Official Report 1071KB pdf
Social Justice
Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is portfolio questions, and the portfolio on this occasion is social justice. I remind members who wish to ask a supplementary question to press their request-to-speak buttons during the relevant question.
Questions 2 and 3 are grouped together, so I will take any supplementaries after both substantive questions have been asked. There is a lot of interest in asking supplementary questions, so I ask for brief questions and responses.
UK Budget (Impact on Social Justice)
To ask the Scottish Government what impact it anticipates that the recent United Kingdom Government budget will have on its aim to deliver social justice. (S6O-03893)
The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s budget was a missed opportunity to shift the dial on tackling poverty. Decisions to freeze local housing allowance rates and proceed with cuts to the winter fuel payment will increase financial insecurity among thousands of households.
Meanwhile, retaining the two-child limit and the rape clause, the benefit cap and the bedroom tax will leave hundreds of thousands of children across the United Kingdom facing poverty and hardship. It is also concerning that the UK Government will continue the previous Government’s welfare reforms targeting disabled people.
As the Joseph Rowntree Foundation said, ultimately, it will take investment in our social security system to seriously bring down hardship.
The UK budget has failed to scrap Tory austerity measures that we know are drivers of poverty—policies such as the benefit cap, the bedroom tax, the two-child limit and the freeze on local housing allowance rates. Will the cabinet secretary call on UK Government counterparts to reverse those punitive policies? Will she continue to use the limited powers of devolution to mitigate, where possible, the worst effects of Westminster austerity?
Kevin Stewart is quite right to point out the disappointing nature of the budget. The Government will continue to push the UK Labour Government to deliver a social security system that is fit for purpose and to deliver progress towards an essentials guarantee. Until then, now that the budget has passed, the two-child cap is now the Labour two-child cap and the benefit cap is now the Labour benefit cap.
It is also disappointing to see the freeze on the local housing allowance, given that the freeze is one of the main drivers of homelessness. We need to prevent homelessness as much as we can.
As Kevin Stewart said, the Government does a lot to try to mitigate the worst excesses of UK Governments, both Tory and Labour. We have spent about £1.2 billion mitigating the impacts over 14 years, including £134 million this year alone on discretionary housing payments and the Scottish welfare fund, as well as nearly £500 million on the Scottish child payment. We will continue to protect people who are on low incomes.
Social Isolation and Loneliness
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its work regarding the social isolation and loneliness strategy, particularly in relation to rural areas ahead of the winter months. (S6O-03894)
To support the delivery of our social isolation and loneliness delivery plan, we implemented the social isolation and loneliness fund in March 2023. In communities across Scotland, 53 projects are currently operational, providing opportunities for people to connect. At the end of year 1, projects reached 11,293 individuals, with a focus on priority groups that are most at risk of social isolation and loneliness.
We know the impact of social isolation on mental health, and that is why we continue to support the national rural mental health forum to build the confidence of rural organisations to deliver mental health support to their members and networks.
I understand what the minister is saying about mental health. Loneliness affects about one in eight people over the age of 65, and Dumfries and Galloway has one of the highest proportions of older people in Scotland, with about 33,000 people within that age bracket, which means that we have about 4,000 older people in the region who are struggling with the negative feelings that result from feeling lonely. Added to that in Dumfries and Galloway is the issue of rurality. Can the minister comment on whether its “A Connected Scotland” policy is likely to be updated with a specific focus on rurality?
Ten out of the 53 projects that are funded by the social isolation and loneliness fund are based in rural locations. Befriending Networks Scotland receives £40,000 a year for three years from the Scottish Government, and approximately one in four of its 118 Scottish members are independent community organisations that operate in rural areas.
“A Fairer Scotland for Older People: A Framework for Action” was published in 2019 and has successfully delivered a range of policy measures, including the reduction of social isolation. The Scottish Government is undertaking a refresh of the framework, which includes a round-table meeting in Dumfries to hear from older people.
Social Isolation and Loneliness
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address social isolation and loneliness. (S6O-03895)
The Scottish Government published “Recovering our Connections 2023-2026”, the delivery plan for our social isolation and loneliness strategy, in March 2023. The plan aims to better understand social isolation and loneliness, to reduce the harm that is caused by it and to tackle that public health issue. There are a number of actions in it, including funding to support 53 organisations across Scotland delivering community-led activity that responds to local needs. The Scottish Government will continue to work with the social isolation and loneliness advisory group to help us to deliver the plan and to collaborate on ways to tackle loneliness for those who are most impacted.
I have certainly read the strategy that you have highlighted. It is important work.
