Chamber and committees

There were discussions around the data scan throughout 2022, which concluded in late 2022. Once we settled on the February commencement of payments—I have always said that the payments would commence from February—there was a continued and consistent ambition from the Scottish Government to get the data in early January. During 2022, largely at official level, we had discussed with the DWP that we hoped to receive and planned on receiving the data early in January, but the DWP, because of the pressures from the cost of living payments, was unable to meet that position. We then agreed on 31 January.

I refute strongly the accusation that there was not adequate planning in social security. I am happy to commit my senior officials who work in programming, agency and policy to come and speak to the committee, because the planning of the delivery of social security benefits in Scotland has, I think, been extremely professional and remarkably delivered and considered while working in a hybrid system where we have to engage with the DWP and where we are still developing a new service that is performing well. You have seen the feedback from people who have used the service and how positive it is.

The number of new clients who made applications for the Scottish child payment in a short period in that November week represented a significant increase in client activity and demand on the service. A huge amount of planning went into that November date, and that is why it was so successful. That required additional recruitment, digital development and significantly wider programming to make sure that everything was effective. Significant Scottish child payments have been issued and I will be able to provide further updates to the Parliament on that in due course. I refute strongly any accusation that the Scottish child payment extension was not properly planned. It was very well planned; it has been very well executed and it has helped thousands of people who would not have got that support if it were not for the Scottish Government initiative. It is not available elsewhere in the UK. I must be very strong about that.

On the latter point, about how the review will be reported, I am happy to update the committee about it in due course, as soon as I can. I have already instructed my officials to consider the timing of the benefit next winter.

There is no statutory requirement to uprate best start foods, but, despite that, we increased the best start foods payment in August 2021 from £4.25 to £4.50 a week, a rise that provides a weekly payment that is more generous than those in other parts of the UK, as I have already said. Once it has been uprated in April by 10.1 per cent—should the committee and the Parliament agree the instruments before us—best start foods will provide £19.80 every four weeks throughout pregnancy, £39.60 every four weeks from birth until a child turns one to support breastfeeding mothers or to help with the cost of providing first infant formula milk, and £19.80 every four weeks from the age of one until the child turns three. Many recipients of best start foods will also benefit from our other five family payments, which include the Scottish child payment and the three best start grants.

Our five family payments could already be worth about £10,000 by the time an eligible family’s child turns six, compared to about £1,800 for eligible families in England and Wales—that is significant additional support—and over £20,000 by the time an eligible child is 16. With an expanded range of qualifying benefits compared with the UK healthy voucher scheme, best start foods also offers more choice by including a wider range of healthy foods for families to purchase. Members may have also seen that in recent weeks the Scottish Government has been trying to raise awareness of best start foods and has been encouraging people to check their cards to see whether they are eligible and to utilise that support, because we want people to get the benefit of it.

As members will be aware, the winter heating payment has just been introduced. We have, of course, discussed it at this committee. For the first time, we will provide a stable, reliable payment that will help around 400,000 low-income households and individuals with their heating expenses each winter. As I have said before, our new benefit is an investment of over £20 million each year, which is more than double the £8.3 million on average provided by the Department for Work and Pensions in the past seven years. During that same seven-year period, on average, 185,000 people received support through the UK Government’s cold weather payments in comparison to our new benefit, which, as I said, will provide support to around 400,000 people. As I highlighted in my opening remarks, we will uprate the winter heating payment by 10.1 per cent, should the Parliament agree the instruments before us. That will provide additional support next winter. Members may have seen yesterday’s clarification that the winter heating payment is being paid out as we speak, which we should all welcome.

As ministers in the social justice portfolio, we certainly press the case for additional support for social security through discussions with our colleagues who are finance ministers, particularly if new resource emerges through the process of consequentials or in-year reconsiderations of budget spend. I should say, however, that the finance ministers are very committed to the social justice position. There is a shared determination, as a Government, that it is a national mission to tackle poverty. That has been demonstrated by the fact that the Deputy First Minister and acting finance secretary has committed £428 million to uprating in the next financial year as well as the £442 million for the Scottish child payment.

Yes, in Government we will continue to discuss collaboratively and with the shared determination to tackle poverty what more financial resource can be allocated to social security. As a Government, we are absolutely focused on doing what we can to support people generally, and particularly in these challenging times.

Within this financial year, we will start carer support payments, so there will be new applications.

I am conscious that I have still to respond formally to that consultation, so I would be grateful if we could consider those matters once I have responded formally. It is important in terms of process that that happens first. I will be happy to engage on those points thereafter.

