Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018

Identifying possible eligibility

53 Duty to inform about possible eligibility

(1) Subsection (2) applies if, in the course of their making a determination of an individual’s entitlement to assistance, it appears to the Scottish Ministers that the individual may be eligible for other assistance.

(2) The Scottish Ministers must—

(a) inform the individual that the individual may be eligible for the other assistance, and

(b) either—

(i) provide the individual with information about how to apply for it, or

(ii) if regulations under section 52 so allow, ask the individual whether they should proceed with making a determination of the individual’s entitlement to the other assistance without receiving an application.

(3) Subsection (2)(b)(ii) does not preclude the Scottish Ministers from requesting further information under section 54(1) for the purpose of determining the individual’s entitlement to the other assistance.

(4) In this section, “other assistance” means—

(a) a different type of assistance described in Chapter 2 from the type of assistance that the determination mentioned in subsection (1) relates to, or

(b) the same type of assistance as that determination relates to, but in respect of a different period or (as the case may be) event.