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The register of those attending the event is attached below.

The Scottish Government will deliver Pregnancy and Baby Grant payments before Christmas 2018. We will publicise the start date in due course.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission have chosen to present indicative forecasts for costs in 2018-19 based on potential delivery from 1 November 2018 or 1 December 2018 as the start date is still unconfirmed. This illustrates a range of possible costs in 2018-19, depending on when payments start.

We welcome the first forecasts for the Best Start Pregnancy and Baby Grant from the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC).

The SFC report highlights the uncertainties around take-up rates and expenditure. There are particular uncertainties with these estimates given that this will be the first benefit to be administered by Social Security Scotland.

The SFC figures were lower than those previously published by the Scottish Government (SG). The main reason for the difference in forecasts is that SFC have assumed lower take-up rates than were used in forecasts previously prepared by SG analysts.

We welcome the SFC's commitment to review data as it becomes available to inform future forecasts.

The eligibility criteria for Best Start Grant (BSG) ensure that low income families in Scotland who would have received a Sure Start Maternity Grant continue to receive support where they would not if eligibility was narrowed to match that for free school meals. Free school meals are universally available to pupils in primary 1-3 at all publicly funded schools in Scotland. For pupils above primary 3, free school meal eligibility is dependent on whether the pupil’s parents or carers, or the pupil themselves are in receipt of specified qualifying benefits, which are set out in legislation. There is an income threshold set in the qualifying benefits for free school meals where there isn’t for BSG. This means that BSG is paid to people on higher incomes than free school meals, including those experiencing in work poverty.

Our new social security system is being designed with people, not for them.

We are carrying out ongoing user research and we have also conducted research through our Experience Panel of people with lived experience of social security. A report on this research will be published in November 2018.

Social Security Scotland internal guidance on language is taking account of the emerging findings. This includes the use of the word ‘benefit’, which people have told us is the most widely and easily understood term for a form of social security assistance.

The intended outcome is that the event will generate competition for the tender process and that any feedback received will be considered when refining the requirements prior to commencing a tender exercise.

The Social Security Directorate spent £5.2 million in 2017-18 and has spent £9.6 million to date in 2018-19 on goods and services from the private sector.

Social Security Scotland was formally established as an executive agency of the Scottish Government on 1 September 2018. It has not yet made any payments to private sector suppliers for goods and services but expects to do so in 2018-19.

The Social Security Directorate and Social Security Scotland utilise a range of private sector suppliers. The Scottish Government regularly publishes the detail of all expenditure over £25,000, this includes details of the nature of the expenditure and the supplier for the Social Security Directorate. Social Security Scotland will also publish reports to provide transparency of expenditure over £25,000.

Where words are used without further definition in legislation, they take their natural meaning in each context in which they are used. It is for the courts to interpret them if necessary, not the Scottish Government.

Scottish Government has published 2161 notices since 2015-16. The breakdown for each calendar year is as follows: 2015: 477; 2016: 511; 2017: 615; 2018: 558. Of this number we are aware of 3 notices being subject to NDA. We are also aware of a further 6 procurement exercises which used an NDA although there was no requirement for a contract notice in these instances. Complete data on the use of NDA across Scottish Government is not centrally held and confirmation of the actual number could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

The information requested has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 60057).