Seòmar agus comataidhean

In written evidence to the committee, the Scottish Association for Mental Health estimated

“that the delay by a year in ADP”

meant that about

“141,000 people in Scotland”

were going to

“remain on PIP or enter the PIP system who would otherwise have been eligible for ADP.”

It also estimated that, of those people,

“55,000 ... have a mental health problem with a large proportion”

having to go through face-to-face assessments for PIP, which will of course have caused them a great deal of distress.

SAMH went on to state that,

“To mitigate this”,

it was asking for

“the rapid transfer of people to ADP from PIP who successfully made a PIP claim during the delay period.”

Would the Government consider doing that?

Would it be okay to consider the uprating of the Scottish child payment and other benefits not related to inflation now, or do you want me to wait until after Marie McNair has come in, when I can come back in on theme 2? Which would you prefer?

That is much appreciated. Thank you, convener.

I thank the minister for that answer. I appreciate and understand the mechanisms in the 2018 act that are available to him. I was concerned more about the sudden change, which took place in a matter of days.

Moving on to the uprating that does not relate to inflation, minister, will you explain why there is no uprating at all to the carers allowance supplement? You said in your opening statement that you will do something about that in the future. When will that be? I am sure that that will be very helpful for unpaid carers.

I also ask what the Government intends to do for the 150,000 children who are on bridging payments and the 177,000 children who are getting no Scottish child payment at all just now because the roll-out has not happened. Will you explain to the committee and others what the Government will do for them before December this year?

As the minister will be aware, equalities groups have written a letter about the Covid-19 inquiry. Specifically, they have said that the inquiry’s remit makes no mention of

“women, Black and minority ethnic communities, disabled people, LGBT+ People, older people, young people, persons subject to No Recourse to Public Funds, and other groups who ... have experienced”

the brunt of the pandemic. Those organisations feel let down, as I am sure that the minister will know. They have recently said that there was absolutely no evidence that they were “listened to”, and that the door was closed in their faces. I hope that that was not the intention—I am sure that it was not.

In addition, the Government and Lady Poole have suggested that the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers will not be included in the Covid-19 inquiry, as that remains a reserved matter. I have a few questions on those areas.

On my latter point, does the minister accept that local authorities and national health service health boards play a significant role in the treatment of those groups? Would she therefore agree that the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers should be included in the inquiry?

Going back to the issues that equalities groups raised, and the work that the committee has done on women’s unfair responsibility for unpaid work, what more could the Government do to ensure that those voices are heard in the inquiry? What actions can the Government take to address the issue of unfair responsibility for unpaid work? Further to that, what more could you do, and what do you intend to do, to implement a choice of split payments for universal credit, which could specifically support women in such situations?

Thank you, minister. I would be very happy to do that—I would appreciate that opportunity.

My understanding is that split payments are part of the Scottish choices element of universal credit, and that we have the powers in Scotland to make some adjustments to how universal credit is paid. I was hoping that, in your role in respect of equalities, you could make representations to the Minister for Social Security and Local Government to ask at what point we intend to implement those changes, because that could have a significant impact on women and could help with some of what we have heard in committee.

Thank you, convener; I will be very brief.

Minister, on the basis of the UNCRPD report that Inclusion Scotland published last week, do you believe that we will meet the target of halving the disability employment gap by 2038 and, if so, how? Could we get a short update on the progress of the disability employment plan?

Thank you for your responses so far, minister. It is lovely to have you back.

I want to ask about disabled people’s organisations and other civic society organisations. A report published last week by Inclusion Scotland on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People recognised the importance of funding for disabled people’s organisations and others. With a view to incorporation, how will the Scottish Government ensure that DPOs and other civic organisations are adequately funded to provide a wide range of support, including peer support and capacity building?

Cabinet secretary, thank you for bringing those issues to our attention. As you are in front of the committee, will you indicate whether you intend to include ScotRail as one of the organisations that will be subject to the public sector equality duty?

Thank you. I appreciate that.

Convener, is it okay if I ask a couple of supplementary questions?