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Children's Handbook Scotland | 2022/23

14. Income support

• Who can get income support
• Groups of people who can get income support
• Amount of benefit
• Step one: work out your capital
• Step two: work out your applicable amount
• Step three: work out your weekly income
• Step four: deduct weekly income from applicable amount

Note: income support (IS) is being replaced by universal credit (UC) and you cannot make a new claim for IS. Eventually, claimants who are on IS will be transferred to UC.

IS provides basic financial support for some people under pension age (see here) who are not expected to ‘sign on’ as available for work – eg, lone parents with a child under a certain age and people caring for a disabled person. IS is a means-tested benefit, so any income and savings you have may affect how much IS you get or whether you are entitled. You do not have to have paid any national insurance contributions to get IS.

The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the administration of IS.

Who can get income support

• Groups of people who can get income support

If you are not in the UC system, you qualify for IS if:1s124 SSCBA 1992

•you are aged at least 16 and under pension age (see here); and
•you fit into one of the groups of people who can get IS (see here); and
•you are not working for 16 hours or more a week; and
•your partner, if you have one, is not working for 24 hours or more a week (there are some exceptions to this); and
•you are not studying full time (there are some exceptions to this rule); and
•you are not entitled to jobseeker’s allowance (JSA); and
•you are not entitled to employment and support allowance (ESA) and your partner, if you have one, is not entitled to income-related ESA; and
•your partner, if you have one, is not entitled to income-based JSA or pension credit (PC); and
•you are present in Great Britain, satisfy the ‘habitual residence test’, including having the ‘right to reside’, and are not a ‘person subject to immigration control’. (You can sometimes be paid IS for the first four or eight weeks you are outside Britain.) These terms are explained in CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook; and
•you have no more than £16,000 capital; and
•your income is less than the set amount the law says you need to live on (known as your ‘applicable amount’ – see here).

 

1     s124 SSCBA 1992 »

Groups of people who can get income support

You can get IS if:1Reg 4ZA and Sch 1B IS Regs

•you are a carer and you get carer’s allowance (CA) (see here), or you are looking after someone who is getting attendance allowance (AA) (see here), either rate of the daily living component of personal independence payment (PIP – see here), or the middle or highest rate care component of disability living allowance (DLA – see here) or child disability payment (CDP – see here), or you are looking after someone who has claimed these benefits in the last 26 weeks and is waiting for a decision; or
•you are a lone parent with a child aged under five; or
•you are on statutory sick pay (SSP); or
•you are looking after your partner or child because s/he is temporarily ill; or
•you are looking after a child whose parent is temporarily ill or away; or
•you are fostering a child aged under 16 through the local authority (or an agency on behalf of the local authority) and you do not have a partner; or
•you are a kinship carer of a looked-after child aged under 16 and you do not have a partner; or
•you are not a member of a couple and a child aged under 16 has been placed with you for adoption; or
•you are expecting a child in less than 11 weeks, you had a baby in the last 15 weeks, or you are incapable of work because of your pregnancy.

There are some limited additional groups of people who can get IS. For more details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

If you are a member of a couple, one of you gets IS for both of you. Your joint income and capital is taken into account.

 

1     Reg 4ZA and Sch 1B IS Regs »

Amount of benefit

• Step one: work out your capital
• Step two: work out your applicable amount
• Step three: work out your weekly income
• Step four: deduct weekly income from applicable amount

The amount of IS you get depends on your circumstances and on the circumstances of your partner, if you have one. The amount also depends on your income and capital. Go through the following steps to work out the amount of IS to which you are entitled.

Step one: work out your capital

If your capital is over £16,000, you cannot get IS.1s134 SSCBA 1992; reg 45 IS Regs Some kinds of capital are ignored. For details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

 

1     s134 SSCBA 1992; reg 45 IS Regs »

Step two: work out your applicable amount

This is an amount for basic weekly needs. It is made up of personal allowances (see here), premiums (see here) and housing costs (see here). On 6 April 2004, personal allowances and premiums for children were abolished for all new IS claims and for anyone claiming child tax credit (CTC). Amounts for children are paid through CTC and child benefit instead. If you were getting IS with amounts for children included before 6 April 2004, your IS may continue to include these amounts.

If a child becomes part of your family for the first time or returns to the family, you cannot get IS personal allowances and premiums for that child unless you already get these for another child in the family. See here for details of child personal allowances and premiums.

Personal allowance

Your personal allowance is made up of a personal allowance at either the single, lone parent or couple rate, depending on your situation.1Sch 2 para 1 IS Regs

Circumstances	£ per week	Conditions
Single
Under 25	61.05	No special conditions.
25 or over	77.00	No special conditions.
Lone parent
Under 18	61.05	No special conditions.
18 or over	77.00	No special conditions.
Couple
Both aged 16/17 (lower rate)	61.05	For couples who cannot get a higher rate .
Both aged 16/17 (higher rate)	92.20	You get the higher rate if:
		– you or your partner are responsible for a child; or
		– you and your partner would be eligible to claim IS or income-related ESA if you were single; or
		– your partner is eligible for income-based JSA or entitled to severe hardship payments of JSA.
One aged 16/17 (certain cases)	121.05	Your partner is under 18 and is eligible for IS or income-related ESA, or would be if s/he were single, or s/he is eligible for income-based JSA or entitled to severe hardship payments of JSA.
One aged 16/17, one 18–24	61.05	If the rate above does not apply.
One aged 16/17, one 25 or over	77.00	If the rate above does not apply.
Both aged 18 or over	121.05	No special conditions.

