The Scottish Welfare Fund is made up of two types of grants which do not have to be repaid:

• Crisis Grants

• Community Care Grants.

Crisis Grants

Crisis grants can be given to people to cover the costs of an emergency, such as:

• A fire or flood

• Needing to move away from domestic abuse

• An unexpected change at work

• Taking on responsibility for a child who needs your help.

Community Care Grants

Community Care Grants are for people who need a bit of help to be able to live independently.

They can be awarded to help:

• People leaving care facilities or prison to pay to set up their new home

• People who might need to go into a care facility if they don't get some help

• People setting up home in the community when they have been homeless

• Families facing a lot of pressure and who don't have enough money to pay for the things they need to keep their children safe and secure

• People who are caring for a prisoner or young offender on release on temporary licence.

• People who are escaping from domestic abuse

• People who need money to protect a child's health..

Applies to: Scotland

Age rules: You must be aged 16 or over

Type of benefit: Means-tested

Administered by: Local authorities

You must be on a low income to get help from the Scottish Welfare Fund. 

There is no set definition of what this means, but it generally means your income should be similar to the income of someone getting benefits like Universal Credit or Pension Credit.

You must usually have less than £700 in savings to get a grant if you are under pension age. If you are over pension age, then you must usually have less than £1,200 in savings.

There is a fixed budget for each local authority so applications will be prioritised according to local authority rules around need and circumstances.

You can apply to the Scottish Welfare Fund by contacting your Local Authority.

Applications may be made face to face, on the phone, via on-line applications or by downloading and posting a form, subject to the Local Authority’s ability to provide these options.
 

If you are refused a Scottish Welfare Fund grant, you can ask your local authority to review the decision.

If you don’t agree with their decision, you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to review the decision.