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That is another important question. I record my thanks to SCOSS for all the work that it does and, in particular, for all the work that it has done in recent months.

I presume that Mr Choudhury is referring to the enabling power in the bill.

Just for clarity, I point out that, as members will know, it is normal procedure to wait for two months after a bill receives royal assent to commence the provisions in it. However, given the need to ensure that the provisions in section 1 are in force in time for the December payment, we have instead proposed that sections 1, 3 and 4 will come into force on the day after royal assent, which is as quickly as possible. As the same urgency does not apply to the enabling power in section 2, we intend to commence that in the normal way. That is the only reason for the difference in commencement.

For clarity, do you mean a reporting duty on the development of Scottish carers assistance? Could you be more specific?

As members will be aware, the Scottish Government updates Parliament as appropriate, and as Parliament would rightly expect, on the delivery programme for Social Security Scotland. In relation to progress towards Scottish carers assistance, we have developed our overall aims and options for improvement. As the committee will be interested to know, we are currently discussing those with carers organisations and engaging with stakeholders to carry out a detailed options analysis on what Scottish carers assistance could and should include, and we will consult on proposals in winter 2021-22. That work is progressing at pace and we will keep the committee updated as appropriate.

There are more conversations and discussions to be had. Officials have good working relationships with their counterparts in the DWP, and we are grateful to DWP officials for working with our officials in Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Government to deliver for the people of Scotland and to bring our new benefits programme forward in a responsible and effective way.

Of course, Scottish ministers will raise these matters with UK ministers, too. In fact, we will be meeting UK ministers shortly to discuss all these points with them and to get clarity on the issue of passporting, not just with regard to Scottish carers assistance but more generally. We want to ensure that we are all clear on what the position will be, and we will be happy to engage with the committee again on those points in due course.

I would be grateful, convener, if I could bring in Kate Thomson-McDermott, who may wish to say more about that.

We are looking at all that very seriously and analysing what can be delivered, what changes on eligibility we want to make collectively in due course, and when those changes can be made. We will keep the committee and the Parliament updated as appropriate on those considerations, and I look forward to engagement on those important points in the period ahead.

I will bring in Andrew Strong, as he has had specific engagement with the sector on that point in order to ensure that we raise awareness of the benefits of the bill and to encourage applications and uptake, should Parliament pass the bill, which we really hope that it will. As you have highlighted, one of the key considerations around that remains the interactions between the carers allowance and universal credit. That is also a key consideration in developing and analysing options for Scottish carers assistance.

Does Andrew Strong want to talk about his recent engagement with the sector?

That will mean that those who are in the most intense caring roles who, as Pam Duncan-Glancy understandably emphasised, tend to be on lower incomes, will receive up to £694.20 more than the equivalent carer south of the border, so we are already stepping up and making that additional difference. I do not know whether you have any further supplementary questions on that.

There are wider questions for us all about how, collectively, we continue, as we are obligated to do in the 2018 act—the Government takes this very seriously—to raise individuals’ and communities’ awareness of what benefits they are entitled to and to encourage people to apply. Social Security Scotland does that on a regular basis, especially towards particular milestones of applications opening or closing. You will have seen that in the activity that Social Security Scotland undertakes, and members play an important role in raising awareness of that.

We take the evaluation of our policies very seriously. In Social Security Scotland alone, we have invested £165,000 in policy evaluations, to date, and we are currently considering our future evaluation programme. We will provide updates on that shortly.

With regard to the on-going considerations around Scottish carers assistance, I have already specified that we are engaging with stakeholders on a detailed options analysis, and we will consult on proposals in the winter of 2021-22. That is forthcoming. Detailed analysis is also going on through our engagement with the carer benefits advisory group and other stakeholders and individuals. We are having the kind of wide engagement that you would expect us to have.

As members will know, the development of any of our new benefits involves significant engagement with the DWP on passporting and case transfer. In our consultation and in developing Scottish carers assistance, we will look at the changes that we can potentially make to eligibility in Scotland without affecting the passporting process and creating unintended consequences and losses for people.

We will endeavour to transfer cases from the DWP as quickly as possible, although members will be aware that Shirley-Anne Somerville updated Parliament in the spring on the wider issue, when she said that we were working towards 2025 with regard to case transfer. It is a very important process that needs to be safe and secure, and stakeholders understand that that is a priority for all of us to ensure that nobody falls through the gaps and people get their support.

From an information technology infrastructure and delivery perspective, we need to build capacity in Social Security Scotland, which turned three years old yesterday. It has developed at a remarkable pace and is delivering for and serving the people of Scotland well, but we need to continue to build that strength in the organisation. After all, it needs a very strong foundation if it is to deliver for decades to come.

We are moving forward at pace and are looking to make a meaningful difference with the delivery of Scottish carers assistance.