Chamber and committees

I cannot recall the specific request and the correspondence that was potentially issued in response to that, but we consider, particularly in these times with the high cost of energy, what additional support can be provided. That is why, for example, the creation and then payment during the last years of the child winter heating assistance has been so important in providing additional support for those households. Colleagues will remember that, when we took through the regulations on the winter heating payment, I talked about the fact that we deliberately drafted those regulations to provide flexibility for the Government in the future should it wish to pay either a higher amount or an additional payment of the winter heating payment. That would be contingent on the financial resources available, which takes us back to the thrust of the challenge, which is how to provide more support in a situation where we have a largely fixed budget and limited powers.

There will always be calls on the Scottish Government to do more, but it is also important to recognise, acknowledge and emphasise that collectively, as a Parliament, we are delivering more support for people in Scotland than is available elsewhere in the UK. We are doing that with determination and dedication to help people and to make Scotland a more socially just place. We absolutely appreciate people’s needs and that there are demands for us to do more, but I hope that the committee and members across the political spectrum appreciate that, in good faith, the Scottish Government is trying to do as much as it can with its resources, such as the £428 million for the uprating that we are considering today; the £442 million for the Scottish child payment that is not available elsewhere; and the additional benefits such as child winter heating assistance.

I think that I have already covered that point in my responses to Pam Duncan-Glancy and Paul McLennan. I do not know that I have anything further to add on the issue.

Yes, there is, and we will undertake an evaluation of when would be the best time to pay the winter heating payment.

We all know the significant additional delivery demand that the Scottish Government took on in the week of 14 November, when eligibility for the Scottish child payment increased to the under-16s. We all know what was required in terms of the programming and ensuring the systems were set up, which they were—and very successfully. Everything has worked very well with that payment. That significant additional capacity will not be required of Social Security Scotland in the year ahead. However, we will be reliant on a data scan from the DWP, so we will have to negotiate and agree collectively with the DWP on a date for the data scan for the winter heating payment in the winter ahead. We will discuss that in good faith and collaboratively with the DWP. It will not necessarily be impacted by but will be somewhat contingent on the demands that the DWP is wrestling with at that time. Of course, I encourage all members to emphasise to the DWP the priority that MSPs place on good engagement between the DWP and Social Security Scotland, because it is important for all people in Scotland.

Absolutely, it has an effect across different policy areas. I think the argument for more borrowing powers for the Scottish Government becomes stronger all the time. The current fiscal framework arrangements clearly constrain the extent to which we can respond to the cost of living crisis and any other crisis, because we need to operate within that largely fixed budget. Our ability to target funds to respond to any emerging crisis is therefore limited to reprioritising, as I emphasised to Pam Duncan-Glancy, from within an existing budget and that is a significant limitation. That is the reality on which we will rightly be pressing UK ministers and the UK Government as part of the upcoming renegotiation of the fiscal framework.

The current arrangements—constrained borrowing and reserved powers—limit the Scottish Government’s abilities and we are dependent on decisions made by the UK Government. That was the case during the pandemic. It has been the case during the cost of living crisis and determines whether we are able to pay more. For example, we could pay more for the carers allowance additional supplement in 2021 because the additional resource was available. Additional flexibilities would allow the Scottish Government to mobilise and deploy funding most effectively and efficiently to support our citizens.

The fiscal framework review must ensure that the Scottish Government and Parliament have the necessary fiscal flexibility to manage the risks that we face within our devolved responsibilities and to support economic recovery, as well as households who need it. In doing so, the review must ensure that the Government has the necessary levers to manage the budget effectively and to respond to pressures and risks. Social security is part of those considerations—

Unless you want me to, I will not repeat what I laid out to Pam Duncan-Glancy but will emphasise that the Scottish Government and our analysts annually review the inflation metrics that could be used to uprate benefits.

I will emphasise what we are doing for low-income households. I talked about the £442 million that we have allocated in our largely fixed budget for the Scottish child payment. As I emphasised in my answer to Mr Dornan, now that the Scottish child payment is paid at £25 per week per child, our five family payments could be worth around £10,000 by the time a child turns six, compared to around £1,800 for eligible families in England and Wales and over £20,000 by the time the child turns 16. That is a significant investment in helping low-income households, which is the right thing to do. That is why we are doing it, and we are determined to provide that support and be proactive about it.

For subsequent children, those payments are worth £9,700 by the time a child turns six, compared to around £1,300 in England and Wales. Of course, we would like people in England and Wales to get similar support, but we do not have determination over that. In Scotland, however, that is the extra support that we are providing to low-income households.

Thank you, convener, and good morning, colleagues. I welcome this opportunity to assist the committee in its consideration of the draft Social Security (Up-rating) Order 2023 and the draft Social Security (Up-rating) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2023.

The draft Social Security (Up-rating) Order 2023 provides for the uprating of benefits administered in Scotland by the Department for Work and Pensions, while the draft Social Security (Up-rating) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 provide for the uprating of devolved benefits administered by the Scottish Government. The laid instruments provide a 10.1 per cent increase in support covering all devolved benefits, excluding the Scottish child payment, for which uprating was included in the 25 per cent in-year increase. That means that we are uprating all those benefits where there is a statutory requirement for us to do so and have additionally chosen to uprate those for which there is no statutory requirement for ministers to do so.

As the committee is aware, we took the decision to increase the Scottish child payment from £20 to £25 per week in November 2022, which was a 25 per cent increase. Now that eligibility has been extended to under-16-year-olds, that will benefit more than 300,000 children across Scotland in the financial year 2023-24. The Scottish Government estimates that the payment could reduce the relative child poverty rates in Scotland by 5 percentage points in 2023-24, lifting around 50,000 children out of relative poverty.

We have taken the decisions on uprating in recognition of the difficulties facing people in Scotland during the on-going cost of living crisis, which has seen inflation rates reach a 40-year high over recent months. Subject to parliamentary approval, the new rates in the regulations before us will come into force in April 2023. I thank the committee for its scrutiny and consideration of the uprating instruments and urge colleagues to welcome and support them.

That is certainly an important issue, although a question not directly related to the instruments before us. Of course, the carers allowance supplement will be uprated through the instruments by 10.1 per cent overall, in line with other benefits.

The question around doubling the carers allowance supplement in the next financial year and considerations once we get to that juncture in the next period—sorry, Pam Duncan-Glancy, I thought that you were talking about the additional carers allowance supplement, so please excuse me. Of course, there is relevancy and I apologise for that misspeaking.

I know that the member is interested in this area. It is important to consider how we go forward from the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. How is the Scottish Government most effectively equipped to respond to issues that require additional financial support for people and to situations in which it needs extra capacity in its financial armoury to help people? That is more specifically a consideration for the finance committee and finance ministers, but it has an impact across—

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.