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It does. If you think of any reflections or constructive propositions today or following the committee meeting on how that greater co-ordination could be facilitated, that would be interesting to hear.

I am sorry about that, Mr Garrett. In relation to the implementation of the strategy, do you want to feed back anything on your engagement and collaboration with Creative Scotland and national Government more widely over and above what is in your submission?

I would like to ask the witnesses to elaborate on what has been said. Do witnesses want to reflect any feedback or ideas and initiatives with regard to their engagement with Creative Scotland on the implementation of the strategy? Do witnesses have any other feedback or constructive suggestions with regard to how they engage with national Government going forward?

Thank you, convener. Good morning, colleagues and witnesses. As a proud internationalist and the son of a designer, I am very pleased to be a member of the committee, and I hope to contribute positively. I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests. In particular, it shows that I am still registered on the roll of Scottish solicitors, which might be of interest in some evidence sessions. I also note that I served as Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development under the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, External Affairs and Culture between June 2018 and February 2020, in case that is of relevance.

Thank you, convener and colleagues, for the opportunity to discuss with you this legislative consent motion on the Social Security (Additional Payments) (No 2) Bill. The bill was introduced by the UK Government on 7 February to provide further payments to support people through the cost of living crisis. That is extra support and we welcome it.

The help that is available includes £900 in extra cost of living payments for those on means-tested benefits, which will be paid in three stages over the 2023-24 financial year. Those in receipt of non-means-tested disability benefits include people who receive child disability payment or adult disability payment from Social Security Scotland, and they will receive a disability cost of living payment of £150. That payment will be made in summer 2023. Our analysis suggests that around 750,000 households in Scotland will receive the means-tested additional payment, and around 680,000 individuals will receive the disability additional payment.

It is the UK Government’s view that the provisions of its bill are reserved and it has therefore not requested the Scottish Parliament’s consent to the bill. However, the Scottish Government’s view is that the bill relates to devolved matters. It is my view that the payments are provided to individuals who have a short-term need for financial support to avoid a risk to their wellbeing and that that can be legislated for within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. That is why it is necessary to lodge a legislative consent motion, although the UK Government has not requested one. In doing so, we will ensure that the devolution settlement is properly respected and, more importantly, that a precedent for overriding the devolution settlement is not established.

The alternative to a legislative consent motion would be to pass legislation in the Scottish Parliament on an extremely truncated timescale in order to match the UK Government’s timetable and ensure that payments are made when intended. The legislation would need to come into force by the end of March.

The UK Government bill will apply to the entirety of the UK. As a result, it is my view that introducing legislation in the Scottish Parliament is not necessary or proportionate. Instead, the most prudent course of action is to provide legislative consent to the provisions in the UK bill. That will support the payments while ensuring that the devolution settlement is properly respected.

I welcome the opportunity to take any questions as part of your consideration of the LCM.

To get to the heart of why the decisions to go above that have been made, it is because the Scottish Government wants to use its powers over social security and its budgets to help people as much as possible. It is a policy commitment that is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s determination to make Scotland a better and fairer place. We see the mission to tackle poverty as a collective one for everyone in Scotland: the Government, business, Parliament, the third sector, wider civil society and the public sector. It is the collective responsibility of us all and, as part of that, the Government should utilise resource and power where it has it to make an impact.

The instruments that are before us today to uprate not just the benefits where there is a statutory obligation to uprate by CPI in the 2018 act but those where we have discretion are demonstrative of that commitment to provide additional support. Ministers across Government, and particularly in the social justice and finance portfolios, have had discussions in order to make sure that we can utilise our resources and allocate the £428 million to provide that additional support.

I referred to the fact that, last year, we also uprated several of our discretionary benefits by an amount higher than CPI to help people with the rising cost of living at that time. Then, of course, there is the Scottish child payment, which is not just an additional benefit but one that we have increased by 150 per cent in year as well as extending it hugely, with more than 300,000 children now eligible for it.

The eligibility criteria for carer support payment, when it launches, will broadly mirror those for carers allowance until we have transferred everyone’s awards. That is the reality, because we cannot have a two-tier system, just as we cannot have a two-tier system for adult disability payment and personal independence payment until case transfer is completed.

There are important considerations around the Barnett formula and the fiscal framework, but it is also a fact that, in years past, Scotland has paid a surplus of resource into the UK Treasury. We need to bear in mind the wider considerations when thinking about these points. I emphasise that Scotland is making political choices within the devolved settlement to provide additional support. We have also had to make decisions to mitigate UK Government policy that is costly for Scotland, particularly aspects such as the bedroom tax, which costs tens of millions of pounds every year, which we would rather not have to spend. It would be much better if we could get rid of that policy, for example. That is also a reality of the situation.

I acknowledge the international situation and would never pretend that the war in Ukraine—the illegal invasion that we all wish was not happening—is not having an effect but, in the same way that that is a reality, it is also a reality that Brexit is having an effect on inflation and the strength of the UK economy, as are the repercussions of the decisions of the Truss Government in that brief period.

I am—yes.

I will bring in Camilo Arredondo in a moment. I would not want to change the obligations under the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. I think that it is right, as Parliament agreed, that there is an obligation to uprate the benefits by the consumer prices index, although of course we have increased the Scottish child payment by more than 10.1 per cent in this period.

I do not know whether Camilo Arredondo wants to say more about the obligations under the 2018 act.