Chamber and committees

Good morning, cabinet secretary. I want to spend a bit of time exploring the independent review into ADP and the on-going ADP case reviews. In response to the committee’s pre-budget report, the Scottish Government said that it will

“explore how reporting on ADP spending can better reflect its role in supporting disabled people”.

Will you expand on what that work will involve?

I agree with you. Finding out that one of the drivers was the increase in state pension age was a bit of a surprise; I had not even considered that. It was interesting to see that in the report.

What is the Scottish Government’s estimate of the cost of implementing the recommendations of the independent review of ADP? To what extent will cost be the deciding factor in the Scottish Government’s response to the review?

That is helpful. One of the key themes in evidence that the committee received was that ADP does not always reflect some conditions, such as more unusual or fluctuating conditions. You have mentioned the eligibility criteria, one of which is the over 50 per cent rule. The University of the West of Scotland has shared experiences of people with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, which is one of those more unusual conditions. There is evidence that there is limited awareness of that among case managers. Is there money in the budget for training and guidance for case managers to deal with more unusual cases? Is the over 50 per cent rule being looked at in considering Edel Harris’s recommendations?

That is helpful and very reassuring.

Finally, the fiscal sustainability delivery plan set out measures intended to have a positive impact on public finances, which included consideration of whether ADP reviews are operating as intended. Cabinet secretary, do you expect the review of ADP reviews to identify any potential savings? How will that be balanced with ensuring that the principles set out in the social security legislation will still be applied and adhered to?

Thank you.

One of my big worries is about ensuring that the victim/survivor is in the driving seat as much as possible. I worked previously with social landlords in this policy area, and I would caution against their taking the driver’s seat—they must ensure that what is done is done in conjunction with the victim/survivor, as opposed to something being done to them, if that makes sense.

Thank you.

Thanks for that.

My last question is about expectations with regard to the differential between the caseloads of ADP and PIP. We have already discussed how that has narrowed a little bit, as the figures show. In a recent evidence session, we questioned David Wallace about the authorisation rate, and he said that it was not a policy decision or something that they were looking at proactively, but they were trying to understand what had happened there, too.

That said, I take your point, Professor Roy, that you do not expect that to remain in that space, and that it might start to change again. Again, the changing nature of the forecasting makes things difficult for us to understand. Can you say anything about that?

Good morning. As a former Scottish Women’s Aid worker, I am delighted that we are having this discussion, and I hope that the regulations will be approved.

My questions follow on from Claire Baker’s questions. We know that, when women who are experiencing domestic abuse leave, that is the most dangerous time for them. I worry that, as Marsha Scott has set out, the circumstances that we are talking about would present an equally dangerous period for such women, so the guidance will be critical in that respect. How can we ensure that support organisations and social landlords are aware of the complexity surrounding the issue? I have a bit of a concern about their seeking to raise an action when the person experiencing domestic abuse is not quite comfortable with that. I want to ensure that that issue is being considered and that we think through all the possibilities of what could happen during such a difficult time.

A few of my questions have already been answered or touched on, which is just the nature of how our questioning goes.

I want to press a bit more on case loads, which are rising right across the UK. In February, the office of the chief social policy adviser in Scotland is due to publish a report that will look back over the past decade—actually, more than a decade; back to 2010—to unpick and understand what the trends are. It is difficult to separate out speculation from the hard causal linkages that we are looking for, but will you speak a little bit about that? We know about the ageing population and the issues in regard to mental health, as you said. When things look uncertain, that makes it really difficult for this committee, the Parliament and the Government to set policy and strategy for the future. You also touched on the differences in the authorisation rates, which might have had an influence on the position between ADP and PIP. Again, that makes it a bit difficult for us to unpick everything behind it. Those are my questions; you have already touched on them a little bit, but anything else that you can offer would be helpful.