Chamber and committees

That is helpful.

Did you want to come in, Dr Robertson? Most of my questions were aimed at Ms McFadyen.

Okay—that is straightforward.

Are there other measures that you think would improve the client experience in relation to redeterminations and appeals?

You mentioned that it would help people if they got a quicker response. Is the system working at the moment? Again, there are different targets, but I assume that Social Security Scotland has different targets because some things are more complex to work out than others.

You said that there is a split between whether people’s activities are affected a lot or a little. Is that too basic? Do we need to go into a lot more detail on that?

As I understand it, the norm for requesting a redetermination is either 31 or 42 days. A year is quite a lot of extra time, is it not?

Part 3 of the bill includes measures that are aimed at reducing stress for clients, such as allowing individuals to withdraw their redetermination request. Are you supportive of that part of the bill?

Ms Collie, do you want to say a final word on that? If we speed up decisions, there is a risk that we will have poorer decisions.

I was struck by figure 1 on page 4 of our briefing, which showed that transport costs, in particular, were quite starkly different, which follows on from Jeremy Balfour’s point. It was very interesting that spending on transport costs in the highest income group—if I am reading it correctly; I am looking at the blue line—has fallen the most dramatically. One of your themes seems to be that disability affects a lot of different people in a lot of different ways. For example, some disabled people can still drive and some disabled people cannot. Presumably, that is a major factor because, if you have to give up your car, your costs are going to drop dramatically.

However, you also make the point that spending does not equal need. I am guessing that some disabled people who would be able to drive just cannot possibly afford a car. What is the data on transport telling me? Is it telling me that there is a great need that is not being met, or is it telling me that the concession card system is so good that people do not have a need that results in a cost?

Would you make 42 days the period for all the benefits, or would you suggest a different period?