Chamber and committees

Details of the number of children receiving the highest care component of Disability Living Allowance and living in Scotland are published by the Department for Work and Pensions on their Stat-Xplore website. The most recent data published by DWP showed that in May 2018 there were 13,004 children in receipt of the higher rate of the care component of the Disability Living Allowance in Scotland.

The Scottish Government is currently considering the best approach to evaluate the Universal Credit Scottish choices. We intend to set out our plans for this in more detail next year.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-20328 on 12 December 2018. 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

I refer to the answer to S5W-19086. The Scottish Government will publish national level spend detail on Fair Start Scotland in due course. The Scottish Fiscal Commission will publish their next forecasts of Fair Start Scotland expenditure on 12 December to accompany the Scottish Budget.

In 2019, the Social Security Programme Board is expected to give a formal view on the Go/No Go for Best Start Grant – Phase 2, Funeral Expense Assistance and Young Carer Grant.

The Social Security Programme Board has already provided a formal view on Carer’s Allowance Supplement and Best Start Grant - Phase 1 to go live.

At present, no members of the Social Security Scotland Senior Management Team or Executive Advisory Body have self-declared as identifying as black or minority ethnic.

The categorised numbers of enquiries and complaints received in relation to Carer’s Allowance Supplement (CAS) are detailed in the following tables.

Enquiries

Sections 77 and 78 relate to uprating of devolved social security assistance.

Carer’s Allowance will be uprated (in line with inflation) this coming spring, and we intend to lay the necessary legislation early in the new year. This is unrelated to sections 77 and 78 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. Carer’s Allowance Supplement will also be uprated in spring and the mechanism for that is set out in section 81 of the Act.

Draft regulations for Funeral Expense Assistance will be brought forward next year for Parliamentary approval, and until payments of this assistance have begun to be made, commencement of sections 77 and 78 of the Act would serve no purpose.

To date no risks or issues have been escalated by the responsible and accountable officers on the Social Security Programme Board to the Scottish Government Corporate Board, Executive Team or Ministers. We can confirm that the Social Security Programme has well established and robust governance structures, processes and mechanisms in place which will facilitate the escalation of risks and issues to corporate and ministerial level as and when appropriate.

Under section 81(5)(b) of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, Scottish Ministers must publish a statement explaining how they have calculated inflation. In line with our commitment to annually uprate the Carer’s Allowance Supplement we will publish the statement before the start of the new tax year.