Chamber and committees

The point about accessibility is extremely important; I will bring in Kirsten Sweeney to talk about how accessibility of Social Security Scotland’s communications and application processes is fundamental to the design of the information technology infrastructure, the forms that are created and the language that is used. We want to produce materials that are as inclusive as possible and are available in various languages, as required, in Braille and in other ways. We are, quite rightly, creating materials that are accessible.

One of the key factors in the creation of Social Security Scotland is that we want people to be able to access the service in a way that is right for them. That theme ran through the discussions on the bill and has, rightly, been an aspect that we have considered strongly in our consideration of the application process for clients and during the journey of creating benefits and the service itself. For example, for people who access the service online, our interface needs to be as accessible, clear and user friendly as possible. Social Security Scotland’s IT teams are very focused on and are delivering that.

However, we also want people to be able to pick up the phone, have a video call or meet an adviser in person to help them with forms, if one of those is their preferred method of applying to, accessing, engaging with or communicating with the service.

We are providing all that, which is why the local delivery teams that are about to be initiated countrywide are so important. They are already in place in the three areas that are piloting the child disability payment. The extra contribution, commitment and resource to ensure that people access the service and the benefits in the way that is right for them lie at the heart of what we are providing. The local delivery teams are really important, which is why I am so enthusiastic and passionate about them. They will make a difference to people who are not confident about going online, who might not be digitally literate or who need support to fill out their forms.

I will bring in Ruari Sutherland shortly, but I will say a bit about that first. One of the challenges that we face collectively is that it is not possible to be 100 per cent accurate in estimating take-up of disability and carers benefits using existing household data such as the family resources survey. Using existing survey data to calculate the eligible population for disability benefits would, unfortunately, result in an inaccurate estimate of take-up due to a number of factors. The survey does not capture certain aspects.

For example, the assessment of eligibility for disability benefits is required to look at all needs and day-to-day limitations, and there is an element of discretion in how the assessments for disability benefits are undertaken and in benefit award decisions. As a result, those who are determined to be eligible through the surveys might not match those who are determined to be eligible through the assessments. Therefore, there are challenges with the data. Disability is self-reported in the surveys, which means that they are not an objective measure for the eligible population, although I appreciate that that is partly why you asked the question.

On the engagement work to ensure that we are doing what we can, I will let Ruari talk about the stakeholder engagement that has taken place, because officials have led on that. Reflecting back and looking forward, there are strong commitments in the strategy to ensure that we are doing what is required and what we can to reach out to those hard-to-reach groups and those who are more vulnerable in order to inform them and to encourage and support benefit uptake as much as possible.

That question is slightly off topic, but I am happy to answer as well as I can at this juncture.

The commitment to the review of ADP in 2023 was made by the previous cabinet secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville—I refer Jeremy Balfour to the comments that she made at that time. The Scottish Government is actively considering what the review will include and how it will be undertaken, and we will, of course, update Parliament on that, via the committee, in due course.

As the previous cabinet secretary stipulated, the review will look at how ADP has performed at that juncture, but changes will also be considered, and the recommendations that are received as part of the review will be evaluated. Consideration of what the relationship will be with passported benefits will have to be undertaken, so discussion will be required with the United Kingdom Government. As I have alluded to previously, the UK Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, Chloe Smith, and I have already corresponded somewhat on passported benefits. I look forward to discussing that constructively in due course.

There will also have to be active consideration of the conclusion of case transfers. Jeremy Balfour will know that, as the Government undertakes both pieces of work—starting the new benefits and opening them for applications, and undertaking case transfers—we have to consider how they will work in tandem. At the moment, we have to consider how the eligibility criteria correspond to both, so that there is equity in that regard and because of passporting considerations.

I am afraid that that is all that I can say about the ADP review at this juncture, but I am happy to confirm and emphasise that it has always been our intention to update the committee on that in due course.

As I alluded to in my opening remarks, the five principles have been developed through our extensive engagement with stakeholders and people with experience of the social security system. They build on the themes of the previous take-up strategy, which were: removing social barriers to access; addressing costly and complex access; and improving access to information. In addition, the five principles were considered and decided on because of consultation with the stakeholder take-up reference group and the learning that was gained through the projects that were funded through the benefit take-up and income maximisation funds. Building on all that experience, insight and feedback, we decided on those five principles.

Evelyn Tweed highlights an important point. We all have anecdotal evidence; I think of engagement that I have had, as minister, with individuals who have benefited from the social security system. Many people have heard about the support that is available to them when they were taking a child to school, visiting their general practitioner or passing through their community centre.

Engagement and collaboration with statutory services and the third sector are important. We need to give their role equal emphasis. Third sector organisations that operate in a variety of fields—supporting individuals who have disabilities, people who are in care and people who are carers—disseminate our information through their networks. The way that they do it is outstanding and makes an important difference. Also, their feedback to us on the experiences of the people whom they support is really helpful.

All those things make a difference. That is why, for example, we are funding welfare rights advisers in 150 GP surgeries in Scotland’s most deprived areas. That will make a difference to people learning about and accessing Scottish social security in the settings of other statutory services.

We have, throughout the period, taken a holistic approach to social security and maximising incomes. However, at the heart of the new strategy is recognition that benefit take-up is, as Evelyn Tweed emphasised, part of a bigger picture in terms of how we encourage income maximisation, how we tackle poverty and how we recover from the pandemic. That cross-system collaboration can be seen in our approach to funding welfare advice and health partnership workers, which launched in September. That is a cross-Government initiative that is funded from the health, communities and social security budgets, and it engages with different parts of society.

There is an income maximisation working group that brings together officials from across the Scottish Government to ensure that we have a co-ordinated and clear sense of the collective direction of travel. We want to provide joined-up support to wrap around people, and to make it as person centred as possible in order to drive better outcomes. A lot of collaborative work is already undertaken; the benefit strategy focuses on how we can improve and build on that.

I will bring in Kirsten Sweeney on the communication materials and when they are supplied to people. Perhaps that should be after we suspend the meeting—I am conscious of the time. Mr Briggs makes an important point around how the Government, collectively, provides that wraparound support for individuals. That is a key point of consideration for the Government in relation to Covid recovery and how we as a society move forward from here. I will leave it there.

I am sorry. I thought that we were finishing at 10:58.

First, I offer our gratitude for all the work that SCOSS does in evaluating regulations. Mr Briggs is aware that the SCOSS report on the draft adult disability payment regulations was recently published and we are still to formally respond to it. We will touch on that recommendation in our formal response.

Could you be more specific with that question?

I will bring in David Hilber because he has been leading on development of the case transfer aspects of the regulations. Is that what you meant, Mr Balfour?