Chamber and committees

Of course, the provision to continue payments until a determination is made is in the regulations that are under consideration today. I am sure that that important change will be welcome.

We will take the issue away and, if we can provide the committee and Mr Balfour with any further information, we will be forthcoming in that respect.

As for Mr Balfour’s second question about why the Scottish Government has changed its mind about the phrase “throughout the night”, the issue was, as the member might recall, discussed by the committee back in March, and it was agreed by the then cabinet secretary that we would closely monitor the issue to ensure that our intent was carried out. The term was initially used to be consistent with the use of the term “throughout the day”, but we have changed that, now that the sector is more comfortable with the phrase “at night”.

In direct answer to your question, therefore, we have changed the wording in relation to night-time care needs from “throughout the night” to “at night” to feed back on concerns that a different criterion on the level of care would be applied under CDP from that currently applied under disability living allowance for children. SCOSS has welcomed the regulations’ amendment of the phrase “throughout the night” to “at night”, saying that the changes in the wording will put beyond doubt what the requirements are and

“reduce scope for uncertainty about how much care is required to constitute ‘throughout the night’”.

I hope that that answers your question, Mr Balfour.

I would simply refer to my previous answers and to the extra information that Jennifer Sinclair provided. As I stated, there is a difference between situations where there are considerations around people who experience a loss or reduction in award as a result of a determination and who have requested a redetermination or an appeal, and a situation of transfer. However, as I stated, we will of course monitor the process to understand whether and how further support can be provided to clients.

I emphasise the support and advice that there will be for people in that two-year window—in most cases—where they are on CDP, aged over 16 and heading towards 18. Support will be provided to help them in their journey to applying for the adult disability payment.

Could you be more specific with that question?

I will bring in David Hilber because he has been leading on development of the case transfer aspects of the regulations. Is that what you meant, Mr Balfour?

I take it that you want me to talk about short-term assistance, but do you want me to talk about the more general question of whether you can transfer from CDP to ADP, too?

Thank you for that clarity—I thought that you were asking about both issues. I will also briefly touch on short-term assistance at the end of my remarks, if I may.

The initial position that we have to consider is that CDP and ADP are different forms of assistance with different eligibility criteria. A person applying for CDP knows that they can be on that benefit only until the age of 18, but the fact is that they can also apply for ADP from the age of 16. I should also point out that, although a person can be on CDP only until they are 18, there are certain circumstances in which, if these regulations are passed and if there is good reason, we can continue that payment. I can go into those in more detail, if that would be helpful to the committee.

Given that these are different forms of assistance with different eligibility criteria, treating this process simply as a transfer would mean that the information that is held by Social Security Scotland in relation to a CDP award would, for many clients, likely not be sufficient for a decision on entitlement to ADP to be made, and we would need to ask clients to provide further supporting information if they were making an application for ADP. That is why a new claim will have to be made, but I again point out that clients will have two years to do so. I would also point out that the transition from DLA to the personal independence payment also requires a new application for the same reason. Given that this is in the best interests of all CDP clients, individuals on CDP will be required to make a new application to ADP with—and this is an important point—extensive and on-going support and advice being made available to young people and their families as they undertake the process.

I emphasise for the sake of clarity that we intend to make the process as smooth as possible with no gap in payment, which will obviously be very important in ensuring that it is less disruptive than the current system. It should also be noted that SCOSS has welcomed the additional flexibility in the system, commenting that it is likely to strengthen the rights of clients undergoing this process, and we therefore consider that this process and approach represent the best client journey for all clients.

As for short-term assistance, I remember our sitting around this table, discussing the bill that led to the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, and how, at the time, it was highlighted that this new initiative was being introduced for a good reason. It is for people who have experienced a loss of or reduction in award as a result of a determination and have requested a redetermination or appeal, and it is not available to those moving between different forms of assistance. If we were to extend the scope of such assistance to cover those transitioning between CDP and ADP, that would represent a fundamental departure from the policy intent of short-term assistance. As I have said, the transition from CDP to ADP has been designed to be as easy as possible for clients and their families, and we do not envisage short-term assistance being a significant consideration in that process. However, we will monitor the process on an on-going basis to understand whether and how further support can be provided to clients.

On your request for clarification, I am happy to take that away with me. As I have said, though, the information provided for a CDP award would likely not be sufficient to make a decision on entitlement to ADP for many clients, though it could be enough for some.

I think that Jennifer Sinclair wants to respond on this issue.

I thank Pam Duncan-Glancy for making those points on that important aspect regarding short-term assistance. I will bring in Jennifer Sinclair in a minute, but it is important to recognise that, as individuals make their journey from CDP to ADP in the period between the ages of 16 and 18—in most circumstances—the payment of their CDP will continue either until they move to ADP or until they become 18 and are ineligible.

The question of short-term assistance, therefore, is less of a material consideration. We have, of course, considered the matter in the round and, as I have stated several times now, we will for good reason continue to keep it under review to see whether any further support can or should be provided.

I have spoken already about eligibility, and, in the interests of time, I do not want to repeat what I have said. However, I emphasise that the policy is being met by what we have done in introducing regulations in 2020 and in seeking to improve them today.

As Pam Duncan-Glancy rightly emphasises, the regulations are part of our wider consideration of support for families who are in the most need and our consideration of winter benefits. As the committee will be aware, we are also preparing to introduce two additional new benefits to support households with their heating costs during the winter. Pension age winter heating assistance will replace winter fuel payments, and low-income winter heating assistance will support around 400,000 households that are on low incomes in due course.

We also recognise the need to consider further targeted support for disabled adults of working age, in acknowledgment of the fact that households with a disabled person, irrespective of their age, are more likely to be in financial difficulties, as Pam Duncan-Glancy said. We will therefore continue to consider whether—and, if so, how—we can better support disabled adults over the winter months.

However, at the moment, the focus of our efforts is on prioritising support for the most vulnerable children and young people, which is what this benefit and the improvement regulations are about.