Chamber and committees

I would be interested in seeing the committee’s engagement on that. Of course, the introduction of the child winter heating assistance delivered on a 2016 SNP manifesto commitment to extending the eligibility for the winter fuel payment to families with children in receipt of the highest care component of disability living allowance. Today, though, we are talking about introducing a winter heating payment, which is about supporting those on low incomes who are the most vulnerable, which will include adults with disabilities.

This will be followed, as members know, by the introduction of a pension-age winter payment in 2024 to replace the winter fuel payments. We have to deliver that in the time that lies ahead, and how we continue to support disabled children and disabled adults through the social security system is something that we are all concerned about. It is an area where we want to provide support where we can. Extending the child winter heating assistance to include disabled adults is not something that we have considered directly at this juncture, but I appreciate the committee’s interest in the matter.

I appreciate the member’s argument, but people who are entitled to the winter heating payment will not need to hope: they will get it. That is the different nature of the benefit. It will be delivered safely and securely to those who are entitled to it, and it will not rely on weather conditions.

I thank all colleagues for the discussion that we have had today, the evidence that the committee heard last week and the constructive way in which it has been given. I challenge several parts of members’ contributions. Of course, I have already done that through interventions, and I appreciate that there are time constraints, so I will not dwell on them all. However, I will pick up on Mr Balfour’s point about engagement with the UK Government.

It is completely unfair and unreasonable to challenge ministerial engagement with the UK Government during the period of change that we have been through, when there has been turmoil at ministerial level in the UK Government. I assure Mr Balfour, the committee and the Parliament that my officials engaged regularly with UK Government counterparts on the need for us to receive a scan in good time. We came to an agreement on that, and we are grateful to the DWP for that. I have taken the two opportunities when I have had a conversation with my new ministerial counterpart to raise that point. Of course, he has been in post for only a number of weeks. The scenario in the summer made ministerial engagement very challenging. I assure the committee that, when I can, I undertake engagement with ministerial colleagues in a serious way to press the issues that are of concern to the people of Scotland and to ensure that we deliver social security in Scotland safely and securely.

On the wider points, as I have set out in my opening statement and throughout the discussion, the changes that we are making will help significantly more people—tens of thousands more people—on a reliable basis. People will be able to rely on the winter heating payment from the Scottish Government. They will be able to budget knowing that it is coming. It will not depend on weather conditions and will therefore, along with other support, help people who are in situations of fuel poverty and financial challenge.

First, I thank Mr Briggs for raising the issue and for his work in that area. I know that, over the past year, Mr Briggs has questioned me on a number of different areas relating to the matter of terminal illness. Perhaps we can arrange a meeting in 2023 to discuss those issues more roundly. I think that that would be helpful.

Of course, we all want to make sure, as much as we can, that no terminally ill person has to worry about their finances at such a difficult time. As a Government, we recognise the specific requirements of those living with life-limiting conditions and the call for greater support. However, there is also a consideration of whether the winter heating payment is the correct vehicle for extending provision in those circumstances. Some people who receive disability benefit in relation to their terminal illness may already be eligible to receive a winter heating payment through entitlement to one of the qualifying low-income benefits and relevant premiums.

More generally, we have introduced a range of support measures for terminally ill people and their carers. For instance, as members know, when we introduced our Scottish disability benefits, we changed the definition of terminal illness to be more sympathetic in order to enable people to access the social security support that we want them to receive. We have done that in Scotland by removing any time requirement from our definition of terminal illness. That allows child disability payment and adult disability payment to provide people who are terminally ill with fast-tracked access to financial assistance at the highest rates to which they are entitled, ensuring that accessing financial support is as straightforward as possible for them. Our person-centred approach to child disability payment and adult disability payment relies on the judgment of clinicians, as I said, rather than fixed periods of life expectancy.

Any potential improvements, including an extension of the eligibility criteria, will be considered once this new benefit of winter heating assistance has been delivered and its initial evaluation has been completed. I thank Mr Briggs for raising that. As I said, more generally, I would be happy to meet him in the new year on the issues surrounding terminal illness.

As part of the net zero agenda, as well as the tackling child poverty national mission that the Government has, ministers and partners are working collegiately on how we reduce demand and improve the quality and energy efficiency of people’s dwellings. My cabinet secretary, Shona Robison, has social security and housing within her remit. The engagement between the work of Mr Harvie and the work of Social Security Scotland and how that all comes together to help to reduce demand for energy and for social security is absolutely part of the focus of two of the main pillars of the Government’s work, which are the net zero agenda and the mission to tackle poverty—child poverty, in particular.

The issue is about the efficiency of housing but also the cost of housing. The fact that the Government is investing capital in significantly more social housing than anywhere else in the UK means that costs are lower for people. That means that their costs overall are reduced, and that is an important aspect of what the Government has delivered over the past decade. The recent action by the Government and Parliament on rents is also important to consider in the overall scenario.

If I may elaborate, most respondents to the consultation—76 per cent—agreed with breaking the link to the cold weather payment. If we reflect even on last winter, we can understand why. DWP estimates show that, in 2021-22, cold weather payments were triggered on only six occasions at only four of the 27 Scottish weather stations. That resulted in total payments of only £325,000 to approximately 11,000 individuals. If we had had the winter heating payment last year, there would have been £20 million of investment, compared with £325,000, and it would have supported 400,000 individuals rather than 11,000. The unreliability of cold weather payments means that the situation is different each year, but it is worth comparing last year with what we will be able to do this year, should the regulations be passed.

I appreciate the point. The way in which the question was correctly worded around the terms “if” and “should” demonstrates why we need to get to a reliable position for people. Mr Balfour asked a question in the chamber yesterday about areas that would have received support under the cold weather payment system if there had been a prolonged period of several instances of seven consecutive days, which is unusual. In Scotland, we also have our fuel insecurity fund, which we have doubled, and we encourage people to engage with that support. We also have the different support mechanisms that are detailed in our cost of living website campaign, and I encourage people to look at that package of support and access all the support to which they are entitled. Of course, if the weather were extreme to the extent that the cold weather payment would have been initiated, many of the households that would have received it in such a scenario would also receive additional support from the Scottish Government through the social security system—for example, through the Scottish child payment and, potentially, the carers allowance supplement. Those households are rightly receiving a lot of additional support from the Scottish Government.

Will you take an intervention?

Owen, do you want to answer that for Mr Balfour, please?

I will bring in Owen Allen in a minute on the history of the considerations. It is important to recognise that the considerations around the benefit were impacted by the pandemic period. We have a work programme that we want to fulfil to meet Parliament’s expectations and those of the public, as well as our ambition and determination to devolve social security in a way that is safe and secure and as expedient as possible within that.

With regard to my answer to your previous question, I recognise and appreciate that, in most years, around the Braemar station, several cold weather payments have been initiated.

On what considerations there were about the delivery of the benefit, the overarching recognition was of the unreliability of it and the fact that it did not guarantee support for low-income households. There was a need to build in consistency by having a measure for a reliable payment that helped those in need of assistance with their heating in different parts of Scotland. It is not the only payment, because, of course, there are other supports but, within that, there should be a reliable payment to provide that support.

Owen, do you want to come in on the considerations in the development of the benefit?