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Children's Handbook Scotland | 2024/25

7. Child disability payment

• Who can get child disability payment
• Disability test: care component
• Disability test: mobility component
• Amount of benefit

Child disability payment (CDP) has replaced disability living allowance (DLA) for children in Scotland. It was introduced for new claims in pilot areas from 26 July 2021 and rolled out across the rest of Scotland for new claims from 22 November 2021.

It is a benefit for children with mobility problems and/or care needs as a result of a disability or health condition.

CDP is not means tested and you do not have to have paid any national insurance contributions to get it.

Social Security Scotland is responsible for the administration of CDP.

Who can get child disability payment

• Disability test: care component
• Disability test: mobility component

Your child qualifies for CDP if:1s31 and Sch 5 SS(S)A 2018; reg 3 DACYP(S) Regs

•they normally live in Scotland and satisfy certain other residence and presence conditions and they are not a ‘person subject to immigration control’. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for details; and
•they are under 16 when you first claim. If they are entitled when they are under 16, it can continue to be paid until they are 18; and
•they are terminally ill (see below) or they satisfy the disability test for the care component (see here) and/or the mobility component (see here), and have done so for the last 13 weeks and are likely to continue to do so for the next 26 weeks.2Reg 11(3), 12(6) and 13(10) DACYP(S) Regs

Terminal illness

For CDP, ‘terminally ill’ means that, in the judgement of a registered medical practitioner or a registered nurse, who is involved in the child’s care or diagnosis, the child has a progressive disease that can be reasonably expected to cause death.3Sch 5 para 1(2) SS(S)A 2018; reg 15 DACYP(S) Regs The medical practitioner or nurse must have regard to the guidance published by the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland.4Sch 5 para 1(3) SS(S)A 2018; reg 15(7) DACYP(S) Regs If the child is terminally ill, they should get the highest rate of the care component and, if they are aged three or over, the higher rate of the mobility component.

 

1     s31 and Sch 5 SS(S)A 2018; reg 3 DACYP(S) Regs »

2     Reg 11(3), 12(6) and 13(10) DACYP(S) Regs »

3     Sch 5 para 1(2) SS(S)A 2018; reg 15 DACYP(S) Regs »

4     Sch 5 para 1(3) SS(S)A 2018; reg 15(7) DACYP(S) Regs »

Disability test: care component

The child might get the care component if they have a physical or mental disability which means they have extra care needs or need extra supervision.

It can be paid at either the lowest, middle or highest rate.

A child gets the lowest rate if they need attention in connection with bodily functions (see here) for a significant portion of the day. This attention might be given all at once or spread out. It should normally add up to about an hour or more, or be made up of several brief periods. If the child is age 16 or over, the lowest rate can be awarded on the basis that, as a result of a physical or mental disability, they cannot prepare a cooked meal for one person if they have the ingredients.

A child gets the middle rate if they need care either during the day or during the night, but not both. They get the middle rate if they meet one (or both) of the day care conditions or one (or both) of the night care conditions. Some children can get the middle rate care component if they are having renal dialysis.

A child gets the highest rate if they need care both during the day and the night. They get the highest rate if they meet one (or both) of the day care conditions and one (or both) of the night care conditions. Alternatively, they should get the highest rate if they are terminally ill (see here). Some children can get the highest rate care component if they are having renal dialysis.

There is no lower age limit for the care component. A child under 16 must show that their care needs are substantially in excess of the normal needs of other children of the same age without a disability, or similar to those of a younger child without a disability.

 

Day care conditions

•A child needs frequent attention throughout the day in connection with their bodily functions (see here). This means they may qualify if they need help several times (not just once or twice) spread throughout the day.
•A child needs continual supervision throughout the day in order to avoid substantial danger to themself or others. The supervision needs to be frequent but need not be literally continuous.

 

Night care conditions

•A child needs prolonged or repeated attention at night in connection with their bodily functions (see here). They should qualify if they need help once in the night for 20 minutes or more. They should also qualify if they need help twice in the night (or more often), however long it takes.
•In order to avoid substantial danger to themself or others, a child needs another person to be awake at night for a prolonged period (20 minutes or more) or at frequent intervals (three times or more) to watch over them.

 

Attention with bodily functions

This is help from someone to do personal things a child cannot do entirely by themself. Bodily functions are things like breathing, hearing, seeing, eating, drinking, walking, sitting, sleeping, getting into or out of bed, dressing, undressing, communicating and using the toilet. Any help in connection with an impaired bodily function counts if it involves personal contact (physical or verbal in the child’s presence) and it is reasonably required.

Disability test: mobility component

A child can get either the lower rate or the higher rate mobility component.

The lower rate is for children who can walk but need guidance or supervision. A child qualifies if they are able to walk, but a mental or physical disability means they cannot walk outdoors without guidance or supervision from someone else most of the time.

A child can still qualify if they are able to manage on familiar routes. If they cannot manage without guidance or supervision on unfamiliar routes, or cannot manage anywhere, they should qualify. They must need substantially more guidance or supervision than a child of the same age without a disability would need.

The higher rate is for children who cannot walk or who have great difficulty walking because of a physical disability, or on the basis that they are ‘teminally ill’ (see here). A child qualifies if:

•they are unable to walk; or
•they have no legs or no feet; or
•they are virtually unable to walk. This takes account of the distance you can walk before you feel severe discomfort. There is no set distance at which you fail the test. Some people have passed who can walk 100 metres, others have failed who can walk only 50 metres. The speed at which you walk and how you walk also count; or
•the exertion required to walk would lead to a danger to their life or could lead to a serious deterioration in their health; or
•they are deaf and blind; or
•they are severely visually impaired; or
•they are terminally ill (see here).

A child who is ‘severely mentally impaired’ may also qualify if they get the highest rate care component and meet other conditions. This can help a child with, for example, severe learning disabilities and disruptive behaviour to get the higher rate of the mobility component even if they are physically able to walk.

A child must be at least age three to get the higher rate mobility component and at least age five to get the lower rate mobility component.

Amount of benefit

Weekly rate
Care component
Lowest rate	£28.70
Middle rate	£72.65
Highest rate	£108.55
Mobility component
Lower rate	£28.70
Higher rate	£75.75

A child winter heating assistance payment is payable if a child is getting CDP care component at the highest rate. This is an annual payment of £251.50. You do not have to make a claim for child winter heating assistance - it should be paid automatically by Social Security Scotland in November.

A child is eligible for child winter heating assistance if they are:1WHACYP(S) Regs

•getting (or would be getting if they were not resident in a care home) the highest rate of the care component during the third week of September; and
•aged under 19; and
•resident in Scotland.

 

1     WHACYP(S) Regs »