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I am not clear whether that is an accurate quote from Ms Baillie, but what I recall, as a citizen of Scotland, is that the Scottish National Party Government took action to mitigate that poor choice by a Westminster Government. However, would it not be better if those decisions were not put our way?

The Scottish Government makes political and financial choices every year within its fixed budget and limited powers, and we have to be prudent and responsible.

It is clear from this afternoon’s debate that there is cross-party support for the intent behind the bill, which is to increase December’s carers allowance supplement payment; I really appreciate that from all parties. We have also demonstrated together our recognition and appreciation of the remarkable role that carers across Scotland play and have played, particularly during the pandemic, as well as the impact that it has had on them.

As I made clear in my opening contribution, the Government is building a social security system based on the principles of dignity, fairness and respect. The bill intends to offer further support to carers across Scotland, who have been under additional pressure because of the pandemic. This is more than simply warm words—this is standing up and making a financial investment at an important time, and undertaking a legislative process in order to do that. This Government is committed to doing things, and that is what the bill is all about.

A number of points were raised during the debate, and I may not have capacity to address them all. However, a series of questions were raised around Scottish carers assistance and how we move forward from here. It is clear that there is a determination across the chamber to do more; we want to do more—we all want to do more.

That is why we continue as a Government to make good progress towards the launch of Scottish carers assistance, including the additional payment for those with multiple caring roles. Due to the impacts of the pandemic, the Scottish Government and the DWP—which is integral to our work during this phase—have had to work on a new timetable for delivering Scottish carers assistance and transferring Scottish clients in receipt of carers allowance. However, we are, as I said, making good progress.

We have started feasibility work with the DWP that will carry on into the new year. That will give us a much more detailed understanding of what needs to be done and how long it will take. Our aim is to begin to build the systems required for Scottish carers assistance and the additional payment in the new year, and we anticipate that that will take a minimum of 18 months, given the complex interactions between carer benefits and the reserved benefits system.

I am very pleased to present the Carer’s Allowance Supplement (Scotland) Bill to Parliament for this stage 3 debate. I recognise and thank, as we have collectively done throughout our consideration of the bill, the thousands of unpaid carers across Scotland, who make a remarkable contribution to our society.

I also put on record my thanks to the Parliament and the Social Justice and Social Security Committee for allowing me to secure an accelerated timetable for the bill. That has been critical to ensuring that we can increase December’s carers allowance supplement payment. I thank committee members and clerks for their work on the bill, and also my bill team and private office.

The Scottish Government has taken action to address the fact that carers allowance was the lowest of all working-age benefits. Carers allowance supplement, which was the first payment made by Social Security Scotland, increases carers allowance by around 13 per cent. It provides carers with an additional £462.80 a year on top of their carers allowance in recognition of the role that they play in our society.

Since September 2018, we have paid more than £149 million to around 120,000 carers through the carers allowance supplement. Carers in Scotland who have been continuously in receipt of carers allowance and carers allowance supplement will have received over £2,270 more than carers in the rest of the UK since the supplement was launched.

Moreover, since October 2019, we have invested around £1.3 million through our young carer grant, which is the first support of its kind in the United Kingdom. We have heard from young carers how it has made a difference to their lives and helped them to access more opportunities.

Overall, using our social security powers, we invest more than £350 million a year in supporting carers through carers allowance, carers allowance supplement and the young carer grant.

Of the 11 benefits that we are now delivering, the carers allowance supplement and the young carer grant are two of seven brand-new benefits that support people across Scotland by putting money directly into their pockets. That, of course, is in stark contrast to the UK Government’s £20 a week cut to universal credit this week.

As colleagues will know, the provisions in the bill seek to increase the amount of carers allowance supplement to be paid in just a few months’ time in December, in recognition of the increased pressures that carers have faced and are facing as a result of the pandemic.

The bill ensures that a payment of £462.80 will be made in December to all carers allowance supplement recipients, instead of the planned £231.40. This is the second time that we have done that. The additional supplement payment was first made in June last year as a result of emergency coronavirus legislation. As it did then, the Government is now investing more than £20 million to assist carers in these challenging times.

Our total investment this year and last year in our carers allowance supplement and our additional payments is around £120 million from our own budgets. As we discussed during the debate on the stage 3 amendments, we are doing that in a largely fixed budget under the devolved settlement.

Willie Rennie will acknowledge that we have had an additional payment since 2018. What we did in June 2020 was—and what we intend to do in December this year is—make an additional additional payment, and we intend to secure the power potentially to make such additional additional payments in the future, if that is the will of Parliament.

I refer Jeremy Balfour to my earlier point, which was specifically about this year’s budget with regard to amendment 6, and I was very clear on that.

