THE year may not have started as most of us would have hoped, with a new Covid-19 lockdown in place. This brings all kinds of challenges, including possibly the need for many people with a long-term health conditions to take additional steps to stay safe; additional caring responsibilities; and the balancing of childcare and home schooling with other pressures such as working at home.

There is also the economic impact of Covid, which is being felt by many and will not go away just because restrictions ease.

Our new social security system is there to help. People on low incomes can get extra money to help with the costs of having young children, there is support there for young carers and young people who are fortunate enough to be finding work right now.

There is money available to help people on certain benefits or tax credits should they lose a loved one and be responsible for the costs of a funeral. And we have introduced a Self-Isolation Support Grant if you are on a low income and on benefits and will lose money if you need to self-isolate.

We’ve also prioritised the introduction of the game-changing Scottish Child Payment, putting an extra £40 every four weeks into the pockets of eligible families. This starts on February 15. The first payments will roll out from the end of that month and you can apply now. The Scottish Child Payment isn’t the only big addition to our social security service in 2021. This year we will take our first applications for disability assistance.

Delivering disability assistance brings new challenges and is more complex than anything else we have done to date. The new Covid restrictions will impact on our staff and delivery partners. But we are in a good place and worked hard last year to progress with the design and set up of this new benefit.

We are looking forward to taking our first applications as part of a pilot this summer in Dundee, Perth and Kinross and the Western Isles.

From autumn, families across Scotland will be able to apply for Child Disability Payment, our replacement for the UK Government’s Disability Living Allowance for children. This is for families of children and young people with a disability or long-term health condition and will help with the associated additional costs.

There will be no need for families currently in receipt of Disability Living Allowance for children to re-apply for the benefit, as we will contact them as part of our case transfer process.

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This new benefit will be an important step in establishing our new service. We want to make sure that people know this support is available for them and their families. We will continue to work with disabled people’s organisations and third-sector partners to get information to those who need it. We will run accessible awareness raising campaigns to make sure that those who need this help know it is there and how to access it.

And we will make it as easy as possible for people to apply for disability assistance. People will be able to apply for Child Disability Payment online, which is a first in Scotland, as well as having the option to apply by phone, post and – subject to progress with the pandemic – face to face, when safe and practical to do so. If applicants need face-to-face support, they will be able to make an appointment to access this at a time and place that is most convenient for them.

Taking our first applications for disability assistance is the next big step for our social security system. Like other benefits we will do things differently from the current UK system and deliver disability assistance that is centred on the needs of people from application onwards.