Recently, I have visited many local and community organisations such as Lo’gelly Lunches, Grow West Fife, Kinross day centre and, in my home village of Kelty, Oor Wee Cafe. All those organisations and many more do an amazing amount of work, and they are community based. Although the strategy is welcome, do you accept that it is at community level that we can make the difference? Will you look at the impact of council cuts on many local organisations that are key to making the strategy work?
Speak through the chair, please.
Alex Rowley raises important points, and I am well aware of the value that is added by local groups. Of course, Fife Council is Labour-led, and I ask all councils to consider the point that he has raised.
I highlight the work of Befriending Networks Scotland, which I mentioned earlier as receiving £40,000 a year for three years, covering 2023 to 2026. I have visited some of its projects. It supports befriending services across Scotland and currently has 118 Scottish members. Approximately one in four of its members are independent community organisations that operate in rural areas. Several national organisations serve rural communities through telephone befriending or commissioned services.
There are a couple of supplementary questions, which will need to be brief. The responses will need to be brief, too.
I draw members’ attention to my entry in the register of members’ interests.
Winter is often a tough time for farmers—especially this year, after a difficult harvest. We have wonderful charities such as the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution, which does amazing work in providing emotional, practical and financial support. Is there any more that the minister can do to ensure that people know that help is available?
I thank Tim Eagle for raising the amazing work that that organisation does. The Scottish Government is committed to continuing to support the Royal Scottish Agricultural Benevolent Institution to provide emotional, practical and financial assistance to people who live and work in Scottish agriculture.
We have provided funding of a total of £50,000 to support RSABI in financial year 2023-24, taking the total Scottish Government support to £565,000. We are in discussion with RSABI on future funding requirements. The funding supports it to deliver important services such as emotional, practical and financial assistance to those in the agricultural sector.
In its delivery plan for the social isolation and loneliness strategy, the Scottish Government commits to tackling the digital divide. In rural and island areas especially, older people rely on communications infrastructure to keep connected with family, friends and care services.
Given that telecom companies are planning to end the use of traditional copper network land lines and move to broadband-based phones, what work is the Scottish Government undertaking to ensure that rural areas with not-spots, poor broadband connectivity and emergency alarms that are reliant on land lines are smoothly transitioned for older people, who are more likely to have a traditional land line than to have a mobile phone?
We must have briefer questions and briefer responses, or we will not get through the questions on the order paper.
I will give a brief response. Beatrice Wishart has raised many issues that also cover colleagues’ portfolio areas, so I will connect with them and issue a more detailed response.
Third Sector (Sharing of Learning)
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the third sector to ensure that learning can be shared and successful local models can be rolled out nationally. (S6O-03896)
The Scottish Government provides £11.6 million of funding to national infrastructure bodies, such as the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, the Association of Chief Officers of Scottish Voluntary Organisations and Volunteer Scotland, as well as providing dedicated local support through the 32 third sector interfaces—one in each local authority. By providing learning and sharing opportunities for the wider third sector through networks, events, training and information sharing, those bodies enable organisations to share ideas and best practice and to collaborate.
The Scottish Government also supports a wide variety of shared learning platforms across all portfolios, in relation to many of which it has a facilitative role.
Stirling Community Enterprise’s resilient futures project, which tackles antisocial behaviour, is proving to be very successful. What steps can the Government take to support the roll-out of such projects and models in other places that might benefit from that?
I thank Evelyn Tweed for her question and for highlighting the important work that the resilient futures project does. I am aware that the Minister for Victims and Community Safety visited that project in April this year. It is very important that we learn from the success of such projects so that others can learn from best practice and can consider adopting it.
We look forward to receiving the report and recommendations from the independent working group on antisocial behaviour, which is undertaking a review of antisocial behaviour with a view to a more strategic approach being taken that involves focusing on preventing antisocial behaviour and supporting people.
I again thank Evelyn Tweed for raising awareness of such an important project in her constituency.
I recently attended a physical activity class that is run by Killie Heartmates in conjunction with the cardiology rehabilitation unit at Crosshouse hospital. I noticed the impact that that class has on people’s quality of life and on preventing recurrence of heart problems and stroke. Does the minister agree that that initiative is exactly the sort of a collaborative third sector initiative that the Scottish Government should be rolling out?
The member raises another example of the fantastic work that goes on in our third sector and community groups across the country.
We are keen to ensure, whether through national Government funding, local government funding or funding from trusts and foundations, that we continue to share best practice, what works and the impact that that is having on the lives of people in communities throughout Scotland.
I thank the member for raising yet another excellent example of what can happen.
