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Yes. For some time, we have been calling on the UK Government to provide additional support for low-income households. We have called for universal credit to be increased and we of course argued strongly that it should not have been reduced by £20. We are now calling for it to be increased by £25, given the cost changes that there have been since then.

In the current situation, with exceptional inflationary pressure, the plain fact is that that means that the largely fixed budget that we have available buys less. That is just the reality of the fiscal position that we are in, as we do not have the borrowing flexibilities that we talked about in response to Mr McLennan’s questions. We have had to allocate and prioritise appropriately within that largely fixed arrangement.

Of course, we have created a more progressive situation in Scotland through the tax powers that we have and the social security decisions that we have made, which was recognised in recent days by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in its reporting. A significant amount of extra support is available for families in Scotland because of decisions that we have made, but the scale of the challenge is unlike anything that has been faced since devolution and since this Parliament recommenced, in 1999. We are in very significant times but, in these times, through the powers that we have and through Social Security Scotland, people are getting more support right now across Scotland. That is making a difference, which is important.

We were proud to introduce the carers allowance supplement from 2018 and it was the right thing to do. It was the first thing that was done by Social Security Scotland, by the minister at that time. It has provided a significant amount of additional support to carers, which we are determined to do. Also, through that period, there has been the carers allowance additional supplement, which I was thinking about at the beginning of this answer. That provided additional support in the year of the pandemic and then in the winter of 2021.

How we continue to support carers is demonstrated by the fact that we want to increase the carers allowance supplement through the instruments and we are asking the Parliament to support us in that. Also, we are now moving to a position where we will be transferring to the carer support payment. I draw members’ attention to the remarks that I made in the Parliament in the debate on 7 February. As I said then, I will shortly publish the response to the consultation on the carer support payment and the issues raised within that about how we provide additional support.

As with all the benefits that we are responsible for, we are looking to provide additional support, and the increase by 10.1 per cent of the carers allowance supplement through the instruments is part of that. Also, as members know, we are in a situation where we have to balance the budget across the Scottish Government as a whole. Given that we are providing £776 million of additional support above what we receive from the UK Government from the block grant adjustment, and given that we are providing new benefits that are not available elsewhere in the UK, including the carers allowance supplement, I think that the Government demonstrates consistently that we are seeking to provide additional financial support where and when we can.

The Parliament has, just this week, agreed a budget. The financial situation is incredibly challenging and finding additional support is difficult, but, where we are able to secure additional support, such as the £428 million that is committed to uprating across the board, which we are considering today, we are seeking to step up and do that.

I am happy to take that away and write to the member with more detail. Our engagement with stakeholders working on fuel poverty is and has been appropriate up until the creation of the winter heating payment and through its delivery. We would certainly be interested in feedback from stakeholders on the issues that you have raised.

As I have made the committee aware, following some of our discussions on the winter heating payment, I instructed Social Security Scotland to write to local authorities in areas that had historically had the highest numbers of people receiving cold weather payments in order to emphasise what other support was available, for example the fuel insecurity fund.

There is appropriate engagement and we are open to more engagement. I thank you for raising the issue and I am happy to take it away if you would like any further details that we could provide.

That is another important question and one that we have discussed collectively in other sessions. I have said on several occasions that, in the months ahead, we will review the winter heating payment situation and consider whether payment in this period of the winter, February into March, is the right payment schedule for households. We will engage with a number of parties to consider what may be a better arrangement for winter 2023-24 and thereafter.

I remind colleagues that considerations around when the winter heating payment could be paid out this year were based on our engagement with stakeholders about when would be a good time for them to receive the payment. There was also the reality of the fact that Social Security Scotland was activating the Scottish child payment 2 in November. Scottish child payment 2 is shorthand for the increase to £25 and the extension of eligibility to under-16s. Social Security Scotland was undertaking that new and very significant payment arrangement in November and also paying out the carers allowance supplement and the child winter heating assistance at that time. Importantly, as well as the matters that Social Security Scotland was contending with in that period at the end of last year, our colleagues in the DWP were under a lot of pressure with their cost of living payments, which is why they were able to give us the data scan for winter heating payments only on 31 January, rather than at the beginning of January, which is when the Scottish Government wanted it. We were understanding of our colleagues in the DWP. They had a huge exercise to undertake to pay out their cost of living payments, and we agreed on 31 January because that was the date that the DWP could deliver to. It did deliver to that date—we received the data. The data was effectively processed by Social Security Scotland and payments have been going out in recent days, will be going out as we speak and will be undertaken this month, February, and also in March.

