Seòmar agus comataidhean

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on mitigating any United Kingdom Government reductions to UK-wide benefits since 2019. (S6O-03679)

That brings home the costs of being in the union and under the UK economy.

I ask the cabinet secretary to focus on the bedroom tax, or spare-room tax, which we mitigate. Can she tell me how many homes are helped by the Scottish Government paying it, so that households do not have to meet it themselves?

Does the member think it unfortunate that Tory-led Scottish Borders Council handed back £8 million to the Scottish Government because it failed to spend it timeously on building houses?

On the streets of Southport, there were thugs, racists and all manner of extremists, but there were also people from what we might call “deprived areas” generally raging against the political establishment. Does the 60 per cent turnout at the recent election not tell us that politics is failing, when some choose bricks, not the ballot box, and that the cohesion that Patrick Harvie referred to will be severely tested under increasing austerity?

The Labour Government’s first move—of course, this was not in its manifesto—was to base winter fuel payment on pension credit, knowing that 40 per cent of those who are entitled to pension credit do not claim it. Of course, the Labour Government cut our funding to make the payment here universal.

Does the cabinet secretary agree that Labour should explain and, indeed, apologise to the estimated 929 households in my constituency of Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale that have not claimed pension credit and that will lose that vital support in winters that are incredibly cold and colder than those in London and the home counties, where these decisions are taken?

I am sure that Edward Mountain would agree that some fly-tipping is done by commercial organisations that are actually run by serious organised crime. It goes beyond fly-tipping a fridge-freezer or a mattress; it is something much more sinister.

I am sure that the minister will welcome the progress on two new-build secondary schools in my constituency—Peebles high and Gala academy—which are due to be completed next year and are funded by the Scottish Government.

Does the minister agree that it is a massive burden on Scottish Borders Council’s budget that Borders secondary schools were built under public-private partnerships and the private finance initiative in 2009 by the then Tory-Liberal Democrat administration at an initial cost of £72 million but, by the end of the contract in 2039, they will have cost £258 million, and that we should never forget the punishing continuing costs of projects funded by PPP/PFI, which, thankfully, the Scottish Government ditched?

I congratulate Evelyn Tweed on securing the debate. I will restrict my comments to the percentage of eligible pensioners who do not claim pension credit. This is not the first, nor probably the last, speech that I will make on the topic.

Earlier this year, pensioners received notification from the DWP of the pension that they would be paid from April, together with—to be fair—a leaflet advising of pension credit. However, members might not be aware that 40 per cent of pensioners who are entitled to pension credit do not claim it. That figure has remained unchanged for decades.

What is pension credit? It is a UK benefit and you can check online whether you qualify, or you can contact your local citizens advice bureau or my office or use Age UK’s website, which has a handy calculator to check whether you are eligible. It is discreet, and there should never be reluctance to claim that right.

Broadly speaking, when you apply for pension credit, your income is calculated. If you have a partner, both incomes are calculated together. If you qualify, your weekly income is topped up to £218.15 if you are single; if you have a partner, your joint weekly income is topped up to £332.95. Even if your income is higher, you might still be eligible for pension credit if you have a disability, care for someone, have savings or have housing costs.

Apart from that direct income boost, if you get pension credit, you can also get other help known as passported benefits, such as housing benefit if you rent the property that you live in, a cost of living payment, support for mortgage interest if you own the property that you live in, a free TV licence if you are aged 75 or over, and help to pay for national health service dental treatment, glasses and transport costs for hospital appointments. If you get a certain type of pension credit, you can get help with your heating costs through the warm home discount scheme, and you can even get a discount on using the Royal Mail redirection service if you are moving house. A whole range of passported benefits follow if you claim your pension credit, so it is worth seeing whether you are entitled to it. I stress that it is an entitlement, not a handout.

Here are some statistics that are relevant to Midlothian and the Borders. The estimated unclaimed pension credit per annum in Midlothian is £2.5 million, and in the Borders it is £3.66 million. The expected uptake in Midlothian, after campaigns, is only 31 per cent, while in the Borders it is 44 per cent. The lost passported benefits in Midlothian are worth £20,000-plus and those in the Borders are worth £30,000. The number of households that are losing out is estimated to be 92 in Midlothian and 133 in the Borders. Those are entitlements that could affect those 92 and 133 households, where individuals are scraping by when they need not, and should not, be doing so.

I have raised the issue of raising awareness with the UK Government, and I have asked Scottish Borders Council to publicise pension credit in the transport exchange in Galashiels. I will extend my campaign to increase awareness through my entire constituency. In these tough times of austerity and inflation, every claim counts. Please chase it up if you think that you might be entitled to pension credit, even if you are not sure. As I have said, my office would be pleased to help, and all contacts with us are confidential. To those 92 and 133 or so households in Midlothian and the Borders, I say: please claim. It can make all the difference, so that you do not have to choose between heating or eating.

The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care is aware of the concerns about cuts to the services of general practitioner practices in Penicuik, which the practices state are due in part to NHS Lothian’s increasing rental costs. As the First Minister will imagine, I have had many emails on the matter from concerned constituents. Has NHS Lothian taken into account the substantial increase in house building, and therefore in population, in Penicuik and the surrounding area?

The education service is a key part of our public engagement strategy delivery and actively works to sustain and grow a wide reach of schools that use it. Our recent members’ feedback surveys reflected positive experiences, as well as the challenges that some schools are facing in travelling to Edinburgh.

As we have informed members previously, the subsidy review is part of the SPCB’s public engagement strategy. That is under a review that is due to conclude in the autumn. Any changes to the priorities of the education service would flow from that, given the important role that the service plays in its delivery.