Chamber and committees

As noted in the answer to question S6W-04597 on 6 December 2021, the next set of Child Disability Payment statistics are due to be published in January 2022, covering the period of the pilot from 26 July to 21 November 2021. The Scottish Government will also publish feedback from clients and stakeholders to learn from their experience during the pilot in Spring 2022.

The purpose of the Child Disability Payment pilot was to ensure that Social Security Scotland could safely deliver a service for disabled children and young people, by ensuring that systems and processes work for them. It was not intended to evaluate the wider policy changes being made by the Scottish Government to disability assistance, which will instead be considered as part of the Devolution of disability benefits: evaluation strategy .

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government’s delivery plan to advance disability equality and rights, ‘ A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People’ , was published in December 2016 and covered the period 2016-2021.

We published a report on progress on 22 March 2021, which outlined that the delivery plan laid the groundwork for further progress towards equality. We reported that over the past 5 years, in many different areas, good work that promotes and progresses the rights of disabled people has been taken forward. The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly had a disproportionate impact on disabled people and has halted some of the gains made towards equality. However, it has in some situations seen positive progress made at a rapid pace and has brought about a wider public awareness of inequality. To achieve equality will take more time, but the work undertaken is a good start.

The Programme for Government included a commitment that we will work in partnership with disabled people to draw up a new Disability Equality Plan, which we will publish in 2022.

The next phase of development in relation to this commitment is now underway. The new Disability Equality Plan will consider the Social Renewal Advisory Board recommendations; the Independent Review of Adult Social Care; the decision to incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities into Scots Law to the extent possible within devolved competence; and the content of discussions with Disabled People’s Organisations, including those held at the Disability Summit in December 2020.

In developing the next phase of this work, we are clear that disabled people should have freedom, dignity, choice and control over their lives. We want to remove the barriers that stop people from enjoying equal access to full citizenship.

More people than ever in Scotland are being offered the free flu vaccine to help protect as many lives as possible this winter. The flu vaccination programme commenced on 6 September and will run until March 2022.

We are seeking to offer the flu vaccine at the same time as providing COVID-19 boosters for everyone eligible, 6 months should have passed since a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before a booster is administered. However there is some flexibility to offer a booster vaccination to the most vulnerable groups after five months.

This means that this is the biggest and most complex vaccination programme there has ever been, and has led to some people being offered their flu vaccine slightly later than normal but they will still receive them within the recommended timescale.

We remain on track with Scotland’s autumn/winter vaccination programme which has been prioritising the most vulnerable by either inviting them to come forward for a vaccination or by visiting in settings such as care homes.

The online self-booking portal for adults aged 50 to 59, those over 16 who are unpaid carers and household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals launched on 15 November, with 1,940,611 people having received their flu vaccine in Scotland by week commencing 21 November

There is already a process in place for doing this across the Common Travel Area, and work continues to add additional countries to this service. Full details are available on NHS Inform – see https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/after-your-vaccine/get-a-record-of-your-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-status/ .

On 22 November Child Disability Payment was launched across Scotland. This has followed an initial pilot, whereby families of children and young people with a disability living in Dundee City, Perth & Kinross and Western Isles council areas, could apply for the benefit.

We have received positive anecdotal feedback throughout the pilot. Both parents and support workers have said that the application process has been easier and less daunting, and that the support offered by Social Security Scotland has been helpful and caring.

The first high level statistics covering the first 5 weeks of the pilot were published on 18 October 2021 and are available at gov.scot . The next set of Child Disability Payment statistics are due to be published in January 2022. This will cover the period from 26 July to 21 November 2021, and will provide us with the data that will allow us to carry out a more detailed evaluation.

We have also been inviting clients, staff and stakeholders to take part in research to share feedback and help us learn from their experience of the service during the pilot phase. This will be published in Spring 2022. Research will continue beyond national launch as we continue to look for ways to improve and enhance the service for the people of Scotland.

As set out in Evaluating the Devolution of Disability Benefits , we will begin a thematic evaluation of the policy changes that are being implemented with the roll-out of the disability benefits, including use of supporting information, client consultations and supporting information.

During 2021-22 the main focus will be to define the size, scope and research questions, and assessing the potential methods and data sources available. In addition, we have commissioned the evaluation of Child Winter Heating Assistance to report in Summer 2022.

Our COVID-19 Status Certification scheme already recognises people who have been vaccinated outwith the UK and Common Travel Area. People who want to attend a venue or event covered by the certification scheme should obtain proof of vaccination status from the country in which they received their vaccination.

If the person lives in Scotland they can upload their official proof of vaccination from that country to their Scottish vaccination record. This will mean they will have a combined fully vaccinated status to show for travel or domestic purposes. Further information on this is at NHS Inform: Request an update to your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination record This process will also update their record for the purposes of using the app.

If the person is visiting Scotland from outwith the UK and the EU, provided they have evidence of having had a MHRA approved vaccine that can be used for domestic certification in Scotland.

The Scottish Government have published ‘ Vaccine certification scheme – information for business and event organisers ’ and ‘ Vaccine certification scheme – information for customers ’. This provides guidance so both people attending events and the venue staff are fully aware what can be accepted.

We have started the transfer of approximately 52,000 DLA Child awards from DWP to Social Security Scotland. We will begin the transfer of approximately 300,000 awards of Personal Independence Payment in summer 2022.

Our aim is to safely and securely complete case transfer for all people in Scotland in receipt of disability and carer benefits by the end of 2025. We will do so sooner if possible, as long as we do not risk the process being anything other than safe and secure for this significantly large number of people, and will do so jointly with the UK Government as case transfer is a joint programme of work.

Forecasts relating to future requests for award reviews and reassessments are set out by the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC). The most recently published forecast of 26 August 2021 stated that 8,700 additional people could request that their award be reviewed due to their circumstances changing over the course of case transfer.

On the assumption that around 72% of these individuals could request their mobility award is reviewed, based on the current share of PIP award types, such requests could therefore be around 6,300 people following transfer to ADP from PIP.

The most recent Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts, published on 26 August 2021, estimate that an additional 209,000 people, who are not in receipt of Personal Independence Payment, will apply for Adult Disability Payment between 2022-23 - 2026-27.

Support from the £10 million Fuel Insecurity Fund will be delivered by third sector partner organisations and will be available to households across Scotland who are at risk of self-disconnecting, or self-rationing their energy use this winter, regardless of tariff type or fuel type.

Through all of the projects supported by the Fuel Insecurity Fund, we will seek to ensure that those receiving help are not just provided with financial support but that they are also connected with wider advice and support on energy efficiency, income maximisation and how to reduce energy bills.