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As stated in the policy position paper, where clients receive passported benefits up to six months later than when they started to be paid Disability Assistance, we believe this would result in confusion and disruption to clients.

We will use the feedback from the consultation to inform our drafting of regulations for all forms of Disability Assistance, including qualifying periods.

Scottish Government and DWP officials are engaged in ongoing discussions regarding the safe and secure transfer of devolved benefits, including Disability Assistance. These discussions have included passporting arrangements for reserved benefits.

The Scottish Government does not have any powers to change reserved policy and DWP will continue to determine if someone in receipt of Disability Assistance in Scotland is entitled to receive a benefit or premium which is delivered by DWP.

People over 65 who are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance will be transferred over to a Scottish version of DLA for people over 65. People over 65 who are in receipt of Personal Independence Payment will be transferred over to Disability Assistance for Working Age People.

Our starting position is that Short-term Assistance will not be recoverable where the principal assistance is found to have been overpaid rather than as a result of fraud.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on this proposal and will review its position in light of the responses to the consultation.

As part of building foundations for long term carer benefits, the Scottish Government has engaged with carers and carer organisations to identify potential areas for change. These suggestions include:

• Extending the eligibility to those with multiple caring responsibilities and reducing the time required spent caring.
• Exploring the possibility of introducing different levels of benefits for those with different caring commitments in different circumstances.
• Removing restrictions on those studying and looking at ways of encouraging carers into work and education.
• Exploring further payments for pensioners with caring responsibilities including to those already with underlying entitlements.
• Extending the period that CA is paid to a carer when the cared-for person dies or goes into hospital.
• Offering benefits in kind

The Scottish Government will ensure that we consult on our proposals for the introduction of Carer’s Assistance in 2021. The Scottish Government is committed to building a social security system based on the needs and views of people who receive benefits.

The Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland, which launched on 5 March 2019, set out our intentions to pay Disability Assistance for Older People based on the following 2018-19 rates for care:

• Lower Rate £57.30
• Higher Rate £85.60

Yes .

The policies discussed in the consultation and associated papers are not directly relevant to the coordination rules. The rules control how differing social security systems fit together to ensure EEA nationals can access support in other member states. Each participating system remains free to decide the nature of its benefits, eligibility criteria and levels of payment.

The Scottish Government is committed to its legal responsibility to ensure that all devolved benefits offer fair and equal access to EEA nationals.

Agency agreements are a cost-effective way of ensuring that people continue to receive the right payments at the right time whilst we undertake the work required to develop our new system in a safe and steady way.

The costs under each agreement will reflect DWP’s actual delivery cost. Under HMT’s Managing Public Money guidance, DWP are prohibited from charging another government department for services delivered with a view to making a profit. This is to ensure fairness to the tax payer and provides assurance that the costs offer value for money. Agency agreements will be put in place agreed on a case-by-case basis with DWP and detailed costs will be scoped as each agency agreement is prepared. Discussions with DWP in relation to these costs are on-going and a full breakdown is not available at this time.

Agency agreements will reduce a number of overheads for Social Security Scotland, including elements like the staff that we would require to administer these benefits ourselves from the date of executive competence, and other associated costs like property: these need to be set against the cost of the agreements themselves.