Chamber and committees

In order to extend the contract, the Scottish Government would need to give IBM at least one month’s notice prior to the initial end date. Any programme decision to extend the contract would need to be taken in sufficient time to support this deadline.

There are no plans to re-procure the contract.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23033 on 16 May 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

The analysis of responses to the Disability Assistance consultation will be used to inform our approach to assessing mobility for Disability Assistance for Working Age People. Any modelling required will be carried out at the appropriate time in order to assist in the policy development process. The Scottish Government is committed to co-designing our Disability Assistance provision with disabled people and disabled people’s organisations.

Information regarding staffing, including disability assistance and assessments, is available in the Outline Business Case for the Social Security Agency in Scotland published in April 2017, which is based on existing service design in DWP (https://www.gov.scot/publications/outline-business-case-agency-social-security-scotland/ ). The Social Security Programme is currently developing its own service design for disability assistance, including roles such as case managers.

No formal dates for any discussions to begin and conclude have been agreed with IBM.

In order to extend the contract, the Scottish Government would need to give IBM at least one month’s notice prior to the initial end date. Any discussions would need to take place in sufficient time to support this deadline.

We are committed to the safe and secure transition of cases so that at the point when an individual transitions to a devolved benefit, they will receive at least the same amount as they received from the equivalent reserved benefit.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23034 on 16 May 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The review of the social security finance functions is part of our ongoing business and continuous improvement approach. The review is being carried out by a Scottish Government official and no additional costs have been incurred.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23453 on 5 June 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

Scottish Government staffing hours on updating the Social Security Programme business case are not tracked and are part of the overall programme effort. The financial resources committed to update the Social Security programme business case is circa £125,000 (excluding VAT).