Chamber and committees

This budget will strengthen my portfolio’s ability to ensure that the UK’s exit from the EU is undertaken in a way that protects Scotland’s interests as far as possible. We are preparing for all scenarios that may arise at the end of the transition period and building a solid platform for our future engagement with the EU.

The increase in the budget will also allow us to prepare for the Scottish Parliament elections in 2021 including extending the vote to foreign nationals and certain prisoners, and to procure an electronic vote counting system in time for the 2022 local government elections. The budget also includes provision to update the case for an independent Scotland.

In this early stage, as new and increasingly more complex benefits are still being launched, Social Security Scotland are gathering information and data that will be used to baseline the balance scorecard.

It is expected that the scorecard and guidance around measuring performance will be published in the next draft of Social Security Scotland’s Corporate Plan in 2020.

The Scottish Government shares Mr Eiser’s view that an increase in the take-up of reserved benefits to which people are already entitled is outwith the scope of the policy spillover provisions within the Fiscal Framework.

While the Fiscal Framework broadly sets out how spillovers should be accounted for, the Scottish and UK Government continue to discuss more detailed guidance. With this in mind, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 4 February 2020 to seek assurances that the spillover provisions will not pose a fiscal threat in the face of the Scottish Government’s statutory duty to promote and encourage benefit take-up.

No response has been received as yet.

As stated in my previous written answer on 24 January, the legal route we are using to deliver the Scottish Child Payment (SCP) almost two years early, means that we cannot pay someone unless they are entitled to a qualifying benefit.

In instances where an application for the SCP and Universal Credit (UC) are made at the same time (assuming the client is eligible for both), the payment period of SCP will be backdated to the date of application, providing the client was entitled to the qualifying benefit at that point in time. Payments for the SCP will be made every four weeks and will be paid in arrears. However, the application would have to be held until Social Security Scotland can prove that the UC has been awarded and child responsibility is verified via the data we receive from the UK Government. If UC takes up to 5 weeks to process, for example, we would be holding the application for the same period of time and then backdating the payment accordingly. In such an instance, the backdated payment would be paid as a lump sum and thereafter a payment will be paid every four weeks.

In the case of a client submitting an application for SCP before they apply for UC, a 14 calendar day holding period comes into effect to give the client sufficient time to submit a UC application. If they apply for UC within that holding period, Social Security Scotland can still award SCP and the start date would match the UC award date. If the claim for SCP is made more than 14 calendar days before the UC claim, the client would need to reapply.

The Disability and Carers Benefits Expert Advisory Group is independent from Government. Therefore questions regarding its work plan and internal documents should be directed to the Group itself.

However, the Group’s Secretary has informed me that the full group had three regular quarterly meetings and one advice focused meeting between November 2018 and November 2019. They also inform me the Group plans to publish their minutes on their web page, where contact details for the Group can also be found, by the end of March 2020.

Forty two days was chosen as an initial period within which an individual can challenge a decision, following the supportive responses to the Disability Assistance consultation and wider stakeholder engagement.

An individual will still be able to make a late re-determination request up to one year provided they have a good reason for not making it sooner. This will carry a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal if refused by Social Security Scotland.

Clients can challenge each determination made in relation to their entitlement by requesting a redetermination within the timescales prescribed in section 41 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018.

The regulations for Disability Assistance for Children and Young People are being further developed in response to feedback from stakeholders and the Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS). Consideration of existing case law has been, and will continue to be, considered throughout the development of the draft regulations.

The legal route we are using to deliver the Scottish Child Payment almost two years early means that we cannot pay someone unless they are entitled to a qualifying benefit. In this instance, if a client had claimed for both Universal Credit and the Scottish Child Payment on the same day, the client would not qualify for the Scottish Child Payment until they are entitled to Universal Credit.

Social Security Scotland will, however, have the ability to hold over an application for a certain period if it can see that the applicant is not yet entitled to the necessary qualifying benefit, but may soon be.

In these circumstances, once the qualifying benefit entitlement is in place, the application can be processed and, importantly, the payment will be made from the date the person applied for the Scottish Child Payment, provided the person was entitled for the qualifying benefit at that point in time.

The Scottish Government has engaged widely with stakeholders throughout the Scottish Child Payment’s development including representatives from anti-poverty organisations, think tanks, academia, local authorities and equalities groups such as the Child Poverty Action Group, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Poverty Alliance, Engender, IPPR Scotland and Inclusion Scotland.

Throughout this engagement, we have been open about the fact that while more frequent payments may provide greater flexibility, they also pose a greater risk for Social Security Scotland given this is the first high volume, recurring benefit that the agency will deliver. An estimated 140,000 households with children aged under 6 will qualify for the benefit, so it is essential payments are made as quickly and securely as possible.

We have committed to reviewing the Scottish Child Payment during the course of the next Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan (2022-2026).