Guidance issued on £500 pandemic payment for personal assistants
- Area of Work: The ALLIANCE
- Type: News Item
- Published: 30th June 2021

An online portal has been set up to allow people employed as personal assistants providing care and support to claim the payment.
The Scottish Government have issued fresh guidance (this link will take you away from our website) on how the £500 “thank you” payment to the social care workforces can be claimed by people employed as personal assistants. The thank you payment was initially announced by the First Minister in November 2020. It is a pro-rata payment, meaning that it will be paid in proportion to hours worked for people working part-time.
Personal assistants employed by people receiving funds for that purpose from the Independent Living Fund (ILF) or through Option 1 of Self-directed Support are eligible for the payment. They have to have been employed for a continuous 4-week period between 17 March 2020 and 30 November 2020, and to have been providing support to an adult.
Those eligible for the payment can apply via an online form (this link will take you away from our website). They will need to provide details relevant to their employment as a personal assistant. The deadline for applications is 25 August 2021.
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