Hansard

I am delighted to open today’s debate and to set out progress and plans on social security—especially because this is the first genuinely important social security debate that we have had since learning that we will take over the powers for 11 benefits at some time in the near future. We will, for the first time, have the power to act on those social security measures, so this is an historic day for the Parliament and Scotland. I look forward to the whole Parliament working together—I hope—to ensure a smooth and safe transition to delivery of social security in Scotland.

Recent debates in Parliament show the interest that members have in the subject. I pay tribute to the work of the Welfare Reform Committee in particular, in its consultation in support of the work that it did on new powers and the excellent work that it has carried out over several years on welfare benefits. I am pleased to see that the committee’s conclusions closely match my priorities in terms of what we need to do to take forward the social security agenda.

Our first priority is to ensure a smooth and safe transfer of powers from London to Edinburgh. In all the consultations that we carried out last summer on social security, everyone’s number 1 concern was to ensure that people continue right through the transfer period to receive their benefits on time and in the right amount. I pledge today that our number 1 priority will be to ensure that that happens.

Our vision and principles are designed to ensure that people are treated with dignity, fairness and respect—fundamental principles on which we can all agree. Like every other MP and MSP, members will at their constituency offices and surgeries have spoken to members of the public who have expressed frustration about aspects of the social security system—in particular, the medical assessments that are associated with disability living allowance and personal independence payments. Members will have heard everything: from people feeling as though their medical situation was being treated cursorily, to someone winning an appeal and then being immediately called again for another medical assessment, right through to people with lifetime conditions being called in for assessment to see whether they are fit for work when it is very clear that they will never work again. All those things are important to people, as is the money itself. When we treat people with dignity and respect, we can both streamline and make more humane the assessment process. That will be one of our top priorities.

I am also pleased to announce to Parliament the outcome of the first stage of our planning for a delivery vehicle for the new powers. Over the past 18 months we have been engaging with people and organisations across the country in order to understand how best to deliver the new social security powers. The outcomes of that engagement have allowed us to form a consensus that dignity and respect are to be at the heart of all that we do in policy and delivery. We need to do things differently and to take a fairer approach, although there is still a lot of work to do to achieve that. We have already committed to introducing Scotland’s first social security bill before the end of the first year of the next session—assuming that we are re-elected to Government. Our ambitions are that the legislation will reflect a distinctively different and fairer Scottish approach to social security.

Until now, the role of the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament on welfare has been primarily in relation to mitigation. In the context of falling budgets from the United Kingdom Government, we have been left to pick up the pieces and to do our best to mitigate the worst impacts of the very big cuts to certain benefits over the past six years. The scale of the cuts could result in costs to Scotland of £6 billion between 2010 and 2016. We are doing everything that we can to help; in the three years to 2016 we have invested just under £300 million to mitigate the worst impacts of the cuts.

The independent poverty adviser reported just a few weeks ago that we have to do everything in our power to try to improve outcomes when we get the new powers. She pointed out that we must proceed with caution in order to ensure safe delivery—to which I have already referred twice—and we fully agree with that. She also set out the fundamental principle that public service delivery of social security policy has to be respectful and person-centred and must preserve the dignity of people who are in poverty. Fundamentally, that is what we intend to do.

Our vision is that social security is important to all of us. None of us knows when we might have to rely on the social security system because we hit a bad patch or become very ill or disabled. Therefore, we must be able to support each other when that kind of support is needed.

Our powers will impact on some of the most vulnerable people in society. Everyone in Scotland has an interest in ensuring that people have a decent standard of life when they hit difficult times. We aim to use the powers in a way that better meets the needs of the people of Scotland, to engage with our stakeholders at every stage, and to ensure that we serve their needs and aspirations as well as live up to their hopes about a more humane social security system.

We believe that five basic principles should underline a Scottish social security system. The first principle is that social security is an investment in the people of Scotland. At the heart of our approach is an understanding that social security plays an important part in tackling poverty and inequality. Where people face additional challenges and costs in their daily lives—very often because of ill health or disability—it is right that all of us help to meet those costs. It is important in supporting people to participate fully in our society.

The second principle is that respect for the dignity of individuals is at the heart of everything that we do. At every step of our engagement with individuals, we will treat them with dignity and respect.

The third principle is that our processes and services will be evidence based and designed with the people of Scotland. The starting point for the design of our policies and processes is that they are based on the best evidence, so the individuals who are affected by them should have their say and be listened to.

The fourth principle is that we will strive for continuous improvement in all our policies, processes and systems, and put the user experience first. In the first instance, our priority will be to ensure a smooth transition, as I have already said, so that people have confidence that they will continue to receive the support to which they are entitled.

The final principle is the need to demonstrate that our services are efficient and that they give value for money. We know from our consultation that the system can be complex for people. We will seek to reduce the bureaucracy in claiming benefits and to ensure that, at all stages, people are provided with the relevant information on how the system will work for them.

On delivery, we intend, after having examined all the available options, to set up a new social security agency for Scotland. We already have a distinct and separate policy agenda, which will be reflected at every stage, from policy making to implementation and delivery. The social security agency will work with stakeholders, practitioners and experts from local government, the third sector and representative organisations across Scotland and will build on the excellent relationships and innovative approaches that are already in place.