PKC Welfare Rights Team

Good morning Perth and Kinross 🥰

Yesterday we delivered Welfare Rights and Welfare Fund training to our Partners at Broke Not Broken at our LochLeven Campus.

A fantastic community support team.

Thank you for having us and we'll see you soon 🥰

Good afternoon Perth and Kinross,

One of our Welfare Rights Officers, Bernie, will be at Goodlyburn Primary School this afternoon if any parents/carers would like to drop in for benefits advice or information on what entitlements may be available to you.

There's no need to make an appointment, you're more than welcome to rock up at the school and ask to speak with Bernie.

She'll be available from 2-4pm this afternoon🥰

Good morning Perth and Kinross! 🥰

Help is available for those struggling with the cost of alternative fuel (oil and LPG).

The Scottish Emergency Heating Oil Scheme.

The scheme aims to support households facing increased costs of oil or LPG for heating.

More information is available on the website homeheatingadvice.scot, which will go live on Tuesday, 31 March.

Applications will open online on Wednesday, 1 April, or households can call 0800 048 7413 for assistance.

Payment will be made directly to the supplier wherever possible.
Eligibility

To qualify for a payment, you must meet the following criteria:

• You are the bill payer in a home for which the primary heating fuel is oil or liquid petroleum gas (LPG).
• The home is your only or main residence.
• You have purchased fuel after 1 April 2026 or are planning to make an order shortly.
• No award has been made to the same household at the same address in the last three calendar months.

Automatic Qualification

You will qualify automatically if you receive any of the following means-tested low-income social security benefits:
• Universal Credit (including Scottish Child Payment)
• Housing Benefit
• Income Support
• Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income-based Employment Support Allowance (ESA)
• Pension Credit

Discretionary Qualification
You may also qualify through a discretionary decision if you:

• Are in financial hardship, but not currently receiving a low-income benefit, and
• Are at risk of self-rationing, plus meet one or more of the following conditions:
o Priority need for heat or higher energy consumption due to impaired health, age (under 5 or over 75), disability, chronic or serious illness, long-term condition, mental health issue, recent hospital discharge, or end-of-life care.
o Priority need for heat due to geography or rurality.
o Other vulnerability, such as debt, waiting for a benefits decision or appeal, major life event, or recent bereavement.

Good evening Perth and Kinross🥰

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Next in our series of Council Tax reducing scenarios is...the "Disablement Reduction" and the "Severe Mental Impairment Exemption".

Jean got in touch with us recently because she was struggling after she renewed her mortgage (increase in interest rates). Her husband, Tam was recently diagnosed with dementia and uses a wheelchair indoors due to a rapid decline in his mobility caused by a neurological condition.

A comprehensive benefit check identified a Severe Mental Impairment exemption for Tam from Council Tax because he was in receipt of an award of any rate of the Daily Living component of Adult Disability Payment and he had a diagnosis of dementia.

We also identified a further Council Tax reduction because he uses a wheelchair indoors. This meant that also they qualified for a "downbanding" which meant that their liability reduced down a Council Tax Band.

What this meant for the couple:

👉Their Council Tax liability reduced by around £700 for the year from Band E to Band D.
👉Tam was no longer liable for Council Tax so they received a 25% discount which was a further £600 reduction for the year.
👉Both were backdated for a little over 6 months as this was the time that Tam became eligible and so they were eligible for a £750 refund.
👉Instead of having the refund paid to them they decided to pay it towards their next year's liability so they could reduce their direct debit and make things even more affordable for them throughout the year.

When they first got in touch their Council Tax direct debit was almost £300 per month over 10 months but once we'd helped with a couple of forms their direct debit reduced to £175 per month over 10 months. Paying their refund towards their ongoing reduced that even further to £100 per month over 10 months.

What's really important is that neither of these reductions/exemptions are impacted by income, earnings or capital as they're not means-tested.

The Disablement Reduction doesn't only apply to adults using wheelchairs indoors, it also applies when a child in the household uses a wheelchair indoors.

If any of Jean and Tam's story resonates with you or someone you know then please get in touch with us either via our online form: www.pkc.gov.uk/wrt or give us a call on 01738 476900 (option 1).

Contact the Welfare Rights Team - Perth & Kinross Council Most people claim benefits at some point in their lives depending on their circumstances. The welfare benefits system can be complicated and it is not always clear what benefits, if any, someone may be entitled to.

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Good afternoon Perth and Kinross! This message is long-winded but we're hoping it's worth it 😍

Did you know that your Council Tax liability may reduce if someone in your household (that isn't your partner/spouse) is aged 18 or over and is in receipt of:

👉 the higher rate of Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP), or
👉the enhanced rate of the Daily Living component of Adult Disability Payment (ADP), or
👉the highest rate of the care component of Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance?

AND you care for them for at least 35 hours per week.

Example:

Kate and Jimmy live with their adult daughter Maria who is 20 and her siblings James and Keith (twin boys aged 10).

Kate and Jimmy are both working.

