Chamber and committees

You have raised an important point about advice. Social Security Scotland will not give advice to anyone. It is not there to do so, for this benefit or, indeed, for any others. What it can give, and will give, is information. It will give the information that there is the option to move over to the adult disability payment.

As you say, some people will benefit from that information and some people might not. It is not possible to know whether specific individuals would benefit from it until they have gone through the adult disability payment process. However, it is absolutely not the role of the agency—nor should it be—to suggest to someone whether they would or would not be better off after the process.

The important part is to provide the information and, as I mentioned in my earlier answers, to signpost people to those who can give advice. We provide the information; others provide the advice.

I am happy to provide further detail in writing about the success of the case transfer process. I was speaking just this week to DWP and Scotland Office colleagues about how the case transfer process has gone exceptionally well, from the points of view of both Governments. We appreciate that there were lessons to learn about speeding up the process at the beginning, but it is going exceptionally smoothly and well, and to time. I am happy to provide reassurance to the committee on that, and in particular on what will happen with the individuals who will be coming over to Scottish adult DLA.

In addition to the information that I gave in my first answer, to Paul O’Kane, I note that we are keen to ensure that Social Security Scotland is staffed, and that those staff are trained specifically on Scottish adult DLA. Some of them will be new staff, but there will also be experienced staff who have dealt with the case transfer process with the adult disability payment, so the new staff can gain from experience that has already been amassed of the previous process.

I am happy to clear that up, and my officials can chip in if I miss anything.

That is one of the changes that we are keen to make from the DWP’s practice. The DWP requires people to change to PIP when their circumstances change. We will not do that: claimants will be assessed in the Scottish adult DLA system and will not be required to change over to the new system. They may wish to do so, but that is for them to decide—we may come on to that discussion later—but there is no requirement for them to do so.

We gave careful consideration to that point. In essence, the decision came down to the fact that I believe that a bright-line rule, such as the one that we have suggested, provides clarity and consistency for both individuals and support organisations.

People will be able to request that their Scottish adult DLA award be reinstated if it has ended in the past year. That ensures parity with the DWP’s approach for DLA renewal applications for an interval. We anticipate that, due to the rolling awards and light-touch reviews, the process will rarely be needed for Scottish adult DLA awards. On the other hand, the DWP’s DLA renewal process requires a full new application at the end of a fixed-term award. There are nuanced differences.

We believe that the provisions in the regulations have been drafted in a way that maintains Scottish adult DLA as a closed benefit, which means that it is available only for individuals who already have a DLA award when the Scottish adult DLA award is launched. We also believe that it is appropriate to limit to 12 months the length of time in which two awards can be linked, given that the awards must be underpinned by the same condition or conditions. Of course, if someone whose award ended more than 12 months ago has experienced a change in their condition, they may be entitled to disability assistance, but they would make a new application through the adult disability payment system.

I will pass.

Good morning, convener. I look forward to Mr Balfour’s direct feedback on the case transfer process, as it progresses.

I am pleased to speak to the committee about the draft Disability Assistance (Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 2025 today. The regulations, and the associated consequential amendments, will introduce the Scottish adult disability living allowance from March 2025 and provide a like-for-like case transfer for all remaining adults in Scotland who are in receipt of disability living allowance. This is the final important milestone in the Scottish Government’s ambitious five-year project to safely and securely transfer people’s disability and carer benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland.

Like DLA for adults in the rest of the United Kingdom, Scottish adult DLA will not be open to new applications. Adult disability payment will remain the main disability assistance for adults in Scotland. Instead, Scottish adult DLA maintains the commitment that was made that adults who were over 65 in 2013 when PIP was introduced can continue to receive DLA for as long as they are eligible. The regulations extend that commitment to all adults who are still on DLA, regardless of their age.

That approach is in marked difference to that of the DWP, which requires anyone who was under 65 in 2013 to make an application for personal independence payment if they have a changing condition or are due an award review. We have repeatedly heard how that process has caused significant stress and anxiety for those who went through face-to-face PIP assessments, and we have taken the opportunity to remove that concern from people.

As our priority is the safe and secure transition of awards, the eligibility rules for Scottish adult DLA are broadly similar to those for DLA. However, we have made a number of improvements, as we have done for other forms of disability assistance in Scotland, such as our more generous special rules for terminal illness, providing short-term assistance and ensuring that equal consideration is given to all sources of supporting information.

Once people’s awards have safely moved to Scottish adult DLA, anyone in the younger group—those who were under 65 in 2013—can apply for adult disability payment if they wish to do so. We will provide individuals with clear information to inform their choice of whether they wish to apply for ADP or remain on Scottish adult DLA.

We have engaged extensively with disabled people and our key stakeholders in developing proposals for the transfer of all remaining DLA awards for adults in Scotland. I am immensely grateful to everyone who has participated in the process for Scottish adult DLA, including the members of the former disability and carer benefits expert advisory group, who have been so generous with their time, and the members of the Scottish Commission on Social Security, which provided a number of thoughtful and constructive recommendations on draft regulations. I have accepted almost all of the recommendations from both groups, and I issued my response to the commission’s report when the regulations were laid.

I welcome the opportunity to assist the committee with further consideration of the regulations today.

Yes.

The issue of having the right data is one that the committee has discussed before. As I have said to the committee, there is an on-going process within Social Security Scotland to ensure that more and more data is provided as the system grows. As you would expect, the system within Social Security Scotland is being updated on a regular basis, and that updating is not just about readiness for a new benefit, but about improving the data that can be collected.

We take the issue very seriously. We know that there is more to do, and the work is on-going. We all want Social Security Scotland to gather the correct data that will allow us to identify how the money is being spent and what impact it is having.

That takes me to your first part of your question. That sort of work sits not just with Social Security Scotland or, indeed, with the Scottish Government; there are a number of ways in which we can look at outcomes and impact. For example, Professor Linda Bauld has recently done a piece of work on exactly that type of thing.

Data collection is key, and it requires us to continually build on what we have at the moment. After all, all of us—the Government and the committee—would like more data, and the impacts are being covered not only in some of the analysis undertaken by the Government in its statistical publications, but in the areas that Professor Bauld has looked at. I am sure that the committee is already aware of that work, but we would be happy to provide some examples in due course.

We do not believe that the changes will make it significantly more likely that people will apply for support for funerals outwith their local area. The internal analysis that has been undertaken estimates the increased cost to be around £80,000 per annum, so the difference is minimal. We are introducing the change to ensure that people are, in effect, not disadvantaged and can choose the location that is most suitable, even if it is not the closest to where the deceased lived. My answer, then, is no, we do not think that there will be much of a change and we think that the cost increase will be minimal.

Currently, we do not intend to publish information on funerals outwith the local area, and that is because the data held by Social Security Scotland is not detailed enough to do so at this stage. However, the agency will continue to review the matter as it develops future publications. We will keep it under active consideration.