The Scottish Government's priority is to pay the winter heating payment, which is happening as we speak, and it is all scheduled to be paid this month and into next month. Remember that the data scan of 400,000 is the biggest data scan that the Scottish Government has received in connection with paying new Government benefits. It is a very significant execution of a new benefit. Receipt of such a large data provision that we had to engage into our systems and pay out as quickly as possible is unprecedented in the history of Social Security Scotland. It is all happening very successfully. Once we have paid all those benefits out, we can actively report and consider what to do in the winter of 2023-24. I have already instructed policy and programming officials to consider when we deliver the benefit next winter. However, we need to engage with not just stakeholders but potentially also our experience panels and make sure that we get appropriate feedback from people who have received the benefit about what impact it had this winter as part of our consideration of when it would be best to pay it in the winter ahead.

Officials in the Scottish Government and the DWP speak regularly about social security. Of course, the points that you have raised are valid and important. I have already instructed the Scottish Government officials who are engaged in programming and policy on the winter heating payment to consider what we are going to do next winter, and that will include engagement with their DWP counterparts.

As for the review, we will undertake that in a timescale that is appropriate and that allows us to make sure that we are discussing the outcome of those considerations internally with our colleagues in the DWP and also with the Parliament as necessary.

We do, of course, have to work collaboratively with the DWP on timelines. I spoke about that during the debate on the next phases of the programme. We need to discuss things in a manner that is considerate of both our needs. We will engage with the DWP on the winter heating payment for next year once we have completed this year’s winter heating payment. Be assured that the discussions to make sure that we have both orderly and timeous engagement with the DWP ahead of next winter in order to make the payment at the right time that is agreed by both parties will be undertaken appropriately.

However, I emphasise that, within the current arrangement, social security has certainly been prioritised to a large extent with the additional support that has been provided: the £776 million above what we receive through the block grant adjustment.

The fact is that the Truss Government’s decisions in the summer caused damage to the UK’s economy and therefore the Scottish economy, and to the financial markets. That had a knock-on effect on household costs and on mortgages and therefore on rent levels, on which we took interventionist action through legislation. There was also an impact on the UK Government’s ability to respond, because the financial situation impacted its public finances. Undoubtedly, the UK Government’s actions in the past year have had an impact. That is just a matter of fact.

Of course, there are external factors, such as the war in Ukraine. That is an important point to acknowledge, but the effect of Brexit is also an important factor to acknowledge. This time last year, we would not have anticipated the current level of inflation generally. Projections are of course undertaken, but the effects of what happened in the latter half of last year as a result of bad political decision making definitely had an effect on where we are now, unfortunately. That is why we have responded with our powers and resources to provide additional support in Scotland. We all know how much of a difference that is making in all the constituencies that we represent.

Those are such important questions. They get to the heart of our considerations as a Government and as a society as to how Government can help people in these times. That is why we have done a great deal within our limited powers and relatively fixed budgets to support those on the lowest incomes. For example, in 2023-24 we are committing £776 million above the level of funding forecast to be received from the United Kingdom Government through block grant adjustments. That is a significant amount of additional investment in social security benefits from the Scottish Government.

As the instruments set out, we have chosen to increase the value of benefits where uprating is not a statutory requirement, in recognition of the difficulties faced by many due to the increased cost of living.

We also provided an enhanced uprating of 6 per cent for a range of devolved benefits in 2022—the last financial year—despite the fact that the September 2021 consumer prices index rate at that time was 3.1 per cent. In other words, we gave a significant uplift in the last financial year and we intend to do so in this year. Of course, we increased the Scottish child payment, first from £10 to £20 per week in April 2022, which was an increase of 100 per cent, and again from £20 to £25 from November 2022. That is a significant amount of additional support.

Those choices all represent increases to the value of benefits beyond the statutory uprating requirements, as I have emphasised. As well as the Scottish child payment, compared with UK equivalents our other payments are already more generous than those available in the UK social security system. For example, the best start grant pregnancy and baby payment is currently £642.35 compared to £500 for the sure start maternity grant, the UK equivalent, which is a difference of £142.35. In Scotland, we also have the best start grant pregnancy and baby payment for subsequent children currently at £321.20, for which there is no UK equivalent. The three Scottish best start food payments are also more generous in value than the rest of the UK healthy start equivalent.

Through our seven benefits that are not available elsewhere in the UK and also with our benefits that I have just outlined, for which there is a UK equivalent but we are being more generous and paying more, we are looking in the round to do as much as we can to provide additional support within a largely fixed budget and, of course, with limited power.

May I speak on that point, convener? Thank you, Pam Duncan-Glancy. Of course, there is that aspect of the £428 million, but we are making a commitment to uprate benefits where there is not a statutory duty to do so, and you also have to remember the additional social security that is not provided elsewhere in the UK, such as the £442 million for the Scottish child payment. Let us keep in mind in that wider perspective.