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I want to bring in Nathan Gale to elaborate on some of the points that I made on psychological distress, safety and case law, which I hope will be helpful in answering Pam Duncan-Glancy’s questions.

The considerations around passporting and treating ADP on a like-for-like basis with PIP took place with the UK Government before my appointment. In the three meetings that I have had with UK ministers since my appointment, the discussions have focused on how we go forward, other aspects of the social security system, and the UK Government’s green paper and what that will mean for the delivery of disability benefits in Scotland and the interaction between the two systems.

The engagement that took place with ministers and officials on considerations around passporting took place during the previous parliamentary session. It is important to emphasise that throughout the numerous discussions over that period, the DWP consistently made it clear that passporting was subject to the delivery of a like-for-like system. That was the clear position of the DWP throughout that period.

Achieving the changes that we have made to eligibility criteria in the regulations that are before you today, which my officials and I spoke about earlier—for example, making the reliability criteria more fully defined—required significant engagement with DWP.

There has been engagement. We are in the process of having a hybrid system, and we need to deliver new benefits and undertake case transfer. Based on feedback from stakeholders, and because we think that it is the right thing to do, we have prioritised safe and secure delivery. Part of safe and secure delivery is making sure that passported benefits are secured in the process and that the adult disability payment and PIP are treated as like-for-like for passporting by the DWP.

Those are important questions. I will bring Janet Richardson in, shortly.

First, and briefly, I hope that the letter that I sent yesterday was of interest to the committee and has reassured you that we are on track with recruitment of case managers and practitioners. We have recruited case managers, practitioners and senior practitioners with backgrounds in social care, social work, nursing, learning disabilities, mental and general health, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. The skill set that spans those backgrounds is vast and includes experience with cancer, kidney disease, neurodiversity, long-term mental ill health, adults with problematic alcohol or substance abuse, arthritis, eating disorders and so on. Recruitment has focused on senior practitioners to ensure that there is experience of leading teams of health and social care professionals.

We have facilitated, with Social Security Scotland, monthly internal information sessions, to which we have invited people who are interested in our vacancies to learn more about our job roles, and to encourage further recruitment.

Everyone who delivers disability assistance, including practitioners, will undergo robust training that is reflective of the core values of dignity, fairness and respect. That will include training on the impact of common health conditions. Wherever possible, training will be developed in consultation with, and delivered in conjunction with, people with lived experience of health conditions and disabilities. Training will be ongoing; Social Security Scotland will continue to look for ways to add to staff training and will work with other organisations to provide it. That is in order to ensure that we continue to get insight from stakeholders, particularly about conditions on which it is important that there is awareness within the agency and among people who make decisions, of the subtleties, complexities and nuances of certain conditions. Specific training and guidance on the special rules on terminal illness will also be provided to practitioners and case managers.

I could say a lot more, but I will leave it there, in the interests of time. I would be grateful if Janet Richardson could come in briefly with any points that I have not made. Of course, Janet already mentioned that we have recruited people with expertise in working with young people. Over to you, Janet.

Please excuse me, but I am not aware of the changes that have been announced today, which maybe says more about the UK Government’s approach to intergovernmental relations than anything else. I look forward to examining them with interest.

People will be able to apply in a way that suits them best: online, in person through our local delivery teams, on the phone or through video call. Those aspects of our system will make a difference and improve accessibility. The process of going through an online application will be significantly improved. We have designed the user interface in such a way that people’s experience will be better. The process will be much more helpful to them and it will ensure that we get accurate findings at the end. There will be support through the local delivery teams and the independent advocacy service, which is not available elsewhere in the UK.

I am grateful to Mr Briggs for raising the points about DWP announcements. I look forward to examining them and perhaps talking to the committee and Mr Briggs about them in due course.

Over and above what Janet Richardson has said, you will note from the letter that I sent yesterday that there are confirmed start dates for 37 candidates, 20 practitioners and 17 senior practitioners between now and April. That is in addition to the 29 that Janet Richard mentioned.

Yes—our communications and correspondence with stakeholders and applicants will be understandable and accessible.

Janet, do you want to add anything to that?

No. I hope that we have answered most of the questions that she put to me.

There has to be a recognition of the effect of the pandemic, the fact that we are in a hybrid system and the fact that we are undertaking two significant pieces of work: the launch of new benefits and the transfer of individuals from the DWP into our system.

The impact of the changes that we are making should not be understated. We are introducing a new, simplified, compassionate system that will treat everyone with dignity, fairness and respect and provide people with an improved experience. The impact of the improvements, as has been stated already, are reflected in the Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts, in which more people will be eligible for the adult disability payment than are for PIP. Awards are also expected to be higher than PIP as a result of the improvements that we are making to the application process, decision making on entitlement, and reviews.

I would say that the change that we are delivering is significant. It will make a difference, and I am looking forward to seeing the feedback that we receive from people as they go through our new system.

Once we have undertaken the significant challenge and important task of case transfer, in the years ahead we can together think about what people’s needs are and we can consider how we provide more and continue to extend and enhance our social security system. We are in a period of important introduction, delivery and transfer in order to build the strongest social security system that meets the needs of people across Scotland for not just the next 12 months or the remainder of this parliamentary session, but years and decades ahead.

The progress has been remarkable in the three years since 2018. We are about to deliver our 12th benefit and we have seven new benefits. We have established a new agency that is growing, delivering and helping people. The adult disability payment will be a significant new addition to what Social Security Scotland delivers and will make a difference for disabled people across Scotland.

Is there more work to do in the coming years? Absolutely, but we should be excited about what we are delivering in the period ahead, about agreeing to the regulations and about the difference that they will make for many people.

I am happy to come back to the committee at a future juncture to talk about the review more generally, as I think that that would be helpful. I am certainly keen to give that undertaking today. As I said in a previous answer, the planning and scoping work for the first stage of the review is already under way and I will provide a further update to the committee and the Parliament in due course.

We are considering the financial projections that the Scottish Fiscal Commission recently published. As I mentioned earlier, our commitment to social security as a human right, and our commitment to the benefits that we are delivering, will mean that we will be considering funding and spending forecasts more generally in terms of targeting public spending to where it delivers throughout the forthcoming resource spending review as we continue to deliver our plans. It creates benefit and of course our commitment to social security delivery is a key part of that.

As I stated in an earlier answer, our commitment to delivering to the people who are entitled to benefits is absolutely clear, and the finances will be made available to ensure that we meet that commitment to people. That is absolutely clear.

I also add—and I say this as a statement of fact and regret—that the Scottish Government has to spend a significant amount of resource directly mitigating the impact of UK Government policies, particularly through discretionary housing payments and the Scottish welfare fund. That totalled £114 million in the financial year 2021-22. I say that as a reflective point. It would be much better if we could spend that resource elsewhere, rather than having to mitigate the bad policy decisions of the UK Government.