Chamber and committees

Thank you.

I do not have a supplementary question to ask at this point, convener.

My apologies, convener. I do not have that in front of me. Could someone else ask it?

I have two questions. I would like to follow that up by asking whether the data that you are getting from Social Security Scotland is sufficient. Are there areas that you think we should be recording that have not been recorded as yet?

Thank you, convener. I hope that you can hear me.

Good morning, panel. I am a wee bit confused about this, because the criteria are exactly the same for ADP and PIP—there is no difference between the two—so, surely, the awards in England match the awards in Scotland. Whether someone applies for PIP in England or for ADP in Scotland, the criteria are the same, so they should get the same decision. Are you noticing different decision making north and south of the border?

That is helpful. You have mentioned the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. The committee is scrutinising the bill and we are carrying out a consultation. With your experience, if you could make one change to the bill, what would you add to it that is not in there at the moment?

That is absolutely fine.

Good morning, Dr Witcher. I am sorry that I am not with you in person, but thank you for the evidence that you have given so far.

You were around during the passage of the Social Security (Scotland) Bill. One of the questions that we asked at the time was whether the charter should have legal authority behind it. The committee and, indeed, the Government said no to that question. Should we revisit that? Does the charter need a legal basis so that people can challenge it in some way, or is it working as it is at the moment?

Thank you—that was helpful.

I just have a couple of quick questions. The first is about an issue that has already been addressed with the convener. The timescales on which you were asked to respond to consultation documents presented a challenge. Will you outline how the process worked? Did you have enough time to respond to the documents, particularly the ones on regulations, which were very detailed?

What about informal involvement?