Chamber and committees

Estimates of the number of applicants expected for the Maternity and Early Years Allowance will depend on decisions yet to be taken about the rollout of this benefit and the eligibility criteria that will be used.

For the purposes of policy development, we have estimated that, if current Sure Start Maternity Grant take-up rates and eligibility criteria were maintained, around 40,000 awards would be made each year. If full take-up were achieved and all eligible families received a grant we estimate that somewhere in the region of 85,000 awards would be made each year.

These figures are estimates of the total numbers of awards that would be made in a year and so combine payments on birth, upon a child starting nursery and upon a child starting primary school.

Source: Scottish Government analysis based on Department for Work and Pensions figures.

Information on the number of applications and the annual cost of these payments is held by the Department for Work and Pensions.

Our intention is to create a Maternity and Early Years Allowance. For those eligible, a maternity payment will be made for the first child of £600. Maternity payments for second and subsequent children will be £300. Payments of £250 will be introduced for all children when they start nursery and again when they start school.

We are still considering our plans for the operation of the new Maternity and Early Years Allowance, including questions such as eligibility criteria and timescales for introduction. We want to implement the new benefit, which will replace the Sure Start Maternity Grant, as soon as practically possible. We have been consulting stakeholders including users, potential users and interested groups and will continue to do so over the summer to gather views to inform decisions and the required legislation. We will also be taking forward the next steps in the delivery process, which will involve financial, legal and practical considerations.

The Scottish Government does not currently track funeral poverty however after recognising the issue of the costs of funerals commissioned a report into funeral poverty, as referred to in S5W-00238 on 14 June 2016 to examine this issue. Various measures will be established to evaluate the impact of the funeral payment and other social security benefits once they are devolved.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00238 on 14 June 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Department of Work and Pensions is responsible for the funeral payment.

We have worked extensively with all those with an interest in the area of the costs of funerals and the adequacy of funeral payments. We commissioned a report on funeral poverty from John Birrell, Chair of the Scottish working Group on Funeral Poverty and Citizens Advice Scotland, and are taking forward the recommendations from that report. That report and the Scottish Governments response was published on 3 February 2016 and can be found at: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/fairerscotland/future-powers/Publications.

We have also gathered evidence from academic papers, annually published research on funeral costs, third sector reports and professionals who work with bereaved people. In future, various measures will be established to evaluate the impact of the funeral payment alongside other social security benefits once they are devolved.

The Scottish Government is in the process of organising a national conference as part of the range of work currently being undertaken to address the issue of the costs of funerals including hosting round table discussions between Scottish Ministers and stakeholders and working with stakeholders to provide information to help people plan ahead for their own funeral.

We want the powers to control the funeral payment as soon as practically possible, however timescales for delivering benefits in Scotland are yet to be formalised. There is much work to do to support our policy objectives on funeral poverty and the costs of a funeral and decisions about the detail of the replacement for the funeral payment can only be made in this wider context.

A stakeholder reference group has been set up to advise on work on funeral poverty and the development of the funeral payment. The funeral payment will form part of the wider consultation over the summer on devolved social security benefits, to gather views to inform decisions, including those around eligibility. We will also be taking forward the next steps in the delivery process, which will involve some of the financial, legal and practical considerations.