Maria is in receipt of the enhanced daily living component of ADP.

Both Kate and Jimmy qualify for a "Carer's Disregard" due to the amount of care Maria needs and because she's in receipt of the correct level of benefit.

This means that their Council Tax liability reduces by 25% so instead of paying around £2,000 in Council Tax, their liability reduces to around £1,500.

This reduction in liability is non-means-tested so it doesn't matter how much the couple earn or how much capital they have.

Not only that but because Maria has been in receipt of this level of benefit since her 18th birthday, the couple are eligible for a reduction in their liability from that date...wee refund in the post😁

If this household scenario resembles yours, or that of someone you know, then please get in touch with us via online referral @ www.pkc.gov.uk/wrt or give us a call next week on 01738 476900 (option 1).

Contact the Welfare Rights Team - Perth & Kinross Council Most people claim benefits at some point in their lives depending on their circumstances. The welfare benefits system can be complicated and it is not always clear what benefits, if any, someone may be entitled to.

Removal of 2-Child Limit from Universal Credit.

From April the DWP is removing the 2-Child Limit from Universal Credit and this is good news, however, once this happens some families will continue to have their income reduced as the Benefit Cap will then apply.

This is most likely to impact households with 3 children or more.

We would urge any household with 3 children or more to get in touch to find out if they are missing out on any entitlements.

The Benefit Cap can be prevented if other benefits such as Carers Support Payment or disability benefits are in payment.

If you think you may be impacted then please get in touch via our online form .pkc.gov.uk/wrt or via phone on 01738 476900 (option 1).

Good afternoon Perth and Kinross!

We have been receiving a lot of enquiries about the Oil Heating Funding announced by Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government has announced that Advice Direct Scotland will be administering the payments.

We will update the page as we know more.

In the meantime and as always if you, or someone you know, is struggling with the cost of living then please get in touch to find out if you could be missing out on entitlements.

You can refer online @ www.pkc.gov.uk/wrt or via phone on 01738 476900 (option 1).

Contact the Welfare Rights Team - Perth & Kinross Council Most people claim benefits at some point in their lives depending on their circumstances. The welfare benefits system can be complicated and it is not always clear what benefits, if any, someone may be entitled to.

Council Tax Reduction (CTR)

You can apply for up to 100% reduction in your Council Tax (excluding water/wastewater charges) if you are on a low income and have capital below a certain level (usually £16,000).

Visit www.pkc.gov.uk/ctrhbapply to apply online or for more information.

For information on further support available, visit www.pkc.gov.uk/costofliving

Or call the Welfare Rights Team on 01738 476900 (option 1)

Good afternoon Perth and Kinross,

Our work with the schools in this specific project will begin from Wednesday, 1st April and the schools directly involved include the following:

Goodlyburn Primary School
Inchview Primary School
Riverside Primary School
Letham Primary School
Tulloch Primary School
Moncrieffe Primary School
Rattray Primary School
Coupar Angus Primary School
Alyth Primary School
Stanley Primary School
Breadalbane Primary School

This additional funding does two things. It provides more capacity to target these schools but it also gives us capacity to work with any other schools in the P&K area to ensure that all of our households with children have access to advice.

Debt and welfare advice will be made available to families at eleven schools around Perth and Kinross from Spring 2026 via funding from the Scottish Government's Child Poverty Practice Accelerator Fund, announced this week by the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Shirley-Ann Somerville MSP, during a visit to Tulloch Primary School.

The schools chosen for the project were selected on the basis of low take-up of benefits by eligible parents. The debt and welfare adviser will work within the Council’s Welfare Rights Team.

Councillor John Rebbeck, Learning and Families Convener and Depute Council Leader said: "In Perth and Kinross we have long recognised the significance of the poverty gap on children's attainment and achievement and have been working with our partners in the Perth and Kinross Poverty Task Force to enhance the help and support available to families affected by poverty so that children and young people can achieve to their fullest potential.

"The announcement of the successful bid to the Scottish Government's Child Poverty Accelerator Fund this week enables us to develop those supports further, with staff in our Welfare Rights Team liaising directly with families through schools around Perth and Kinross. I am very pleased that our bid has been successful and look forward to seeing how we can make even more of a difference in our communities."

For further information about the project, visit https://www.gov.scot/news/investment-to-help-children-and-families/.

Good morning Perth & Kinross,

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It's been a while since we graced your screens but we've had one of the busiest December/January periods on record!

So back to it!

We received a call from a member of the public yesterday who shared their story about challenging a disability benefit decision.

They'd gone through a very distressing 2 year period being knocked back for the benefit only to be told at Tribunal by the representative of the benefits agency that made the decision that they could see clearly that they should have qualified for the maximum amount of benefit from the very beginning.

These kind of stories are all too common and people should not have to face these scenarios alone.

We can provide assistance to challenge benefit decisions and representation at First-Tier and Upper Tribunals.

If you or anyone you know is in a similar position and could benefit from our advice, assistance or representation then please get in touch: www.pkc.gov.uk/wrt