Chamber and committees

I will bring in Merlin Kemp at the end if he wishes to add anything, but I will just say, first of all, that what is in the regulations is what we intended to happen all along with regard to the linking period. It was intended that the agency could re-award the Scottish child payment by making a determination without application within 12 weeks of someone losing their award due to their no longer being entitled to a qualifying benefit or no longer being responsible for the child in question.

The most likely scenario in which that could happen would be a person losing their universal credit entitlement for a short period of time. We knew that that could happen under universal credit, and we did not want to people to have to submit a brand new application just because they lost the benefit for a month or two. The situation could also apply to someone who temporarily did not have responsibility for a child.

Unfortunately, what happens at the moment is that the 12-week linking period applies from when a decision is made on a change in circumstances. In practice, there can sometimes be a long delay between the change of circumstances taking effect and that change being notified to Social Security Scotland. That can mean that the agency automatically re-awards the Scottish child payment after the client has not been eligible for much longer than the originally intended 12-week period.

Therefore, the change that we seek to make in the regulations is consistent with the original policy intention to ensure that individuals are not automatically awarded the Scottish child payment after long periods of ineligibility. That change will allow for proper checks to be carried out to ensure eligibility and to check for any other changes of circumstances.

I will mention the circumstances in which there would be a long delay between a client losing entitlement and Social Security Scotland making a decision to stop the Scottish child payment. If a client was late in reporting to Social Security Scotland a change in their circumstances relating to their qualifying benefit or responsibility for the child, or if there was a delay in the client reporting the change to the Department for Work and Pensions or His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, that would result in their losing entitlement to the Scottish child payment.

An example of how that could happen in practice would be a client reporting that a child had left the household one year ago to live in another household but that, as of today, they were back living with the client’s household. In those circumstances, it would be appropriate to end the claim with an effective date of one year ago, when the client became no longer responsible for the child, and for the client to apply again for Scottish child payment for the child at today’s date.

I appreciate that there is a lot of detail in that answer. I hope that I have articulated it in a way that is helpful for the committee. I ask Merlin Kemp whether there is anything further that he wishes to add.

[Inaudible.]—considered. First of all, approximately 6,000 children will have “aged out”—that is the phrase that is used—in the 12 weeks prior to the launch date on 14 November. Approximately 3,000 children from that cohort will have their Scottish child payment claim ended at that point. The other 3,000 children are from households that have a younger child and will, therefore, still be in receipt of the Scottish child payment. Social Security Scotland will send specific SMS text messages and/or emails to that cohort of families to tell them that they need to reapply if their child has aged out. The rationale for that approach is that our user research testing showed that we need to keep our messaging simple and clear. The risk with unclear messaging is that some people who are eligible to receive the Scottish child payment might not apply for it. None of us wants that; we want people who are eligible to apply.

Our testing showed that, if we restart payments automatically for some clients, many others might assume that that applies to them, too, so they would fail to apply and therefore miss out. We decided that a straightforward approach would be for it to apply to everyone. As I mentioned, we will send a specific SMS text message and/or email to tell people that they need to reapply if their child has aged out. We will do that for the particular cohort that I have referenced. I hope that that reassures Mr Balfour.

As the member emphasised, our consultation is still live and closes today, and we encourage people to contribute to it. Once the consultation closes, officials will require some time to consider the feedback and the policy options. There are challenges relating to how we deliver in the future. We need to consider what powers the Scottish Government has and the technical capabilities for delivery. However, we are keen to make improvements when we can. We will aim to publish in early 2023 a response to the consultation, which will set out some of our next steps. As part of policy development, officials will consider whether there would be a benefit in modifying the legislative footing on which the Scottish child payment is based. That is certainly something that we will consider.

Does the member mean in a safeguarding capacity?

That is a very important question on which I will bring in Janet Richardson shortly. Before I do so, I emphasise to Mr Balfour and the committee more widely that Social Security Scotland is well prepared for the extension of the Scottish child payment, because it now has the necessary staff, processes, training and support either in place or scheduled imminently.

