Child Disability Payment (Scotland)

Does your child qualify for CDP?

To get CDP, your child must:

• be under 16 (but see below);
• pass the care component disability test and/or the mobility component disability test;
• meet the qualifying periods condition;
• pass the residence and presence tests; and
• not be subject to immigration control.

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When your child reaches the age of 16

You cannot make a new claim for CDP once your child has reached the age of 16. However, if you are already getting CDP for your child once they reach the age of 16, it can continue to be paid up until their 18^th birthday (this upper age limit does not apply if your child is terminally ill, in this case CDP can continue after their 18th birthday until Social Security Scotland transfers the award, with your child's consent, to adult disability payment). CDP can continue to be paid up until their 19^th birthday if they:

• made a claim for adult disability payment before their 18^th birthday and are waiting for the claim to be processed; 
• turned 18 before 1 January 2024, have moved to Scotland before their 18th birthday and were getting disability living allowance (DLA) when they moved; or
• turned 18 before 1 January 2024 and have moved from DLA to CDP.

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CDP disability test: the care component

For the lowest rate of the care component, your child must need attention in connection with their bodily functions for a significant part of the day (which can be during one or more periods).

For the middle rate of the care component, your child must meet one of the following conditions. They need:

during the day:

• frequent attention throughout the day in connection with their bodily functions; or
• continual supervision throughout the day to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others;

or at night:

• prolonged or repeated attention in connection with their bodily functions; or
• another person to be awake for a prolonged period or at frequent intervals to watch over them in order to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others.

For the highest rate of the care component, your child must meet either of the following. They:

• have one of the day needs and one of the night needs conditions shown above; or
• are terminally ill.

In addition to the above tests, your child’s care, supervision or watching-over needs must also be substantially greater than those of a child of the same age who is in normal physical and mental health.

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CDP disability test: the mobility component

For the lower rate of the mobility component, your child must:

• need guidance or supervision with walking on unfamiliar routes because of their mental or physical disablement. They must need substantially more guidance or supervision than a child of the same age who is in normal physical or mental health.

Your child cannot receive the lower rate of the mobility component until they reach the age of five.

For the higher rate of the mobility component, your child must meet one of the following conditions. They must:

• be unable to walk;
• be virtually unable to walk; 
• have no legs or feet (from birth or through amputation);
• qualify for the highest rate of the CDP care component, be severely mentally impaired and show extremely disruptive and dangerous behaviour;
• have a severe visual impairment;
• be both blind and deaf and need the assistance of another person to walk out of doors; or
• the exertion required to walk would constitute a danger to their life or would be likely to lead to a serious deterioration in their health.

Your child cannot receive the higher rate of the mobility component until they reach the age of three.

Any artificial aids used, such as a prosthetic limb or walking frame, are taken into account when considering your child's mobility needs, except for cases where they are claiming on the grounds that they have no legs or feet.

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CDP qualifying periods condition

Your child will need to have met the disability tests for 13 weeks before the claim and must also be likely to continue to meet these tests for at least 26 weeks after the claim. This rule does not apply if your child is terminally ill.

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CDP residence and presence tests

To qualify for CDP, your child will have to satisfy the residence and presence tests. For this, they must:

• normally have been present in Great Britain for 26 weeks in the last 52 weeks. If your child is under 6 months old, they only need to be present for 13 weeks up until they are one year old; and
• be habitually resident in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands, the Republic of Ireland or the Isle of Man.

'Present' means physically present in Great Britain. There are specific rules that may allow your child to be treated as present during a temporary absence. If your child is terminally ill or has been granted refugee leave or humanitarian protection, they only have to be currently present in Great Britain - they do not need to have been present in Great Britain for 26 weeks in the last 52 weeks before claiming.

There is no legal definition of 'habitual residence'. Relevant factors are where your child normally lives, where they expect to live in future, their reasons for coming to this country, the length of time spent abroad before they came here, and any ties they still have with the country they have come from.

The rules for residence and presence are complicated. For more information, see our Disability Rights Handbook.

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How much is CDP?

From 8 April 2024, the weekly rates for the care component are:

lowest rate - £28.70
middle rate - £72.65
highest rate - £108.55

The weekly rates for the mobility component are:

lower rate - £28.70
higher rate - £75.75

Your child can only receive one rate from each component.

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How to claim CDP

You can claim online at: www.mygov.scot/child-disability-payment/how-to-apply. Alternatively, call Social Security Scotland (0800 182 2222). In either case, the application is in two parts, unless your child is terminally ill, in which case only the first part will apply.

If you are phoning, Social Security Scotland will ask for basic details about you and the child; they will then send you a claim-form to complete and return.

When you complete the first part of the online application or make the phone call, the claim will be registered. In an online claim, you will need to create a username and password to register. Keep a record of these in a safe place; you can use them to come back to the claim at any time. You do not need to complete it in one go.

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Keeping a diary

If you are claiming CDP for your child, keeping a diary of their day-to-day needs can improve the chances of success. It can also be important when trying to expain needs that fluctuate either during a single day or over a longer period.

One-day diary - The simplest form of diary would be an account of your child's needs over a typical day. Start from the time your child gets up in the morning, through a 24-hour period, ending with the time they get up the following morning. Try to list all the times when they need help from someone else and how it is different to the help needed by other children of the same age. When you write something down, try to answer the following questions: 

• what help do they need?
• why do they need the help?
• at what time do they need help? and
• how long do they need the help for?

If your child's needs vary from day to day, keep the diary over a few days to get a clearer picture of their needs.

Long-term diary - Long-term diaries can be useful when explaining more sporadic problems caused by your child's condition, such as falls or fits. If your child needs continual supervision or watching over, such a diary can show exactly what happened or what could have happened if someone had not been there to stop it.

Making use of the diary

Once you have finshed the diary, write the following information on it:

• your full name and your child's name;
• your date of birth;
• your national insurance number; and
• the words 'Child Disability Payment'.

Make several copies of the diary. Attach a copy to the claim-form (if you are claiming CDP online. you can save a scan of your document or take a picture with a smartphone. You can then upload your scan or picture to Social Security Scotland).

Keep a copy of the diary for yourself. Finally, you should send copies of the diary to anyone that you have listed on the claim-form, such as the paediatrician, GP or support worker.

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How the claim is assessed

Your child’s claim will be assessed using existing supporting information only. This could include:

• a social care needs assessment;
• a report from an educational psychologist; or
• a wellbeing plan.

Social Security Scotland will assume responsibility for gathering this information, but you will be able to suggest who would be best to contact when you make the claim.

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CDP in hospital

If your child goes into hospital, CDP should continue to be paid indefinitely, as long as your child continues to meet the other qualifying conditions.

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What if I disagree with a CDP decision?

If you are not happy with the decision on the claim, you can ask for a redetermination of the decision. To ask for a redetermination, call Social Security Scotland on 0800 182 2222 (Relay UK 18001 then 0300 244 4000). If you are deaf and use British Sign Language, you can use a video relay service (https://contactscotland-bsl.org/). You can also download a paper redetermination form to complete and send off (www.mygov.scot/request-redetermination-paper-form).

You have 42 days from the day that you are you are informed of your right to a redetermination (which will be on the decision notice) to ask for one. Social Security Scotland must deal with your redetermination within 56 days.

You should get local help to challenge your decision. Enter your postcode on the advicelocal website and find an advice centre in your area.

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Find out more

This resource makes reference in several places to our resources glossary. Definitions of terms in this resource and others on our website are found there.

Advice

Use advicelocal to get advice in your area.

See also our Getting Advice guide.

Find out more

If you are an adviser see our Disability Rights Handbook.

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