Hansard

Although the chamber has cleared somewhat after my statement, I thank all the members who are staying and will contribute to the debate. This is an important, although technical, debate on the development of the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill.

I am grateful for the productive contributions that have arisen from the Parliament’s scrutiny, which resulted from the evidence that was given by knowledgeable and engaged stakeholders. That process added to the engagement that the Government had already undertaken in the co-facilitated events and the work with people on our experience panels and client panels.

The bill is part of the on-going development of a radically different social security system of which we can rightly be proud. That system is built from the ground up and delivers 14 benefits, seven of which are available only in Scotland. The bill maintains our person-centred and rights-based approach, in which people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect.

We recognise that it is important that we continuously seek to make improvements that build on the track record of successful delivery, as our experience grows. The bill will enhance the Scottish system of social security in line with our social security principles, which are set out in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. Those principles were supported by the entirety of the Scottish Parliament.

The principles that are particularly relevant to the bill are that

“opportunities are to be sought to continuously improve the Scottish social security system in ways which ... put the needs of those who require assistance first, and ... the Scottish social security system is to be efficient and deliver value for money.”

The bill will improve the experience of people who use Scotland’s social security system and ensure that it continues to deliver value for money. In particular, it will introduce new rights for people, save money by increasing efficiency, improve scrutiny of social security, take powers to improve existing benefits and introduce a power to create assistance for care-experienced people.

The bill represents an essential collective investment in a system from which we might all need help and which is expected to generate savings of about £3.5 billion each year.

I am grateful to the convener and all the members of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee for the work that the committee undertook in producing its stage 1 report. I am similarly grateful to the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee and the Finance and Public Administration Committee for their respective contributions.

I am pleased that the Social Justice and Social Security Committee agrees that work on the improvements that are intended from the bill has been

“undertaken in a way that takes account of the ethos of the 2018 Act”,

and that it

“recommends to the Parliament that the general principles of the Bill be agreed to.”

Parts of the bill are technical in nature. I am aware that the committee says in its report that it found it

“difficult at times to ensure that the social security principles are upheld throughout the Bill.”

I reassure the committee that the principles remain front and centre of the design of each provision in the bill. In the bill’s technical context, that has sometimes required that a careful balance be struck between principles, but I am confident that that balance has been achieved.

I am aware that particular concerns have been raised about the provisions in part 6 of the bill. I make it clear that nobody will lose their entitlement simply as a result of failing to provide information for an audit exercise. The provisions in the bill compare favourably with the approach that is taken elsewhere in the United Kingdom, where simply failing to respond to a request can result in benefits being terminated. The powers that are being taken through part 6 are required in order to identify trends in case loads to support effective audit processes, not to identify specific instances of benefit fraud. Any fraud that is detected during an audit exercise will be dealt with using existing tools and processes that have been agreed by the Parliament.

The provisions contain a number of safeguards that are intended to avoid unnecessary intrusions. They take a power to make regulations that will exempt some groups entirely from participating. Those that are not exempted will have an opportunity to ask, when they have a good reason, to be withdrawn from the sample. Anyone who participates in the exercise will have the right to an advocate or a supporter, and the power to suspend an award of assistance will be exercised only as a last resort. An award will only ever be suspended when multiple attempts to obtain the information through a variety of communication channels have been unsuccessful.

I am, however, alive to the concerns that have been raised and we have taken concrete steps to address them in the bill. I note that the committee welcomes our undertaking to amend the bill at stage 2 to require that a public consultation be held in advance of making regulations under part 6, and to require that those regulations be sent to the Scottish Commission on Social Security for scrutiny. We are happy to continue our engagement with stakeholders to ensure that any processes that are designed to implement the provisions centre on the values of dignity, fairness and respect.

We have already acted to improve the bill in other ways, in the light of what we heard during stage 1 evidence. The Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee’s suggestions at stage 1 will shape the bill. Its invaluable technical expertise has informed the drafting, and we have committed to lodging a number of amendments at stage 2, as a result.

We have worked closely with the insurance industry on developing the provisions on compensation recovery, and we have agreed to clarify the limits of insurers’ liability under the provisions, in the light of that constructive engagement.

We have listened to stakeholders who have called for the introduction of late applications in exceptional circumstances, and we will lodge an amendment at stage 2 to ensure that Scottish social security remains as accessible as possible.

We have continued to work closely with the Scottish Commission on Social Security since the bill was introduced to ensure that we continue to make the most of its important contribution to the Scottish system of social security. We have agreed with its board to expand, by way of an amendment at stage 2, the range of regulations that will be subject to its formal scrutiny.

In closing, I suggest that support for the social security principles remains strong among members. I have spoken to the ways in which the Government has sought to work constructively to improve the legislation in the light of the valuable contributions that have been made so far, and I stand ready to continue that dialogue with members and our stakeholders as we move through the process.

I therefore urge members to support the bill so that this important set of improvements can be implemented and we can ensure that this vital public service remains robust in the future and plays its part in the Government’s on-going missions to reduce child poverty and to ensure sustainable and excellent public services.

I move,

That the Parliament agrees to the general principles of the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill.