Chamber and committees

That will be part of the consultation. I am sure that people will challenge us on how we can move forward on our targets as timeously as possible. While we work on the review of the targets, we will not pause or lose momentum on any of the other work that is being undertaken across the Government. I hope that that gives some reassurance to the committee. We are still pushing towards the targets that are set out in statute—the Government is driving on that—but we want to have the best types of targets, to ensure that we maximise the Government’s work on eradicating child poverty in the future.

Yes.

It is not for me to opine on how committees could work together and I absolutely will not comment on that in case I incur the wrath of the convener at my first meeting.

You raise an important point about how the Government can work together and there are myriad examples. Some things that can have a direct impact on tackling child poverty do not sit directly within my portfolio and that is exactly why the issue is looked at at Cabinet level and across the Government. We look at the programme to ensure that the directors who are involved from across the Government are working together. The same approach is taken periodically by ministers as we look at the approach that is being taken. I have overall responsibility for that, so other cabinet secretaries are well used to me opining. They ensure that I am informed about any work that is done and that is also discussed at Cabinet level.

Another important aspect is to ensure that we speak directly to organisations and to those with lived experience. We take a number of opportunities at both official and ministerial level to speak to people. I believe that I will meet such panels through the Poverty Alliance as part of ministerial visits during the challenge poverty week, and that other ministers will be undertaking those types of engagement, too. I give that week as an example of what is coming up in the diary very soon, but we do those things throughout the year.

10:00

I have made it clear that the changes that will be seen around the levels of expenditure on ADP are mostly the same as those that are being seen across the UK and are therefore related to what is happening across the UK.

I will give one example of the areas that explain why we are seeing an increase in ADP. Professor Linda Bauld undertook work that looked at the reasons behind that, and she found that the main reason was that the pension age is increasing, meaning that more people are remaining on ADP later on in life because they are not of pensionable age and are therefore not receiving the pension age disability payment. That is an example of why we have to be very careful when exploring why there are increases to expenditure.

I point out that the Institute for Public Policy Research Scotland has noted that the evidence refutes the proposition that is often heard in political discourse that the higher the social spending, the worse it inevitably is for growth. It is important that we understand that we can provide support for people, as the Government intends to do, while ensuring that we deliver strong economic growth at the same time.

I am not a clinician, nor am I disabled, but I am sure that if you have disabled people’s organisations in front of your committee, they will be able to tell you the impact that anxiety or ADHD can have on people’s lives, on whether a person can use public transport, on how they can interact with the rest of society and on the difficulties that they face.

One really sad thing about the discussions that have taken place is that we seem to once again be separating physical disabilities from mental health issues and other challenges as if some conditions were somehow more deserving of attention than others.

09:30

You made an important point in your question, which is that how a person’s life is impacted by their disability or long-term condition is what is analysed. Supporting information from external professionals then helps benefit applicants to demonstrate that.

Again, I am not a clinician, so I am not going to go into the reasons for that, but I am sure that the many organisations that represent disabled people and mental health charities would love to have the opportunity to tell the committee exactly how anxiety, ADHD or neurodiversity can impact on a person’s life.

It is deeply disappointing that we are getting into a discourse that somehow differentiates between those that have a physical disability and those who have a mental health condition or a neurodivergence.

I know that Stephen Flynn is certainly cognisant of that other side of the coin. When we look at the cost of bus fares, we must ensure that there are buses to provide local communities with the services that they require. I am sure that the Transport Committee is looking at that issue, which is an important part of the work that will be undertaken to look at the impact of the £2 bus fare. I know that the cabinet secretary is cognisant of the need to look at bus services in general.

The cost of policies will be determined by what those policies are. I will use childcare as an example, given that we have discussed it. There are myriad ways in which childcare could be developed and the costs will differ depending on the policy. That is why it is exceptionally important to look at the impact that a policy will have on child poverty. We will look at how we are developing policies to ensure that they are fiscally responsible as we move forward with our budgets. It is clearly challenging to look at the cost of policies as we move forward, but that is exactly why those costs will be looked at as different policies are developed.

We need to recognise that the asylum process in the UK is delivering significant challenges for a number of areas across the UK. Clearly, in Scotland, that is most felt in Glasgow, but similar challenges are felt by cities elsewhere in the UK. Part of the challenge is that, in the current asylum process, there is a drive for decisions to be taken and people to be moved out of the accommodation that they are in while they are part of the asylum system, which is controlled by the Home Office and has nothing to do with local authorities in Scotland. That drive is putting further pressure on local authorities, and that is felt by some local authorities more than others. As I said, in Scotland, it is most keenly felt in Glasgow.

That is why we are working closely with Glasgow City Council on the support that it requires. In the past, we have focused on funding for the local authorities with the most pressure on temporary accommodation numbers. At the time, that was a controversial decision for the Government to take, because those aspects are usually decided by formulas across Scotland. However, the Government decided to focus some of our housing and homelessness funding on the authorities that felt the biggest pressures. We have done that in the past.

In the conversations that I am undertaking with Glasgow City Council, and which my officials are undertaking with it on my behalf, we are considering what more can be done in those areas. We are considering what can be supported in terms of the policies that the councils have and the role that RSLs play, so that we all work together. Recognising the pressures that exist, the Government is working with the council to see what more can be done to support it.

As you point out, it is not appropriate for ministers to comment on planning applications, as there might be a role for the Scottish ministers later in that process. Clearly, the Government is in regular contact with the council and with organisations that provide front-line services in Glasgow, but it would not be appropriate for me to comment on something that might go through other parts of the planning process in due course.

I can give a commitment about what we will do and what I will deliver to Parliament as part of the review process. Obviously, each policy is at a different point: the price cap policy is at consultation at the moment, and work that is being undertaken on childcare is still being developed. We can make sure that the committee is aware of policies as they develop and of impact assessments as they are made. In order to assist the committee, we will bring that information together, and we will also bring it together for Parliament in the usual manner within my review by the end of March.