The figures, covering the first 54 months of the scheme for survivors of historical child abuse in care, show that 9,676 applications have been received since it opened in December 2021. Just 4,370 have been determined by a Redress Scotland panel. A year ago the gap stood at around 2,860.

Some 3,870 applications – 40 per cent of the total – arrived in the 12 months to 6 June 2026. Monthly applications peaked at 496 in March this year, driven by a rise in claims for individually assessed payments (IAPs) since January 2025.

Throughput has not kept pace. Referrals to Redress Scotland peaked at 186 in July 2024 and have drifted downwards since mid-2025. Fewer than half (47 per cent) of all applications have reached the independent decision-making body; the rest are awaiting information or verification, or have been paused or withdrawn.

Redress Scotland made around 1,430 determinations over the past year. At that rate, clearing the existing queue would take more than three-and-a-half years, even if no further applications were received.

Under the Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) (Scotland) Act 2021, applications remain open until five years after launch or two years after the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry publishes its final report, whichever is later, and ministers may extend the period.

Nearly a quarter of applications (2,328) have priority status: 2,145 because the applicant is over 68 and 183 because the applicant is terminally ill.

A total of 1,620 legal fee applications have been submitted, with £3,414,455 paid to applicants’ solicitors – an average of around £2,100 per claim. Monthly legal fee payments hit their highest level in March 2026, the same month applications peaked.

The figures also record disruption from a change to the Scottish government’s payment system in April 2025, which delayed payments and required firms to complete an administrative process to sign up. Payments fell sharply that month before spiking in May.

A further £23,428 has been paid in applicants’ expenses.

In total, 4,026 payments worth £215.9m after deductions have been made, up from £139.6m a year ago – meaning £76.3m was paid out in the past 12 months.

IAPs account for 70 per cent of awards and £205m of the total. More than a third (1,032) were at the maximum Level 5 award of £100,000, with a further 25 per cent at £80,000 and 21 per cent at £60,000. Some 970 fixed rate payments of £10,000 and 219 next of kin awards have also been made.

Deductions for earlier payments relating to the same abuse – including court damages, settlements and criminal injuries compensation – reduced the total by £10.1m, from £226.1m.

The scheme’s most recent annual report put contributions from organisations responsible for children in care at more than £124m.

The number of reviews has more than doubled, from 103 at the 42-month mark to 243 – 140 of them in the past year.

More than half produced a different outcome. Some 107 (44 per cent) saw the determination varied and 30 (12 per cent) saw a finding of ineligibility reversed; 106 (44 per cent) were upheld. All revised offers were accepted.

A review determination by Redress Scotland is final, with no further right of appeal.

Overall, 97 per cent of applications determined have been found eligible for financial redress, and 95 per cent of eligible initial offers were accepted.

Survivors may request a written or face-to-face apology from any organisation named in their application, including the Scottish government, though organisations are under no obligation to give one.

Some 316 apologies have been requested and 232 (73 per cent) delivered, up from 57 per cent a year ago. As many apologies were delivered in the past 12 months – 116 – as in the previous three-and-a-half years combined.