Meeting of the Parliament 01 March 2016
But the Scottish Government will have the possibility of creating new benefits and the possibility of having conditions attached to those benefits. Ministers need to be clear about how any conditions attached to future benefits, for example, would be enforced or how they would impact on claimants.
Furthermore, the devolution of those powers to this Parliament gives us an opportunity to deliver some social security benefits in a way that takes better account of local circumstances. There is scope to use the existing expertise of local government in dealing with the administration of existing payments, along with greater knowledge of local labour markets, to tailor the delivery approach to best suit the needs of local people. Perhaps there is even an opportunity to better align some social security with our health and social care system—those are certainly options that this Parliament should explore.
The Scottish Government now has an opportunity to outline its plans for social security to the people of Scotland, and the people of Scotland are undoubtedly listening and waiting to hear what the Scottish Government’s plans are.
I move amendment S4M-15758.1, to leave out from “the vision” to end and insert:
“that the future delivery of social security policy in Scotland should always encourage the benefits of the workplace, with an emphasis on treating people with dignity and respect, and believes that welfare policy choices should also be made with fairness to Scotland’s taxpayers in mind.”
16:03Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.
- S4M-15758.1 Social Security Motion