Premiums

Whether or not you qualify for premiums depends on your circumstances. You can qualify for either:

•disability premium of £36.20 (£51.60 for a couple); or
•pensioner premium of £157.65 for couples.

In addition, you may qualify for:2Sch 2 para 6 IS Regs

•carer premium of £38.85; and/or
•enhanced disability premium of £17.75 (£25.35 for a couple); and/or
•severe disability premium of £69.40.

You get a carer premium if you or your partner are entitled to CA (see here). If you are entitled to CA but not paid it because it overlaps with another benefit (eg, ESA), you still qualify for a carer premium. You get two carer premiums if both you and your partner qualify.

You get a disability premium if you or your partner get:3Sch 2 paras 11 and 12 IS Regs

•AA, DLA, PIP or adult disability payment (ADP); or
•long-term incapacity benefit; or
•severe disability allowance; or
•working tax credit with a disabled worker or severe disability element; or
•war pensioner’s mobility supplement; or
•armed forces independence payment; or
•constant attendance allowance; or
•exceptionally severe disablement allowance.

You also qualify if:

•you are certified as severely sight impaired or blind or have stopped being certified within the last 28 weeks; or
•you have been entitled to SSP for a continuous period of 196 days and you are terminally ill (breaks in entitlement of up to eight weeks are ignored); or
•you have claimed IS on the grounds of incapacity for at least 364 days.

If you are the IS claimant and you have a partner, you get a disability premium if s/he gets any of the qualifying benefits or is blind.

You get an enhanced disability premium if you get the highest rate DLA care component or the enhanced rate of PIP or ADP daily living component. It is paid at the rate of £17.75 if you qualify and are single or a lone parent, or £25.35 if you have a partner and one or both of you qualifies.4Sch 2 paras 13A and 15(8) IS Regs

People who have reached pension age usually claim PC rather than IS. However, you get a pensioner premium if you are claiming IS and you have a partner who has reached pension age (see here).5Sch 2 paras 9, 9A and 10 IS Regs In this situation, you would not get the enhanced disability premium.

The severe disability premium is for severely disabled people who live alone, or can be treated as living alone. You qualify for this premium if you get the middle or highest rate care component of DLA , the daily living component of PIP/ADP or either rate of AA and no one gets CA for looking after you. You will not get it if you live with another person aged 18 or over (eg, a friend or parent), unless s/he is separately liable for rent, you only share a bathroom or hallway, or in some other circumstances.6Sch 2 para 13 IS Regs See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for details.

If you have a partner, you do not qualify unless s/he also qualifies in her/his own right or is certified as severely sight impaired or blind. If you both qualify, you get two premiums.

Housing costs

If you own your own home, IS can help with certain service charges.7Sch 3 IS Regs The rules are explained in CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

Claiming for children

Since 6 April 2004, personal allowances and premiums for children have no longer been included in new IS claims or for anyone claiming CTC. If you were getting IS with amounts for children included before 6 April 2004, it is possible you may still be getting them, although this is now extremely unusual.

The personal allowance for each dependent child is £70.80. This may be subject to the ‘two-child limit’ (see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for more details). Also included are whichever of the following premiums applies:

•family premium of £17.85;
•disabled child premium of £68.04 for each qualifying child;
•enhanced disability premium (child) of £27.44.

You get a family premium if you have a dependent child (under 16, or under 20 and a qualifying young person – see here). You get one premium per family, not per child.8Sch 2 para 3 IS Regs

You get a disabled child premium for each dependent child who gets DLA, CDP, PIP, ADP or is certified as severely sight impaired or blind or has stopped being certified in the last 28 weeks.9Sch 2 para 14 IS Regs

You get an enhanced disability premium for each child who gets the highest rate care component of DLA or or CDP or enhanced rate daily living component of PIP or ADP.10Sch 2 para 13A IS Regs

 

1     Sch 2 para 1 IS Regs »

2     Sch 2 para 6 IS Regs »

3     Sch 2 paras 11 and 12 IS Regs »

4     Sch 2 paras 13A and 15(8) IS Regs »

5     Sch 2 paras 9, 9A and 10 IS Regs »

6     Sch 2 para 13 IS Regs »

7     Sch 3 IS Regs »

8     Sch 2 para 3 IS Regs »

9     Sch 2 para 14 IS Regs »

10     Sch 2 para 13A IS Regs »

Step three: work out your weekly income

Some kinds of income are ignored. For details, see CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook.

See the relevant chapters of this Handbook for more information on how specific income (eg, fostering allowances and payments from the local authority) is treated.

Step four: deduct weekly income from applicable amount

If your income is less than your applicable amount, IS equals the difference between the two.

If your income is the same as or more than your applicable amount, you cannot get IS.