Chamber and committees

Good morning, panel. I seek your views on the bill’s provisions that aim to prevent those who are at risk of or who are suffering domestic abuse from becoming homeless. I will pop that question to Sarah Rogers first, if that is okay.

My next question is for you, too, Suzie. Can you expand on the comment in your submission that some parts of the bill seemingly contradict each other—for example, the measures to end joint tenancies and the measures to address domestic abuse? You have already touched on the additional costs associated with ending a tenancy. If you could expand on that, that would be great.

Thanks. It is really helpful to get some of that detail.

If you could send that additional information to the committee, that would be really helpful.

Those were really helpful responses.

I thank my colleague Evelyn Tweed for securing this important debate. It is our duty as elected representatives to ensure that we maximise take-up of social security benefits to those who are eligible. Rightly, we have a system that helps our citizens thrive and provides support when they are in need. Despite the availability of various benefits and extra benefits that are specific only to Scotland, Policy in Practice estimates that the total amount of unclaimed income-related benefits and social tariffs across Britain is now £22.7 billion a year.

Understanding why people are not taking up benefits is really important if we are to increase take-up. Many people simply do not know that they are eligible, while others might be deterred because they feel that the application process is too complex and stigmatising.

It is welcome that we have useful services available to help people to navigate their way through the benefits process, such as citizens advice bureaux, VoiceAbility Scotland and, locally in my constituency, Improving Lives and Working4U. Those are all essential services that can help to assess eligibility for benefits and help people to apply. I highlight the work that the Clydebank Asbestos Group is doing with Unite the union’s retired members to maximise take-up of attendance allowance; it is determined to make a difference.

Unfortunately, stigma around claiming benefits continues to discourage people from getting the help that they need. It is up to us to combat the stigma and to change the narrative around benefits. Benefits are a safety net and they are normal; we are all only one life event away from needing to claim them ourselves.

A recent report from the Poverty Alliance Scotland for the collaborative project with the Scottish Government to assess the impacts of poverty-related stigma on benefit take-up found that

“Most Panellists agreed that stigma had gotten worse with austerity, the UK Government’s ‘welfare reform’, and the cost-of-living crisis ... Several spoke of putting off claiming as long as they possibly could, to the point of hunger and destitution,”

which is astonishing and really concerning. In contrast, dealing with Social Security Scotland was viewed as a “less stigmatising experience” than dealing with the DWP. The difference was noted as “night and day,” with one person commenting:

“I’ve only really felt in the past year or two that I’ve been able to draw breath, basically due to the change in attitude of Scottish government rather than Westminster government. Before that, every assessment was basically panic and dread.”

The approaches taken to promote the Scottish child payment were also felt to have been particularly effective. Panellists had seen advertising campaigns on social media and welcomed the more humane language, and 45 per cent of panellists were aware of the Social Security Scotland charter, having received copies of that in the post along with letters. Those really positive comments highlight how Social Security Scotland is tackling stigma to ensure that people feel encouraged to apply for benefits.

More work is, of course, required and I note the recommendations in the Poverty Alliance report, but it is welcome that the Scottish Government, through its benefit take-up strategy, is implementing a range of initiatives, including offering access to independent advocacy support and targeting the marketing of payments.

Social security is an investment in the Scottish people. We must raise awareness and fight stigma to ensure that everyone who is eligible receives the financial support that they so rightly deserve. One big issue facing Scottish families is the UK benefit system’s denial of basic subsistence levels. We act to maximise take-up, but the UK Government actively has a policy to deny full entitlement. The two-child limit policy and its abhorrent rape clause, which is favoured by the Labour and Tory parties, affects at least 87,000 children in Scotland. That is an appalling and deliberate denial of take-up that will end only when Scotland is independent and has full power over social security.

No, I have not. The member must be shocked that it is not in Labour’s manifesto. There was no mention of WASPI women in the commitment that it made just the other week. I will get on with my speech.

Despite constant setbacks, WASPI women have remained steadfast in their resolve. In the face of injustice, they have shown determination and courage. They continue to push on for the estimated 270,000 women who have sadly passed away without seeing compensation. I have seen that at first hand, having met many of the fantastic WASPI women—in particular, the co-ordinator of the West Dunbartonshire WASPI group, Liz Daly, who is a selfless, committed and resilient woman.

Time is unfortunately not on their side, so we need to see immediate action on the issue. Those women are here to stay, and we in the SNP will keep fighting for them, because those women have done enough—they have fought for compensation for nearly a decade. They have done the work and now they have been vindicated by the ombudsman’s report.

