Official Report 692KB pdf
Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 [Draft]
The next item of business is consideration of a Scottish statutory instrument that is subject to the affirmative procedure, which means that the Parliament must approve it before it comes into force. I welcome back the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice. She is joined by two Scottish Government officials: Ruth Steele, unit head for social security futures; and Kirsten Simonnet-Lefevre, solicitor in the legal department. Thank you for joining us. Following this evidence session, the committee will be invited to consider a motion to approve the instrument. I remind everyone that Scottish Government officials can speak under the current item but not in the debate that follows.
I invite the cabinet secretary to make a short opening statement.
Thank you, convener. I appreciate the opportunity to give evidence on the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025, which bring forward a number of minor but necessary updates to legislation.
The amendments make three separate sets of changes to the legislation. The first set of provisions are required to remove references to tax credits from certain devolved benefit legislation. That follows the UK Government’s decision to close tax credits from 5 April this year and ensures that the policy intent of the legislation matches the reality in relation to which qualifying reserved benefits are available to determine eligibility for devolved benefits.
Tax credits formed a route for establishing eligibility and responsibility for a child in relation to best start foods, best start grants and the Scottish child payment. They also formed a route for eligibility to the funeral support payment, the winter heating payment and the pension-age winter heating payment. Tax credits closed for new applications in April 2019, and the DWP and HM Revenue and Customs undertook a planned transition to universal credit, known as the “move to UC”, to move eligible tax credit recipients on to universal credit before tax credits closed in April.
The amendments have been reviewed by the Scottish Commission on Social Security, which asked about the Scottish Government’s role in the promotion of universal credit. Scottish Government officials worked closely with Social Security Scotland to deliver a synchronised letter campaign that identified those who are in receipt of devolved social security payments with tax credits as a qualifying benefit. Social Security Scotland wrote letters and made phone calls to those clients, informing them of the upcoming changes and the effect that those could have on eligibility for their devolved benefits. There is no evidence that the move to UC has affected the numbers or eligibility of those applying for the named benefits, with applications and awards remaining relatively stable for each Scottish Government benefit.
A further amendment is required to the Social Security Information-sharing (Scotland) Regulations 2021 to replace an outdated reference to discretionary housing payments being made under the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001.
The final set of amendments is required to ensure that appeals are dealt with consistently across all benefits. Those amendments update the Scottish Child Payment Regulations 2020 and the Carer’s Allowance Supplement and Young Carer Grants (Residence Requirements and Procedural Provisions) (EU Exit) (Scotland) Regulations 2020. The changes relate to appeals for the Scottish child payment and carers allowance supplement, where individuals are seeking to receive that support from outside the UK. Those amendments align with the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, as amended by the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2025.
I extend my thanks to SCOSS for its formal scrutiny of the draft amendments. I welcome the opportunity to assist the committee in the consideration of the regulations today.
Thank you, cabinet secretary. I had several questions, although you have basically answered one of them. I point out that you are welcome to invite your officials to answer anything, if you wish to do so.
Can you outline the advantages and disadvantages of using reserved benefits as the main qualifying condition for devolved benefits?
Targeting support to those who are in receipt of certain benefits is an alternative to means testing. In essence, qualifying benefits assist in a means-testing manner, but that approach also helps to check other criteria, such as those on residency and identity, which then reduces the evidence requirements on the agency. Clearly, if we were not doing that and had our own means testing, more information would be required from the clients and there would be a more onerous administrative system. Those are the benefits of having the attachment to reserved benefits as a qualifying condition.
As members have no more questions, we will move to agenda item 4, which is formal consideration of motion S6M-17467.
Motion moved,
That the Social Justice and Social Security Committee recommends that the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025 [draft] be approved.—[Shirley-Anne Somerville]
Motion agreed to.
That concludes our public business for today and we now move into private.
10:42 Meeting continued in private until 10:55.Air ais
Eradicating Child Poverty