6.Paragraph 6 of schedule 1 of the Coronavirus (Scotland) (No.2) Act 2020 previously modified section 81 of the 2018 Act so as to increase by £230.10 the amount of carer’s allowance supplement in respect of the period of 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020. This, in effect, doubled the amount of the supplement in respect of that period. Section 1 of the Carer’s Allowance Supplement (Scotland) Act 2021 makes similar provision by increasing by £231.40 the amount of the carer’s allowance supplement in respect of the period of 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. This, in effect, doubles the amount of supplement in respect of this further period.