With regard to our decision making in the round, an important consideration is that we already pay 13 per cent more through the carers allowance supplement, which was the first benefit that we introduced in 2018. Whether we make an additional additional payment again in future years needs to be considered in the round with the development of Scottish carers assistance; we are looking at options for the longer term that will increase our support for carers through our Scottish social security system. In the period ahead, we will begin our consultation on proposals for the delivery of Scottish carers assistance, and that will require us to carefully consider the balance to be struck between extending eligibility to and increasing the amount of Scottish carers assistance. I look forward to engaging with colleagues and stakeholders more widely on those important points in due course.

As I said in the stage 1 debate and again to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee at stage 2, future increases will and should be considered in the context of the circumstances that carers face and the financial constraints that we face as a devolved Government. If we were to commit further resource now for future years, we might not be able to utilise that resource to support carers in other ways, which is why I cannot support amendments 6, 3 and 7 at this time. I urge members not to press them but, if amendments 6, 3 and 7 are pressed, I urge Parliament to reject them.

I appreciate the position that Pam Duncan-Glancy is advancing, but will she acknowledge that, with the bill that is before us today, we already intend to pay an additional additional payment ?

There will be a payment of the carers allowance supplement in June, as there has been since its introduction in 2018. As we have debated through the various stages of the bill, whether there is a further additional supplement will be down to budget matters that the Parliament will consider collectively in due course.

We also recognise that the pandemic has identified a need for greater flexibility in how we support carers when society faces significant changing circumstances. The bill includes a power to enable ministers to introduce regulations that, if approved by Parliament, could increase the amount of the carers allowance supplement in future periods, which Pam Duncan-Glancy inquired about.

As I noted during stage 1, we continue to work with carers and organisations that represent and support them to consider the options to improve support through the introduction of Scottish carers assistance—our replacement for carers allowance—ahead of the consultation that is planned for this winter.

I will say a bit more about Scottish carers assistance in my closing speech, but I highlight now that we will create a carers assistance that works better for carers than the current carers allowance does. The improvements that we make will build on changes that we have already made, and those that are planned, to improve support for Scotland’s unpaid carers, which has been a priority with our social security powers.

I urge everyone to support the bill.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees that the Carer’s Allowance Supplement (Scotland) Bill be passed.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I apologise, but I am having some difficulties with my connection. I would have voted no.

As Jeremy Balfour said, at stage 2, amendments that were the same as amendments 1 and 2 were withdrawn by Maggie Chapman, who had lodged them. They were discussed and rejected by members who then chose to press them, anyway.

On 6 October, I wrote to members of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee with more information about the on-going work to review carer benefits—in particular, the carer’s allowance supplement and the young carer grant. In my letter, I set out that a wide range of data and methodologies are used in developing and evaluating our social security policies, including quantitative survey data; benefits statistics; input from users, including through our experience panels; existing research by other organisations; and commissioned research.

Carer benefits analysis and wider research on carers and the caring experience are both considered in evaluation of our carer benefits. That work, combined with the client insights work of Social Security Scotland, provides a rich stream of evidence to help us to build a social security system that works for all of Scotland’s communities.

The Scottish Government has recently published evaluations of the carers allowance supplement and the young carer grant. They are available for Parliament to consider. They show that the supplement has gone some way towards meeting its overall aims of improving outcomes for carers by providing extra financial support, and of ensuring greater recognition of the essential societal contribution that carers make. The evaluations also show that the majority of young carer grant recipients feel that the supplement has made a difference to their lives, given them access to more opportunities and improved their mental wellbeing.

We are working to deliver Scottish carers assistance, including the additional payment for people who have multiple caring roles. One of the key issues that we are seeking to address is the limited data that is available to enable us to identify who would be eligible. As I noted at stage 2, I do not believe that the review and reporting obligations that are proposed by the amendments are required. Furthermore, if the amendments were to be accepted, meeting those reporting requirements would require reallocation of resources away from our work on developing Scottish carers assistance.

For those reasons, amendments 1, 2, 4 and 5 are unnecessary and would be unhelpful, so I urge Parliament to reject them all.

I thank Jamie Greene for raising the issue on behalf of the local authorities in the region that he represents. I am sure that he will appreciate that, although COP26 is being led by the United Kingdom Government, there is a responsibility for people at all levels of government, including local authorities, the Scottish Government and the UK Government, to work together towards a successful event and to ensure regular engagement. Mr Matheson leads on that.

If Jamie Greene would like to raise with ministers specific pressures on behalf of the region that he represents, we would welcome correspondence on that. I am sure that he appreciates that the issue covers a variety of ministerial portfolios, but if he directs his correspondence to me, I will be happy to receive it.