Letter from Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government, 21 January 2022
Dear Convener,
Thank you for your follow up letter to the Committee session on 13 January. It was a wide ranging discussion and I thank the committee for its scrutiny of the Scottish Budget. The issues in the letter and at committee are addressed in the annex to this letter.
I hope that this information is useful.
Yours sincerely,
Shona Robison
Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government
Annex
During the committee session, Mr Balfour asked a question about the DWP Christmas payments of £10 for recipients and whether it was included in our considerations. I wanted to take this opportunity to clarify that the Christmas Bonus Payment is a reserved benefit, that will continue to be paid by the DWP. Arrangements are in place between the Scottish Government and DWP to ensure that they have the data to ensure this benefit is still paid to recipients of the Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment, on the same basis as for Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment recipients.
Correspondence between Ben Macpherson MSP, Minister for Social Security and Local Government and Chloe Smith MP, Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work is attached. I am committed to keeping the Committee updated in this matter.
No one transferring from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to Adult Disability Payment (ADP) will lose money. The same rate will be paid at the same time when the benefit is transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to Social Security Scotland. We will begin moving DLA cases from the DWP to Social Security Scotland in August once Adult Disability Payment is introduced. There will be no need to reapply for benefits and there will be no gaps in payment.
As you may be aware, the assessment and review process used by Social Security Scotland differs from the current system. The experience will be more people centred. We will not carry out any face-to-face assessments or functional assessments like those currently carried out by the DWP. We have also made a clear commitment that profit-making companies will not be involved in delivering consultations. Instead, where it is the only way of collecting information, the consultation will take place between the applicant and a practitioner from Social Security Scotland. We expect if a consultation is necessary the majority will take place over the phone, however anyone can request an in-person consultation if they feel it is the best way to articulate the impact of their disability or health condition.
Subsequent to my letter to Mr Briggs of 1 October, the Scottish Government confirmed in response to a freedom of information request on 6 October 2021 that funding of c. £14 million from the initial £50 million fund remained to be allocated in 2021/22 and 2022/23. This updated figure reflected the inclusion of grant allocations that had been awarded via grant letter but not necessarily drawn down in full by organisations.
As previously announced, we are making £10 million available in 2022/23 to build on the significant progress made in the last year. The remaining funds have been used to prevent homelessness by creating a new grant to help tenants facing rent arrears. As a result, the 2018-2022 £50 million Ending Homelessness Together Fund has now been fully allocated.
Housing to 2040, the Scottish Government’s long term housing strategy, makes clear that we will take action so that our homes support those with long-term conditions and disabilities and everyone who can and wants to, is enabled to live independently in a home of their own. Specifically, we will introduce new building standards from 2025-26 to underpin a Scottish Accessible Homes Standard which all new homes must achieve.
Housing to 2040 includes a commitment to streamline and accelerate all parts of the adaptations system to reduce the time it takes to apply for and receive support. These adaptations will make homes accessible and enable people to live independently in their own home. We will establish an inclusive programme of retrofitting social homes which will ensure all planned refurbishment addresses accessibility requirements and that digital connectivity is in place to support technology enabled care and telehealth. We will also address the practical barriers faced by older and disabled home owners who want to move to a home that better meets their needs.
We want disabled people in Scotland to have choice, dignity and freedom to access suitable homes, built or adapted to enable them to participate as full and equal citizens. Our commitment to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032 will provide more opportunities to provide accessible housing.
It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities through their Local Development Plan and Local Housing Strategy (LHS) to determine the appropriate housing required in their area, informed by a Housing Need and Demand Assessment. Where a LHS identifies a strategic requirement for a particular type of home then these would be expected to be set out in the LHS and also to be reflected through Local Authority Strategic Housing Investment Plans in terms of the projects being prioritised for delivery.
LHS guidance requires local authorities to demonstrate in their LHS that consideration has been given to the specialist provision requirements for those of all ages, in all types of household, across all tenures, including disabled people. It also requires local authorities to include information in their LHS on what target has been set for delivery of wheelchair accessible housing across all tenures in the local authority area.
We are working with all local authorities through Scotland’s Housing Network to have targets in place for all tenure wheelchair accessible housing. From information gathered from Strategic Housing Investment Plans submitted by local authorities in 2021, 24 of the 32 local authorities have in place wheelchair housing targets for the delivery of affordable housing. While 6 local authorities have in place all tenure targets. Information provided in the Strategic Housing Investment Plans makes clear that other local authorities are intending to develop all tenure wheelchair housing delivery targets. Draft National Planning Framework 4, published in November 2021, includes proposals that new homes that improve affordability and choice should be supported including self-provided homes; accessible, adaptable and wheelchair accessible homes amongst others.
New build homes delivered directly by housing associations and councils through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme should meet – as a minimum – the ‘basic’ requirements of the Housing for Varying Needs design guide, while ‘off the shelf’ purchases of new build stock from developers should aim to incorporate these standards. In 2020-21, 95% of new build homes delivered by housing associations and councils, where information was returned on Housing for Varying Needs, met that standard.
Housing for Varying Needs offers guidance on good practice in the design of all homes in order to help them achieve a degree of flexibility, suit people of different abilities, be convenient to use, and be fit for purpose. We are currently reviewing the guide which, although remaining a very good standard, is now over 20 years old. The review commenced in April 2021, and is expected to take up to two years to complete.
