Seòmar agus comataidhean

I am not fully clear on the specifics of your question, so I hope that this generic answer will suffice, but please let me know if you have any further points.

On cost of living support, Ms Forbes took action with regard to the council tax position just a number of weeks ago. We have the council tax reduction scheme, the Scottish welfare fund—which we are still making a significant investment in—and the mitigation that we are undertaking with regard to the bedroom tax, which costs us tens of millions of pounds a year, so there are a number of different measures already in place to support people as much as we can.

The devolved social security system that we have, which I know the whole committee supports, allows us to get money to people and into their pockets. That is the real advantage of having that system and we will continue to develop it in a coherent and strong way for the period ahead and for decades to come.

Thank you, convener, and good morning, colleagues.

I offer my sincere thanks to the convener and the committee for accommodating the last-minute changes to the scrutiny process for the Social Security (Up-rating) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2022, which we were intending to cover today, as the convener said.

The committee will be aware of the cost of living pressures, which have grown significantly since we took the decision on uprating benefits some time ago as part of the Scottish budget process. We know that those pressures might yet rise further and that they will disproportionately impact the poorest households. That is why I decided to see what more could be done to support people using our social security powers.

I am now seeking to use the uprating regulations to provide that additional support, which will primarily help low-income families and unpaid carers. In order to do that, it is necessary to withdraw the previous regulations and lay them again under expedited procedures, which I am doing today. Please accept my apologies for any inconvenience that that causes. However, I am sure that the committee will understand the reasons for that, and I sincerely hope that it will support the relaid regulations.

I understand that the committee will now consider those regulations on 31 March but, given the interest that the committee will have in them, it is worth broadly outlining the changes now. Of course, I am happy to come back later in the month if the committee wishes me to do so.

I am proposing additional support by further increasing several forms of devolved social security benefits and assistance from the previous 3.1 per cent increase to the 6 per cent rate. That will apply to the job start payment, the young carer grant and funeral support. Subject to parliamentary approval, uprating will now be almost doubled for those benefits.

The best start grant will also be increased by 6 per cent, and there will be future regulations to increase the carers allowance supplement. We will also increase child winter heating assistance by 6 per cent—greater than the 5 per cent already proposed—to support 19,000 families of severely disabled children with heating costs.

As the committee is aware, we have already taken the decision to double the Scottish child payment from £10 a week to £20 a week—a 100 per cent increase—which will immediately benefit about 111,000 children.

In August 2021, we increased the best start foods payment from £4.25 to £4.50 a week. That 5.88 per cent rise exceeds the rate of inflation and is close to the 6 per cent uprating for other benefits, so there will be no change to that benefit.

I turn to the immediate task at hand. Today, the committee is considering the Social Security Up-rating (Scotland) Order 2022, which uprates benefits for which we have executive competence but which are currently administered by the DWP under an agency agreement on Scottish ministers’ behalf. It is important to note that we have no discretion around the level of uprating of those benefits. The agency agreements that are in place with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions that allow the DWP to deliver those benefits on behalf of Scottish ministers mean that we are committed to uprating them at the same rate as the DWP. They will therefore be uprated by 3.1 per cent, in line with the September consumer prices index. It is, however, a matter for the Scottish ministers to make an order to effect the uprating, which is what you see before you today.

I thank the committee again for its scrutiny of the uprating order and its forbearance, given the need for urgent changes to the uprating regulations. I look forward to any questions that the committee might have.

Budgets always have a degree of flexibility. We will consider the cost pressures in the course of the financial year, but we feel that we can absorb a £2.7 million increase.

As I said in my opening statement, the carers allowance supplement will be uprated by 6 per cent. In the period ahead, the Government will give on-going consideration to the carers allowance supplement additional payment, on which we passed additional legislation a number of months ago. I am sure that we will discuss that with the committee and in the chamber in the months ahead. However, I can confirm that the carers allowance supplement will be uprated by 6 per cent.

There is nothing further from me. I hope that the information that officials and I have provided has covered the points that Ms Duncan-Glancy wished us to cover.

From the perspective of someone who receives CDP, the process of applying for adult disability payment has been designed to minimise gaps in entitlement to ensure that it is as smooth as possible. In contrast to the current system, young people will be given significant flexibility in choosing when to apply for adult disability payment after their 16th birthday. A person’s child disability payment will stop only when a positive determination is made in relation to adult disability payment. If they do not receive any award of adult disability payment, their child disability payment will continue until their 18th birthday.

There will be that additional support, and a range of measures will be put in place to ensure that the process at that key transition point is as straightforward as possible. People will be able to access a single secure digital portal to apply for all forms of assistance, update information and check eligibility, and a local service delivery team will be there for in-person support. If young people need support with applying for adult disability payment, they will also be entitled to the support of our independent advocacy service, to which of course we are committing £20 million.

Considerations will be in place for those who are on child disability payment in their application for adult disability payment, as I have set out. I hope that that answers Mr Choudhury’s questions.

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.