Winter Heating Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Amendment Regulations: scrutiny report

The Commission notes one remaining anomaly resulting from the Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Amendment Regulations, which were in draft form at the time of writing. Once made, these will amend the DACYP Regulations so that young people can continue to receive CDP after their 18th birthday in specific circumstances. No upper age limit for receipt of CDP in these circumstances is set, so although it is likely to be very rare for an award to continue to the 19th birthday or beyond, it may occasionally occur in the case of awards under the special rules for terminal illness or unusual administrative delays to a PIP or adult disability payment application. So it is possible that there will be a very small cohort of individuals aged 19 or older who are entitled to CDP but not to CWHA. However, it is reasonable to limit CWHA entitlements to children and young people aged 18 and under. To extend eligibility to one small group of adults would raise the question of why others should not also benefit. The Scottish Government may, of course, wish to consider in the future whether adult recipients of disability assistance or a reserved disability benefit also require additional help with winter heating costs, in which case it should ensure adults in receipt of CDP are not excluded.