Ministerial discretionary payments (FOI)

​Request 

Would you please provide the annual amount for the last 10 years for discretionary payments, authorised by the Minister, for people that don’t qualify under the five year rule for Income Support?

Response

The annual amounts paid out for Ministerial Discretionary Payments over the last 10 years are in the table below. 

The total amount is stated as a potential maximum authorised by Ministers in a given year. Some amounts are agreed for periods that go across more than one calendar year. Some decisions are agreed by Ministers to cover a set period going forward, but it is possible that the full amount may not be paid out when the claim is reviewed or when other circumstances change.

It is not possible to report the amount actually paid out because, once payments are agreed, the computer system used to manage Income Support does not record these payments separately.

Ministerial Discretionary Payments can also be awarded for loans, which are repaid, and repatriations for people both with and without residential qualifications.