Support for People Seeking Asylum
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what it is doing to support people seeking asylum in Scotland. (S6O-03897)
The Scottish Government continues to deliver a range of interventions to support people seeking asylum who live in Scotland. Working with partners, we have reaffirmed our approach of supporting integration from day 1 in the third new Scots refugee integration strategy delivery plan.
Many of the essential services that support people seeking asylum are devolved and are delivered inclusively for everyone who lives in Scotland, as far as that is possible within United Kingdom immigration legislation and rules. This year, we are providing £3.6 million of grant funding to the Scottish Refugee Council for a comprehensive nationwide refugee support service.
There was dismay and frustration when, a few months ago, the Government abruptly abandoned its commitment to provide free bus travel for people who are seeking asylum. Asylum organisations and MSPs on a cross-party basis have been campaigning on the matter for three years now. I was pleased to hear the Government reaffirm its commitment to implementing free bus travel for asylum seekers in the chamber last month, but we now need clear actions. Can the cabinet secretary confirm that the policy will be delivered by the end of the current session of Parliament? If so, will she set out a clear timeline for the next steps and say which implementation options are being considered?
It is estimated that a third of the people living in Scotland who are seeking asylum may already be eligible for free bus travel through the national concessionary travel schemes on the basis of age or disability, because those schemes are delivered inclusively. We are committed to exploring whether we can extend free bus travel to all people who are seeking asylum before the end of the current parliamentary session, subject to the successful passage of a Scottish budget that contains the issue and an agreed way forward in terms of practical delivery. I call on Paul Sweeney to urge members on his benches to support that budget in order for that to take place.
People who are seeking asylum are facing impossible choices every day—I know that the minister knows that—and provision of the bus pass would represent a small but important freedom. How will the minister build confidence with the community that it is now going to happen? For the past three years, we have had a cycle of hope, with a promise from the Government and then a commitment, only for it to be dropped. As the minister knows, the community is desperate and it has no faith that this is going to happen. How will she restore faith?
I understand Mark Ruskell’s frustration and I am on the record as sharing that. This is not a position that the Government wanted to be in. We have had a very challenging fiscal climate and we have had to make incredibly difficult decisions in order to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the financial year 2024-25. At that time, it was unaffordable to progress the piloting of free bus travel for all people who are seeking asylum in Scotland. I took responsibility by making that announcement in person.
I refer the member to my previous answer regarding the forthcoming budget.
Humza Yousaf joins us remotely.
Ministerial Population Task Force
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the work of its ministerial population task force. (S6O-03898)
The task force met on 25 September and discussed delivery of the addressing depopulation action plan’s new place-based interventions, with six local authorities receiving total funding of over £420,000 to support sustainable communities. Members of the task force agreed that the next national islands plan should include an overarching strategic focus on supporting our island populations. The task force also agreed an evaluation approach for Scotland’s migration service. That will support employers and inward investors to use the immigration system effectively to meet their needs and assist individuals to relocate to and settle in Scotland. The minutes for the meetings will be published in due course.
I thank the minister for her comprehensive response. Studies show that immigration over the decades has been good for both Scotland and the United Kingdom. Extreme anti-migrant rhetoric that seeks to divide our communities was once the exclusive territory of the far right, but it is now being adopted by mainstream political parties in the UK. Does the minister agree that, instead of becoming insular as a country, we should note that immigration is vital for our nation’s prosperity? Does she further agree that the best thing that all politicians can do is to confront the far right rather than appeasing it by adopting its rhetoric?
I thank Mr Yousaf for making the case for immigration very successfully. Scotland is an outward looking and welcoming nation and we can be proud of being such a welcoming country. We celebrate, value and protect diversity in our communities.
We all have a responsibility to confront hatred and prejudice wherever and whenever they appear. Scotland is a diverse, multicultural society, and that diversity strengthens us as a nation. The delivery of our new Scots strategy is a crucial way to help us to build inclusive and cohesive communities.
Will the minister update Parliament on the work that the task force is undertaking on the challenges that are caused by the increasing population in the east of Scotland, including in my constituency of Edinburgh Northern and Leith? Will she tell us whether, how and when public spending allocations will be adjusted to meet rapidly growing demand?
The task force includes members from many Government portfolios, in recognition of the crucial relationship between population, public services and communities. We continue to work closely with local authorities and with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.
I recognise the importance of engaging with and supporting areas, such as Edinburgh and Lothians, that are experiencing population growth. COSLA is a member of the population programme board and, along with the Scottish Government, jointly chairs a local government population round table. COSLA is also taking forward a discrete piece of work with local authorities to better understand the specific challenges of population growth. The population programme will consider the outputs of that work in due course.
