Chamber and committees

In my opening statement, I talked about the three circumstances in which people would be part of the cohort transferring under these regulations, or what we call natural case transfer. There is still managed case transfer for those transferring from working age disability living allowance to ADP, and we have considerations to undertake in that respect, but the position is clear: clients to whom any of the three different situations apply will be selected as part of this process.

Of course, we have worked to ensure that people do not have to undergo the sort of DWP-style assessment that they have when they are asked to apply for PIP. A lot of the motivation for putting the natural case transfer process in place was to prevent people from having to go through that PIP assessment process. Instead, they will simply be transferred on to ADP, after which their situation will be reviewed in due course.

We have thought about many different options, and I will bring in Kate Thomson-McDermott in a moment to talk about the considerable amount of work that has been done. Of course, the big challenge for us was that we obtained these powers over disability benefits when the UK system was still in transition between DLA and PIP, but we have tried to make sensitive and effective decisions not only to improve our system but to ensure that case transfer is undertaken in a safe and secure way. Do you want to add anything, Kate?

No—they will not have to make an application. The cases with regard to ADP will be reviewed under the light-touch review process that we have set out.

Of course, it all depends on an individual’s circumstances, too—I cannot speak generically. I am sorry to interrupt you.

Certainly. It is important that we prioritise the case transfer of any individual who would otherwise be required to apply for a PIP under the DWP business-as-usual rules. I know that colleagues will appreciate that. We have already made significant improvements to the assessment process for ADP and will apply the eligibility criteria fairly and consistently to all those entitled to ADP to ensure that the impact of a disability or health condition on an individual, including the impact on mental health conditions, learning disabilities and fluctuating conditions, are taken fully into account.

As Pam Duncan-Glancy has rightly emphasised, we have given a firm commitment to a wide-ranging independent review of ADP commencing one year after the national launch of ADP. In recent days, I have been in active discussions on that matter with officials, but in light of the extensive feedback that we received, we have made a further commitment to a two-stage review, with work beginning later this year, to identify what improvements can be made on the mobility criteria and what should be included in the scope of the stage 2 independent review. We will provide details on both as soon as we are in a position to do so. I appreciate that members, stakeholders and people more broadly are interested to get an update on the first stage, and I certainly give an undertaking to do that as soon as I can.

As I laid out in my answer to the deputy convener on the first questions on these regulations, our resourcing of the independent advocacy service has been set out and budgeted for and is being provided and scaled up. I have already talked about the £12 million that we have provisioned for welfare advice and the engagement with stakeholders that is being undertaken by officials. The agency and the Government have a very close relationship with relevant stakeholders, and the fact that, as we understand it, there will be around 100 transfers per month means that we have capacity in the systems in Scotland—both in Social Security Scotland, of course, and in the advocacy service—to be able to provide that support to those people.

It depends on the individual circumstances. We have to evaluate every case on the merits of the individual’s position and the fact that we will be doing every review from a position of trust. We have some awareness of what has happened with PIP but our system has differences built into it. I think that you heard about some of the implications of that from the Scottish Fiscal Commission earlier in the meeting.

We know that, going from DLA to PIP, about a third of people have received an increase, a third have received a decrease and a third have stayed the same. However, as I said, we will treat every case individually, as people would expect. We will project where we can, but we want to make sure that people are processed individually within their circumstances, and we do not want to prejudice that.

I will come to those two points in turn. Of course, the regulations that were based on the September CPI rate followed the position that had been taken in previous years since we introduced the social security benefits—of uprating on that basis. The rising cost of living pressures that we saw before the invasion of Ukraine and have seen since it have, of course, changed the situation for all of us, and in particular for lower-income households and unpaid carers. The Government is committed to doing the right thing and helping people where we can. We therefore looked carefully at what we can do with our powers and our resources, and we have done what is necessary to ensure that we deliver the uprating.

With regard to the point about the social security benefits that are delivered under agency agreements, we cannot create a two-tier system. We will have people in the Scottish system and people in the reserved system until they transfer to the Scottish system, particularly those on disability benefits. I appreciate Pam Duncan-Glancy’s position, but the Government is moving at pace to undertake the delivery of devolved social security and to transfer people into our system in a safe and secure way.

We have had—and, in fact, are still in—a pandemic, and that has made it challenging for us to do all this to our original timetable. As a result, the timetable has had to change not just for the Scottish Government but for the DWP. The fact that Social Security Scotland will launch its 12th benefit on Monday and that seven of those 12 benefits are new is pretty remarkable, as is the fact that we have done all this since 2018. We are building an institution and an organisation that needs to be strong not just in the period ahead but for years to come, and that will rely on having a strong foundation.

In an ideal world, we would, of course, have had everyone in our system quicker than has happened, but these things take time. It is not as if we get a USB stick from DWP and plug it into our computer; the process is much more complicated, and we are undertaking it with diligence and responsibility.

It is not our intention that there will be a particular impact on those who access social security. As I said, we have decided to consider the cost as an absorbed cost and pressure within the social security budget.

I do not know whether Dominic Mellan or Simon Coote wants to add anything that might be helpful and appropriate.

As the member will know and as the finance secretary has emphasised many times to Parliament, there is significant pressure on Scottish budget portfolios in the coming financial year. As I have said, we have, in this instance, identified resource that we can absorb within our budget, and we are continually looking to see where we can use resource efficiently and for the benefit of the people of Scotland. Internally, we have had to work hard to identify this resource and make it available, and we are glad that we have been able to do so, but I am not going to—and I am not able to—specify at this point whether other resource will be available in the course of the financial year. As the member knows, the budget is allocated, and over the subsequent financial year we go through the process of reconciliations and reconsideration of positions. However, I emphasise that the Scottish Government, all ministers, including me and the Cabinet Secretary, and Social Security Scotland consistently look at what resource is available and how it can be utilised to help the people of Scotland, particularly low-income households and unpaid carers on social security.