The Scotland Act 2016 devolves a range of social security powers to the Scottish Parliament. This briefing provides information on the following:
• Discretionary payments: to top‐up reserved benefits
• Discretionary housing payments (DHPs)
• Discretionary payments and assistance
• Power to create new benefits
The briefing covers the background to the development of these provisions in the Scotland Act 2016 and information on the current arrangements regarding DHPs and the Scottish Welfare Fund.
This briefing is part of a series of briefings SPICe has prepared on the social security powers in the Scotland Act 2016.
Read SPICe briefing:
Published: 03 June 2016