Chamber and committees

The letter went from the chief executive of Social Security Scotland, rather than from my office. We can check what response Social Security Scotland has had. Of course, although we can urge councils to do things, we cannot in this regard instruct them. I would consider in good faith, however, that the councils are undertaking and have undertaken necessary and helpful proactive engagement with those in their communities, as they consistently do.

In my opening remarks, I briefly talked about where we are obliged to uprate and where there is discretion. It is important to bear that in mind. Under section 86B of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, which, of course, we passed in the Parliament just a few years ago, we are obligated to uprate child disability payment, adult disability payment, funeral support payment and the Scottish child payment, and we will also consider the forthcoming care support payment within the 2018 act. There are obligations under section 81 of the act for the carers allowance supplement. The Scottish child payment is a good example, because we have increased that above inflation—above the statutory requirement. That demonstrates that deviation is possible.

There are exclusively Scottish benefits whereby there is discretion to uprate. In the previous financial year, we chose to uprate by 6 per cent instead of 3.1 per cent for a number of such benefits, and this year we have uprated by 10.1 per cent even though there was no obligation to do so. The flexibility that you query has already been undertaken in certain circumstances.

Thanks, Mr McLennan. It is important to note that the September CPI is a measure of price increases over the preceding 12 months to September and not a measure of inflation during September alone. Devolved Scottish benefits will, therefore, be uprated in April 2023, with the September 2022 12-months CPI rate representing the overall change in prices faced by consumers over the year to September 2022. As I said in my answer to Pam Duncan-Glancy, CPI is a leading measure of inflation published each month by the Office for National Statistics and is a national statistic.

Officials assess alternative uprating options each year, including the use of a CPI rate closer to the time that uprating will take effect. However, the September CPI rate was considered the most appropriate inflation period to use to uprate benefits in April 2023. The September CPI rate is published in October due to the time lag between the period covered by the data and its publication. Using a later 12-month rate or, for example, an average rate over 2022-23 would introduce administrative challenges around setting the Scottish Government’s budget, which is published in December, and then implementing rate changes to benefits thereafter.

It is also preferable to use outturn statistics to forecast, as they reflect the inflation that households have experienced to date rather than predictions of inflation, which are inherently uncertain. We have realised that particularly in recent times.

Do you have a next question?

I thank colleagues for their important questions and hope that they will support the regulations.

Motion agreed to,

That the Social Justice and Social Security Committee recommends that the Social Security (Up-rating) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 be approved.

Thank you, convener and colleagues, for the opportunity to discuss with you this legislative consent motion on the Social Security (Additional Payments) (No 2) Bill. The bill was introduced by the UK Government on 7 February to provide further payments to support people through the cost of living crisis. That is extra support and we welcome it.

The help that is available includes £900 in extra cost of living payments for those on means-tested benefits, which will be paid in three stages over the 2023-24 financial year. Those in receipt of non-means-tested disability benefits include people who receive child disability payment or adult disability payment from Social Security Scotland, and they will receive a disability cost of living payment of £150. That payment will be made in summer 2023. Our analysis suggests that around 750,000 households in Scotland will receive the means-tested additional payment, and around 680,000 individuals will receive the disability additional payment.

It is the UK Government’s view that the provisions of its bill are reserved and it has therefore not requested the Scottish Parliament’s consent to the bill. However, the Scottish Government’s view is that the bill relates to devolved matters. It is my view that the payments are provided to individuals who have a short-term need for financial support to avoid a risk to their wellbeing and that that can be legislated for within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament. That is why it is necessary to lodge a legislative consent motion, although the UK Government has not requested one. In doing so, we will ensure that the devolution settlement is properly respected and, more importantly, that a precedent for overriding the devolution settlement is not established.

The alternative to a legislative consent motion would be to pass legislation in the Scottish Parliament on an extremely truncated timescale in order to match the UK Government’s timetable and ensure that payments are made when intended. The legislation would need to come into force by the end of March.

The UK Government bill will apply to the entirety of the UK. As a result, it is my view that introducing legislation in the Scottish Parliament is not necessary or proportionate. Instead, the most prudent course of action is to provide legislative consent to the provisions in the UK bill. That will support the payments while ensuring that the devolution settlement is properly respected.

I welcome the opportunity to take any questions as part of your consideration of the LCM.

To get to the heart of why the decisions to go above that have been made, it is because the Scottish Government wants to use its powers over social security and its budgets to help people as much as possible. It is a policy commitment that is at the heart of the Scottish Government’s determination to make Scotland a better and fairer place. We see the mission to tackle poverty as a collective one for everyone in Scotland: the Government, business, Parliament, the third sector, wider civil society and the public sector. It is the collective responsibility of us all and, as part of that, the Government should utilise resource and power where it has it to make an impact.

The instruments that are before us today to uprate not just the benefits where there is a statutory obligation to uprate by CPI in the 2018 act but those where we have discretion are demonstrative of that commitment to provide additional support. Ministers across Government, and particularly in the social justice and finance portfolios, have had discussions in order to make sure that we can utilise our resources and allocate the £428 million to provide that additional support.

I referred to the fact that, last year, we also uprated several of our discretionary benefits by an amount higher than CPI to help people with the rising cost of living at that time. Then, of course, there is the Scottish child payment, which is not just an additional benefit but one that we have increased by 150 per cent in year as well as extending it hugely, with more than 300,000 children now eligible for it.

The eligibility criteria for carer support payment, when it launches, will broadly mirror those for carers allowance until we have transferred everyone’s awards. That is the reality, because we cannot have a two-tier system, just as we cannot have a two-tier system for adult disability payment and personal independence payment until case transfer is completed.

There are important considerations around the Barnett formula and the fiscal framework, but it is also a fact that, in years past, Scotland has paid a surplus of resource into the UK Treasury. We need to bear in mind the wider considerations when thinking about these points. I emphasise that Scotland is making political choices within the devolved settlement to provide additional support. We have also had to make decisions to mitigate UK Government policy that is costly for Scotland, particularly aspects such as the bedroom tax, which costs tens of millions of pounds every year, which we would rather not have to spend. It would be much better if we could get rid of that policy, for example. That is also a reality of the situation.

I acknowledge the international situation and would never pretend that the war in Ukraine—the illegal invasion that we all wish was not happening—is not having an effect but, in the same way that that is a reality, it is also a reality that Brexit is having an effect on inflation and the strength of the UK economy, as are the repercussions of the decisions of the Truss Government in that brief period.

I am—yes.

I will bring in Camilo Arredondo in a moment. I would not want to change the obligations under the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. I think that it is right, as Parliament agreed, that there is an obligation to uprate the benefits by the consumer prices index, although of course we have increased the Scottish child payment by more than 10.1 per cent in this period.

I do not know whether Camilo Arredondo wants to say more about the obligations under the 2018 act.