We will continue to advocate for long term funding for the third sector across the Scottish Government where this is possible. We will develop an approach to track progress of the commitment and report back to the committee on a regular basis.
The review will include examining levels of funding, promotion, take-up and accessibility as well as the current guidelines and the administration of the Fund. This work will include gathering evidence from a range of stakeholders including local authority decision makers as well as applicants to the Fund.
We have established a Review Advisory Group with representation from a range of stakeholders and partners including CoSLA, Citizen’s Advice Scotland, Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, Child Poverty Action Group and the Trussell Trust. The first official meeting of this group is due to take place early next month with further meetings taking place later in the year.
Following a competitive tendering exercise, we now have a preferred contractor, an independent research organisation, to undertake the review work and research. They will start their work shortly with a final report expected around January 2023.
Yes. We chose to increase Child Winter Heating Assistance by 5% as we are determined to do all we can to help families of the most severely disabled children and young people cope with rising energy costs.
The doubling of the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) to £20 per week, to continue to tackle child poverty is also a 100% rise, therefore clearly well above the rate of inflation, and those eligible for Best Start Foods and Best Start Grant will likely be eligible for SCP.
Any increase in payments above the statutory level need to be balanced against the financial constraints which we face and also paid for from our limited fixed budget as they are over and above the BGA.
The Social Security Programme is still within the financial envelope that was set out in the February 2020 Business Case. The Budget for the Programme is different to the figure in the Business Case because the Budget allocation includes items which we would not expect to see in the Business Case. These are depreciation and a share of Corporate Running Costs.
For 2022-23, depreciation is £40.8 million, and Corporate Running Costs are £19.4 million. Therefore, the comparable figures (in Chart 4 of the Committee papers) are £159.4 million, not £219.6 million which you have in Chart 4 of your Committee papers.
The programme re-planning which we did in 2020-21 as a result of the pandemic resulted in a significant re-profiling of costs between years, for example the 2020-21 programme outturn was significantly lower than the Programme Business Case, this was essentially a timing difference as a result of the re-planning done during the Pandemic.
Social Security Programme
The pandemic has meant re-planning our delivery schedule. Re-planning activity continues, and an updated Programme Business Case, setting out the updated financial plan for the remainder of the Programme, will be published in due course to reflect this. At this stage we are still operating within the financial envelope set out in the 2020 Programme Business Case.
Social Security Scotland
Our financial plans continue to be refined in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and are aligned with the Social Security Programme plans. Our latest financial projections will be included in an updated Programme Business Case which we expect to publish in due course.
Social Security Programme
It is not a 12.4% increase in the actual cost of delivery as the figure shown includes depreciation and Corporate Running Costs. These two items are allocated to the Social Security Directorate by Central Finance. When we strip these out to look at the actual cost of delivery, the real increase in the budget to deliver the Programme is 1%.
The level of activity on the Programme (as measured by costs incurred) is broadly similar when comparing 2021-22 and 2022-23 when we look at the costs which are controllable by the Social Security Programme. Stripping out depreciation and Corporate Running costs, the controllable budget for 2022-23 is £159.4 million, compared to the equivalent figure in the 2021-22 Autumn Budget Revision of £157.9 million, this is a 1% increase.
The 12.4% increase in the overall budget is mainly due to the depreciation budget increasing from £18.3 million to £40.8 million, an increase of £22.5 million. The depreciation charge is a non-cash item which measures the wearing out, consumption or other reduction in the useful life of the assets which the Social Security Programme has developed for Social Security Scotland (for example IT), and does not affect the spending power of the portfolio budget.
The question implies that ADP will be a matter for Social Security Scotland and not the Social Security Programme. This is not a wholly accurate statement because the Social Security Programme is working to design, develop and implement ADP and will support the pilot and national roll out in 2022, with Social Security Scotland. The work we are doing to transfer cases from DWP is in addition to new benefit build for ADP, and Social Security Scotland will be processing significant volumes of both CDP and ADP case transfers this year. In addition, in 2022 the Social Security Programme continues to work to extend Scottish Child Payment to under 16s and to work on its other key priorities, including Low Income Winter Heating Assistance, Scottish Carer’s Assistance, Pension Age Winter Heating Assistance, as well as working to develop additional supporting infrastructure to deliver these further benefits.
We are continuing to make good progress towards delivery of Scottish Carer’s Assistance. We will begin building the benefit this year, and we anticipate that it will take a minimum of 18 months, given the complex links the current Carer’s Allowance benefit has with reserved systems. We will launch a consultation on proposals for the future of Scottish Carer’s Assistance later this winter. Low Income Winter Heating Assistance also remains on track to launch in winter 2022-23, backed by an investment of £21 million in our Budget.
The 2022-23 Budget for Social Security Scotland includes provision to fund approximately 3,500 people. Recruitment is underway for 2,000 new Social Security Scotland jobs by autumn 2022 which will provide secure, long-term employment, while boosting economic investment in Dundee, Glasgow and elsewhere in the country. This will provide a wider benefit to society as we continue our economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, providing a service which contributes directly to our national mission to tackle child poverty.