Chamber and committees

Thank you, and good morning, convener. Thank you, minister, for joining us this morning and for setting things out. Thanks to the officials, too.

First, although Scottish Labour will vote for the measures—because not doing so would mean no increase for anyone—I again put on record my disappointment that we are not doing anything to uprate disability and carers’ benefits. People with disabilities and carers are facing cost of living pressures, too, and we should be using all the powers of the Parliament to address that.

Last week, the Institute for Fiscal Studies told the committee that the uprating by 6 per cent was well meaning but badly designed, and I have to say that I agree. It all feels very ad hoc, and I do not believe that that is the way to manage public funds. One Scottish statutory instrument said that some things will be uprated that would not be uprated at all. Then, literally overnight, that was removed. On the Monday, the Government still thought that 3.1 per cent was fine. On the Wednesday, it thought better of that and came to the right decision to uprate by 6 per cent. In addition, some benefits are being uprated by amounts that do not align with inflation. It feels as though the measures are very much grace and favour, but families cannot reflect that.

Will the minister commit to automatically uprating Scottish benefits in line with inflation in the coming years? Will the Government commit to uprating the adult disability payment and child disability payment in line with the rest of the benefits when the transfer process is complete?

Thank you for that. Can you also set out what support would be in place for kinship carers and children in kinship care ahead of the roll-out of the £25 child payment in December? In particular, what can you say about the 150,000 children on bridging payments who will not get the increased amount?

Thank you for outlining the measures that the Government is taking, but I specifically asked about measures that you are not taking and what you will do about the 150,000 children who are getting bridging payments and who will not get the £20—the doubling of the Scottish child payment—in April. They will not get any increase until December this year. There are 177,000 children—[Inaudible.]—either, because of the claimant uptake. What can you do specifically for those children?

If the minister is unable to say anything further at this time, I would be happy to hear about that in writing.

Thank you, minister, for outlining the position and for your answers so far.

Do you intend that the national allowance will be uprated in line with the cost of living and inflation in the same way that benefits have been?

Thank you, convener; I will be very brief.

Minister, on the basis of the UNCRPD report that Inclusion Scotland published last week, do you believe that we will meet the target of halving the disability employment gap by 2038 and, if so, how? Could we get a short update on the progress of the disability employment plan?

As the minister will be aware, equalities groups have written a letter about the Covid-19 inquiry. Specifically, they have said that the inquiry’s remit makes no mention of

“women, Black and minority ethnic communities, disabled people, LGBT+ People, older people, young people, persons subject to No Recourse to Public Funds, and other groups who ... have experienced”

the brunt of the pandemic. Those organisations feel let down, as I am sure that the minister will know. They have recently said that there was absolutely no evidence that they were “listened to”, and that the door was closed in their faces. I hope that that was not the intention—I am sure that it was not.

In addition, the Government and Lady Poole have suggested that the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers will not be included in the Covid-19 inquiry, as that remains a reserved matter. I have a few questions on those areas.

On my latter point, does the minister accept that local authorities and national health service health boards play a significant role in the treatment of those groups? Would she therefore agree that the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers should be included in the inquiry?

Going back to the issues that equalities groups raised, and the work that the committee has done on women’s unfair responsibility for unpaid work, what more could the Government do to ensure that those voices are heard in the inquiry? What actions can the Government take to address the issue of unfair responsibility for unpaid work? Further to that, what more could you do, and what do you intend to do, to implement a choice of split payments for universal credit, which could specifically support women in such situations?

Thank you, minister. I would be very happy to do that—I would appreciate that opportunity.

My understanding is that split payments are part of the Scottish choices element of universal credit, and that we have the powers in Scotland to make some adjustments to how universal credit is paid. I was hoping that, in your role in respect of equalities, you could make representations to the Minister for Social Security and Local Government to ask at what point we intend to implement those changes, because that could have a significant impact on women and could help with some of what we have heard in committee.

Cabinet secretary, thank you for bringing those issues to our attention. As you are in front of the committee, will you indicate whether you intend to include ScotRail as one of the organisations that will be subject to the public sector equality duty?

Thank you for your responses so far, minister. It is lovely to have you back.

I want to ask about disabled people’s organisations and other civic society organisations. A report published last week by Inclusion Scotland on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People recognised the importance of funding for disabled people’s organisations and others. With a view to incorporation, how will the Scottish Government ensure that DPOs and other civic organisations are adequately funded to provide a wide range of support, including peer support and capacity building?