Yes. For some time, we have been calling on the UK Government to provide additional support for low-income households. We have called for universal credit to be increased and we of course argued strongly that it should not have been reduced by £20. We are now calling for it to be increased by £25, given the cost changes that there have been since then.

In the current situation, with exceptional inflationary pressure, the plain fact is that that means that the largely fixed budget that we have available buys less. That is just the reality of the fiscal position that we are in, as we do not have the borrowing flexibilities that we talked about in response to Mr McLennan’s questions. We have had to allocate and prioritise appropriately within that largely fixed arrangement.

Of course, we have created a more progressive situation in Scotland through the tax powers that we have and the social security decisions that we have made, which was recognised in recent days by the Institute for Fiscal Studies in its reporting. A significant amount of extra support is available for families in Scotland because of decisions that we have made, but the scale of the challenge is unlike anything that has been faced since devolution and since this Parliament recommenced, in 1999. We are in very significant times but, in these times, through the powers that we have and through Social Security Scotland, people are getting more support right now across Scotland. That is making a difference, which is important.

We were proud to introduce the carers allowance supplement from 2018 and it was the right thing to do. It was the first thing that was done by Social Security Scotland, by the minister at that time. It has provided a significant amount of additional support to carers, which we are determined to do. Also, through that period, there has been the carers allowance additional supplement, which I was thinking about at the beginning of this answer. That provided additional support in the year of the pandemic and then in the winter of 2021.

How we continue to support carers is demonstrated by the fact that we want to increase the carers allowance supplement through the instruments and we are asking the Parliament to support us in that. Also, we are now moving to a position where we will be transferring to the carer support payment. I draw members’ attention to the remarks that I made in the Parliament in the debate on 7 February. As I said then, I will shortly publish the response to the consultation on the carer support payment and the issues raised within that about how we provide additional support.

As with all the benefits that we are responsible for, we are looking to provide additional support, and the increase by 10.1 per cent of the carers allowance supplement through the instruments is part of that. Also, as members know, we are in a situation where we have to balance the budget across the Scottish Government as a whole. Given that we are providing £776 million of additional support above what we receive from the UK Government from the block grant adjustment, and given that we are providing new benefits that are not available elsewhere in the UK, including the carers allowance supplement, I think that the Government demonstrates consistently that we are seeking to provide additional financial support where and when we can.

The Parliament has, just this week, agreed a budget. The financial situation is incredibly challenging and finding additional support is difficult, but, where we are able to secure additional support, such as the £428 million that is committed to uprating across the board, which we are considering today, we are seeking to step up and do that.

I am happy to take that away and write to the member with more detail. Our engagement with stakeholders working on fuel poverty is and has been appropriate up until the creation of the winter heating payment and through its delivery. We would certainly be interested in feedback from stakeholders on the issues that you have raised.

As I have made the committee aware, following some of our discussions on the winter heating payment, I instructed Social Security Scotland to write to local authorities in areas that had historically had the highest numbers of people receiving cold weather payments in order to emphasise what other support was available, for example the fuel insecurity fund.

There is appropriate engagement and we are open to more engagement. I thank you for raising the issue and I am happy to take it away if you would like any further details that we could provide.

That is another important question and one that we have discussed collectively in other sessions. I have said on several occasions that, in the months ahead, we will review the winter heating payment situation and consider whether payment in this period of the winter, February into March, is the right payment schedule for households. We will engage with a number of parties to consider what may be a better arrangement for winter 2023-24 and thereafter.

I remind colleagues that considerations around when the winter heating payment could be paid out this year were based on our engagement with stakeholders about when would be a good time for them to receive the payment. There was also the reality of the fact that Social Security Scotland was activating the Scottish child payment 2 in November. Scottish child payment 2 is shorthand for the increase to £25 and the extension of eligibility to under-16s. Social Security Scotland was undertaking that new and very significant payment arrangement in November and also paying out the carers allowance supplement and the child winter heating assistance at that time. Importantly, as well as the matters that Social Security Scotland was contending with in that period at the end of last year, our colleagues in the DWP were under a lot of pressure with their cost of living payments, which is why they were able to give us the data scan for winter heating payments only on 31 January, rather than at the beginning of January, which is when the Scottish Government wanted it. We were understanding of our colleagues in the DWP. They had a huge exercise to undertake to pay out their cost of living payments, and we agreed on 31 January because that was the date that the DWP could deliver to. It did deliver to that date—we received the data. The data was effectively processed by Social Security Scotland and payments have been going out in recent days, will be going out as we speak and will be undertaken this month, February, and also in March.