Homelessness
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to end homelessness. (S6O-03899)
We are making more than £14 billion available to councils in 2024-25 to deliver a range of services, including homelessness services. That is topped up by our multiyear £100 million ending homelessness together fund. We are also introducing new homelessness prevention duties.
The United Kingdom Government’s decision to freeze local housing allowance is disappointing and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has said that private renters will feel let down by that choice.
We are also investing more than £90 million in discretionary housing payments to help families meet their housing costs and, on Thursday, we announced further rent control measures to protect tenants and keep people in their homes.
To be frank, the current action is not working. Figures that were released last month revealed that more than 15,000 children in Scotland are homeless and that the average time taken to access support is worsening. It is a fact that the Scottish Government has failed to tackle homelessness for the past 17 years. Does the minister agree with Shelter Scotland that those figures are “shocking and indefensible”?
I remind the member of her party’s involvement in austerity during the 17 years that she mentions. The local housing allowance that I mentioned was frozen by her party for a number of years.
On top of the figures that I mentioned, we have made an additional £40 million investment in affordable housing this year to deal with voids and acquisitions, taking our overall investment to more than £600 million. We are also providing an extra £2 million to local authorities facing the most significant pressures on temporary accommodation and are supporting councils to target plans that will address local challenges.
If the member wants to see the continued investment that I have mentioned, I hope that she will vote for the Scottish Government budget, which will be brought forward in the next few weeks.
What action is the Scottish Government taking to address the impact of the housing crisis on women and children, given last month’s joint report by Shelter Scotland and Engender, which showed that women are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis and that they face unique challenges in accessing safe and affordable housing or single-sex temporary accommodation?
The member makes an important point and raises a number of issues. The prevention duties and domestic abuse protocols are very important and we have been engaging on those with local authorities and Scottish Women’s Aid. Her point about single-sex temporary accommodation is an incredibly important one that I raise with local authorities when I meet them. I would be happy to engage further with the member on that point.
Carer Support Payment
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the national roll-out of the carer support payment. (S6O-03900)
I am delighted to confirm that the carer support payment was launched nationally on Monday and I urge unpaid carers across Scotland to check their eligibility and to apply. We have worked extensively with carers and those who represent them to deliver an improved benefit, which, for the first time, extends support to many full-time students. We are continuing to transfer the benefits of carers allowance clients in Scotland to the carer support payment and will make further improvements to support for carers after that case transfer process is complete.
I am also delighted to see the carer support payment being rolled out nationally, but many of my constituents may not be aware that that benefit has wider eligibility than the carers allowance that it replaces. Will the cabinet secretary outline who is set to benefit most from the devolution of that important social security payment?
Since 2018, all carers in Scotland who get carers allowance—and, now, those who get carer support payment—have benefited from the extra support of the carers allowance supplement. We have also worked with carers to design the carer support payment to work better for them. As I mentioned in my original answer, that extends eligibility to many in full-time education who were not able to get carers allowance under the Department for Work and Pensions. I hope that that removes further barriers to study from unpaid carers. We expect that to benefit around 1,500 people.
We have also reduced the past presence test in comparison with carers allowance, so that some carers can get support sooner, and we are designing communications to help carers to find wider support that they may be entitled to.
As I also said in my original answer, we are already committed to further improvements once case transfer is complete.
Paul O’Kane, who also joins us remotely, has a brief supplementary question.
I am sure that the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice will join me in welcoming the announcement from the United Kingdom Government about the increase in the earnings threshold for carers allowance to £45 a week, which will benefit people elsewhere in the UK by 2029. That will mean a block grant adjustment to Scotland, and I am keen to understand the cabinet secretary’s intention for that. Will she change the regulations on the carer support payment in order to increase the earnings threshold, to ensure that nobody in Scotland loses out as a result?
Paul O’Kane has raised an important point. We are keen to look at the DWP’s plans and the timeframes for those. As I have already alluded to, case transfer is continuing for the duration of this year and into next year, but we need to look very carefully—particularly once case transfer is complete—at the changes that we can make that may be different from what happens down south. On this aspect, we are keen to work with the DWP to understand its timeline and the block grant adjustment that will come our way, to ensure that we do all that we can to support carers. As I have alluded to, we have already taken that decision through much of what we have done, including the young carers grant and the additional payments, and we are keen to work closely with the DWP to understand what is coming and when.
That concludes portfolio questions on social justice. There will be a brief pause before we move to the next item of business, to allow the front benches to change.