As Mr Balfour rightly emphasised, we expect a large influx of applications once the benefit is extended on 14 November, should Parliament pass the regulations. To help to manage that, at the same time, we are introducing improvements to reduce manual processing of Scottish child payment applications. We call that straight-through processing, and it should impact positively on processing times. Straight-through processing is through increased automation of processing of Scottish child payment applications. Once the payment is extended from 14 November to individuals who are responsible for children under 16, a high percentage of applications should be processed automatically without any manual intervention being required. The system will carry out all the checks that a client adviser would perform, so clients will not be treated differently if their application is processed by the system. Only eligible cases, with no outstanding actions or checks to be completed, will be processed to payment by that system.

If a client is not eligible or fails any of the automated checks for any reason, their case will be picked up by a client adviser to be processed manually. Any client who is awarded the Scottish child payment, after a decision is processed by that system, will have the same redetermination and appeal rights as a client whose decision was made by a client adviser. We are being very clear that no application will be denied by the straight-through system, because we have those proper checks and balances.

A combination of organisational preparation through staffing, training, straight-through processing and making sure that the agency is properly stood up for the anticipated increase in demand from 14 November, will make it a good client journey for the people of Scotland.

Janet, do you want to add anything to what I have said?

I thank Mr Choudhury for that question. I talked about that in my answer to Natalie Don. There are on-going considerations of the impact of the Scottish child payment on clients’ engagement with work, but there is no evidence of significant effects to date.

I urge colleagues, on the basis of our discussion today and what I said in my opening statement and more generally, to support the regulations. In particular, the uplift and extension of the Scottish child payment will make a significant difference for a lot of our constituents during this challenging time. There are various times during a parliamentary session when MSPs can make a difference for people, and I suggest that this is one of those moments. I strongly urge colleagues to support the regulations, given the positive impact that the increase in, and extension of, the Scottish child payment will have for many households at this challenging time.

I move,

That the Social Justice and Social Security Committee recommends that the Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment and Transitional Provision) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 be approved.

It is a good thing for all of Scotland that education maintenance allowance is in place in Scotland, whereas that is not in the case in other parts of the UK. Although the Scottish Government cannot guarantee that all 16-year-olds who age out of the Scottish child payment will be eligible for EMA, we have considered the likelihood that people who turn 16 might transition to EMA, so we are working to ensure that relevant signposting is in place for them. We are developing an insight-driven communication and engagement plan, which will be a live document that is continuously reviewed and updated. We are developing that ahead of the roll-out, and it will be reviewed and updated.

In our communication strategy, we have included an objective to raise awareness of EMA as a form of support for those who age out of the Scottish child payment at the age of 16, and we are currently working on the best approach to achieve that objective. EMA is currently promoted in schools as well as online, including via local authority websites. We are working to ensure that promotion in schools of the Scottish child payment is conscious of the links to EMA and complements engagement that has already been carried out.

The point is well made by the member and the committee. I hope that my answer reassures members that consideration and action are under way in that space. With our partners that I have mentioned, the Government will certainly be focused on making sure that we help people to access the support of EMA once they age out of the Scottish child payment.

In a moment, I will bring in Janet Richardson. They are different systems. Of course, not just in the Scottish Government but among colleagues in local authorities and other public service providers, there are longer-term ambitions, from a digital perspective, to make the journey and access of support as easy as possible for people in Scotland, and that is an on-going piece of work. Because the EMA is not delivered by Social Security Scotland, that automation cannot be implemented in the social security system. However, as I have emphasised, action and partnership are already under way to help people to be aware of the EMA and how to apply, as well as to encourage them to do so as they age out of the Scottish child payment.

Janet, do you want to add anything to that?

Yes, as far as I am aware. I can confirm with the committee, but it is a Government priority and every Government priority is under consideration with the new deal, because local government is a key partner in not just delivery, but in development of how we move forward and deliver on both the priorities for the Scottish people and also what this Parliament sets as the agenda.