It is time for Westminster to get to work. We need to see the next UK Government compensate immediately—WASPI women have asked for a commitment within 100 days, so I hope that Labour will make that commitment—or stand aside and let the SNP Government do just that. We must let real change happen. If Labour is really honest, our WASPI women must get the justice they deserve.

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met the United Kingdom Government to discuss the impact of Brexit on Scotland’s food and drink exports. (S6O-03594)

The outgoing UK Government imposed a deeply damaging and costly Brexit on my constituents and on the economy. Given that the academic think tank, UK in a Changing Europe, said that Labour’s EU plan will have a “minimal” impact on the cost of Brexit, I am glad that the cabinet secretary agrees that only real change from the disaster of Brexit will come when Scotland becomes an independent country with full membership of the EU.

I thank Clare Haughey for securing this important debate and for her commitment to justice. How we treat our pensioners should define our country, but they have been forced into poverty. WASPI women worked tirelessly throughout their lives only to find themselves facing a dreadful delay to receiving their pension. That has left many struggling to make ends meet and facing financial uncertainty at a time when they should be able to retire after decades of work.

In my constituency, it is estimated that more than 4,700 women in East Dunbartonshire and more than 6,000 in West Dunbartonshire have been affected by the changes to the state pension age. The final PHSO report is clear on the failures of successive UK Governments and of the DWP. That comprehensive investigation has found that

“thousands of women may have been affected by DWP’s failure to adequately inform them?that the State Pension age had changed.”

The report is clear that those women are owed compensation, but the amount that is suggested of between £1,000 and £2,950 per person is a paltry sum. I echo WASPI women’s calls for any UK Government to consider higher levels of compensation to reflect the decades of mistreatment.

It is shameful that the women have still not received a formal apology or explanation from the Government, and it is even more worrying that the PHSO chief executive has

“significant concerns”

that the DWP will

“fail to act on”

the findings. The truth is that there will be no change under a Westminster regime.

It is a matter of days until there is a new UK Government, which is likely to be a Labour one. In contrast, it is a matter of days ago that, in this chamber, Paul O’Kane said:

“Labour supports the delivery of justice for WASPI women”,

and Katy Clark said that the next UK Government

“must deliver justice and compensation to those women.”—[Official Report, 1 May 2024; c 44, 55.]

Here we are, and the manifestos are out—the real and the fictitious. There is no honest decency and integrity. I have searched the Labour manifesto and there is no mention of the courageous WASPI women. I even played the game and searched the fictitious Scottish Labour branch office manifesto and—no surprise—following orders, there is no mention in that either. Make no mistake: if you are a WASPI woman, the Labour Party and the Tories are not on your side.

What the women object to—and rightly so, as the UK Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has confirmed in its final report—is the way in which equalisation was carried out. That was far from equal and far from just. It was unjust in the speed with which it was rolled out, with the UK Government ignoring expert advice; it was unjust in the lack of proper consultation; and it was unjust in the abject failure to inform women of that major change to their circumstances and that fundamental disruption to their lives and retirement plans.

Many women have suffered severe financial loss as a result of that failure. Some have been able to find work, albeit not work that they would have chosen, not with the wages that they would have chosen and not at the times that they would have chosen. Others, bearing health problems or committed to caring for others, have not even had those minimal opportunities for mitigation.

Families have suffered—ageing parents, husbands, wives, partners, children and grandchildren. Communities have suffered, losing activists and volunteers, as well as the pensions that would have been spent in local businesses and social enterprises. We have all, to some extent, suffered from yet another example of Government incompetence, slapdash policy making and indifference to the lives and wellbeing of the people whom it is supposed to serve.

In the last fortnight of this venal UK Government’s plummet from power, we do not expect very much, but it could surprise us. On the way out, it could discover a forgotten ounce of common decency—enough to fuel an apology and a decent level of compensation. We will certainly expect the next occupiers to do that.

When the WASPI women started school, like many of us, they were told to sit down on their allocated chairs, to listen to the teacher and not to speak without putting up their hand. Now, with a lifetime of wisdom and experience, they know that sometimes people should not sit down and they should not shut up. I will sit down and shut up soon, but only to hear more voices of solidarity. The Scottish Greens and I will continue to stand and shout with the WASPI women, as loudly as we can, in their urgent call for equality and justice.

The Labour Party has decided that WASPI women do not matter to it. By contrast, only days ago, our First Minister, John Swinney, reaffirmed the SNP’s position and its concrete commitment in support of full, fair and fast compensation for WASPI women. It is clear that the SNP will champion their right to fast and fair compensation.