Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22237 on 28 March 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

a. The payments to be made by the Social Security Directorate to the DWP for implementation costs are currently subject to ongoing negotiations between the two organisations; and must complete the rigorous scrutiny process to ensure fairness to the tax payer and provide assurance that the costs offer good value for money. Therefore, we are unable to set out indicative payments to be made by the Social Security Directorate to the DWP for 2019-20 at this time.

b. Please see the following table setting out indicative running cost payments to be made by Social Security Scotland to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for 2019-20.

Payments for Running costs (indicative only) to DWP from Social Security Scotland 2019-20

The social security charter sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to deliver a human rights approach. This is being embedded in all aspects of our work to build a new social security system for Scotland including policy, guidance and regulations.

Further, in scrutinising and reporting on regulations, and delivery against the charter, the newly established Scottish Commission on Social Security has a legal duty to have regard to any relevant international human rights instruments.

Projected Staffing Requirements - Social Security Scotland

The figures in the following table are the projected Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff numbers for Social Security Scotland for each quarter of financial year 2019-20. These figures are based on currently available staffing forecasts and process development information and may be subject to revision and remodelling as benefit requirements become fully scoped and rollout draws near.

The Scottish Government intends to publish advice from the Disability and Carers Benefits Expert Advisory Group after all recommendations on that issue are complete and the policies finalised.

We are inviting views on our approach to assessments in our Consultation on Disability Assistance. Responses to the consultation will inform policy development. The consultation can be found at: https://consult.gov.scot/social-security/improving-disability-assistance/ .

In order to ensure a safe and secure transition, Winter Heating Assistance will be introduced on the same terms as the Winter Fuel Payment currently paid by the UK Government.

To meet disclosure control requirements the following numbers have been rounded to the nearest five observations.

Between 1 September 2018 and 5 April 2019 the Agency recorded less than five client errors and around 10 official errors from over 60,000 payments that have been made.

Of the official errors recorded, around five were from either staff error or as a result of an IT system error and around five are currently subject to investigation in order to be classified.

Our position paper clearly states that we expect that delivery of Winter Heating Assistance will continue on the basis of existing eligibility.

Responses to the consultation will inform policy development.