We know that 53 per cent of adult disability payment decisions were made in under four months, but we also know that many other applicants are waiting for too long. Social Security Scotland is taking urgent and concerted action to speed up the process. The focus is on getting decisions right first time. Statistics show that that approach is working, with only 6 per cent of people asking for redeterminations.

People can also be assured that Social Security Scotland will backdate all payments to the date of application and will continue to deliver this benefit in a different way, through supporting people to apply and collecting information on their behalf. Under the previous system, people had to do that themselves before applying.