Chamber and committees

There is growing concern that what seems to be an overly bureaucratic system has been put in place. It seems that the Syria and Afghanistan resettlement scheme that was adopted in the 32 local council areas is now being administered to Ukrainian refugees. I understand that 1,000 Ukrainians are currently living in hotels and have had no clarification of the matching process for the scheme. What consideration is being given to a single scheme that can be delivered without councils having to decide? What advice is being given to councils to ensure that the scheme is speeded up?

That is not the point that we are debating today. That was a welcome additional resource that was provided at the start of the pandemic, but we need to concentrate on what we are responsible for and we should certainly be able to discuss the £44 million overspend.

Audit Scotland clearly says that the Scottish Government is making it difficult for those of us who are responsible for it to scrutinise the costs and track them over time. The minister said that he accepts Audit Scotland’s recommendations, and I welcome that and hope that we will see action on that soon. Because of that lack of transparency, Audit Scotland is urging the Scottish Government to make those important changes now, including by publishing a new programme for the business case so that Scots can see exactly how the money is being spent. The future financial sustainability of our welfare system is vitally important, and additional costs and duplications in the system need to be fully considered as we move forward.

We all agree that, in the spirit of the Scotland Act 2016, Scotland should be able to have a unique approach to social security and one that is distinctive from the approach that is taken elsewhere in the UK. Scottish Conservatives have outlined our priorities for reform, which include the extension of bereavement support for carers and a new top-up benefit for veterans, the need for which the minister has acknowledged in committee, and I hope that the minister will engage on those.

However, there are serious budgetary concerns, and the Scottish Government needs to be clearer about its long-term vision for Social Security Scotland and the spend that that will involve, and to lay out the practical steps that it will take to make the body more transparent and accessible to the public.

I move amendment S6M-04621.1, to leave out from “notes the more” to end and insert:

“notes the implementation of a clinically determined definition of ‘terminal illness’ and fast-tracking of these applications for support; welcomes the introduction of indefinite awards within Scottish disability assistance, which provides the most severely disabled people with long-term financial security; looks forward to the introduction of new benefits, including Low Income Winter Heating Assistance and Scottish Carer’s Assistance; notes that social security is one of the three key pillars in the national mission to tackle child poverty, and commends the extension of the Scottish Child Payment to under-16s and plans to increase it to £25 per week per child by the end of the year; welcomes the substantial financial support that these benefits provide to people, which is important at all times and particularly so now as people are impacted by the cost of living crisis in the UK, and acknowledges the Scottish Government’s record investment of £3.9 billon in benefit expenditure in 2022-23, which is £360 million above that received by the UK Government, all of which will provide meaningful social security support to over one million people, including low-income families and households, disabled people and carers; is concerned that the £251 million cut to local government funding will have a knock-on effect on debt advice services, which will have a detrimental impact on low-income families and households; notes further concern at the published processing times at Social Security Scotland showing record highs, with many applications taking 30 days to process, almost double the average processing time of September 2021, which raises further concerns about how Social Security Scotland will be able to cope with the additional caseload, given that Audit Scotland forecasts that the Adult Disability Payment caseload will increase from 20,000 cases in 2022-23 to 475,000 cases by 2026-27; seeks clarification on how the Scottish Government plans to finance increased social security expenditure, with a projected extra £760 million needed by 2026; thanks the Department for Work and Pensions for its continued support in helping to deliver these benefits through agency agreements when Social Security Scotland was unable to meet its proposed timescales for delivery, and looks forward to finally having full case transfer, as agreed, by 2025.”

I am grateful to the minister for taking an intervention. Audit Scotland also stated that the implementation costs of new devolved benefits are “not routinely reported on” in the public domain, which inevitably makes it

“difficult for those in scrutiny roles to track and compare over time.”

What assessment of those comments has the minister made?

Will the member take an intervention?

The decision by the SNP-Green Government to cut more than £250 million of council funding is clearly impacting on the ability to deliver local advice services. What assessment have ministers made of the loss of advice services, because those services are so important to our fellow citizens—including in Perth and Kinross, where they might also face cuts?

Further to the previous question, is the Government looking to expand the information that assessors will be required to provide, so that it includes more than just an address?

Great. Thanks.

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. This will be the first time that Parliament will undertake a reconsideration stage of a bill, and I do not believe that any member wants to see the Scottish Government setting the parameters for that. Could you advise members of what process will be developed to enable all MSPs across the Parliament to influence the bill?

Secondly, could you look at the publication of the Parliament’s legal advice, which the Presiding Officer at the time received, on the legislation and its competence when it was originally passed?

I thank the Deputy First Minister for advance sight of his statement.

Following the ruling by the Supreme Court, both bills have been left in limbo for months. As the Deputy First Minister concluded, I hope that we will now see movement on the legislation and on Parliament’s ability to enact it. The UK Government and the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland have reached out to the Deputy First Minister on a number of occasions to try to speed up the process, and they stand ready to engage and to help the Scottish Government in taking forward workable amendments to bring the bill within the legislative competence of our Parliament.

Previously, the Deputy First Minister stated that this is urgent, and I hope, genuinely, that we will see how the Parliament can be fully included in developing the amendments that are needed to make the bills legally competent. I therefore ask the Deputy First Minister about something that was not included in his statement: when will ministers set out a timetable for the bill to be brought back to the Parliament and for that committee process to start?

The European Charter for Local Self-Government seeks to protect the powers of local government. That is something on which I think we all agree and that, when we passed the bill, we supported. What assessment will ministers now make of the impact of the Scottish Government’s proposed national care service and the removal of powers from local government, when the bill on that is passed?

It is about the publication of the Parliament’s legal advice, which the Presiding Officer at the time received and which pointed to the legal competence of the legislation when Parliament was considering it. Would that advice be published?