Hansard

The Presiding Officer (Ken Macintosh) NPA

The next item of business is a Social Security Committee debate on motion S5M-16957, in the name of Bob Doris, on social security and in-work poverty. 14:21

Bob Doris (Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn) (SNP) SNP

As the convener of the Parliament’s Social Security Committee, I am pleased to open the debate on the committee’s report “Social Security and In-Work Poverty...

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People (Shirley-Anne Somerville) SNP

I start by thanking the Social Security Committee for bringing this important matter to debate today and for its hard work during the inquiry. I welcomed the...

Michelle Ballantyne (South Scotland) (Con) Con

I begin by thanking the committee clerks and all those who gave evidence to the inquiry. Although I dissented from a number of points and conclusions during...

Bob Doris SNP

Michelle Ballantyne gave a really interesting quote about winners and losers, if you like, with regard to the new system. Does she agree that, in our report,...

Michelle Ballantyne Con

The convener asks an interesting question and has an interesting use of language. I understood that the committee agreed that it would not use the term “winn...

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab) Lab

Will the member taken an intervention?

Michelle Ballantyne Con

No; I need to make progress. Part of the challenge was that there was an overlap as the committee held its inquiry, with a number of announcements and chan...

Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab) Lab

Like my colleagues on the Social Security Committee, I am grateful to see our report come to the chamber. Once again, we are forced to consider the catastrop...

Michelle Ballantyne Con

Will Mark Griffin say clearly whether he believes that the legacy benefits were better for working people who were trying to get back to work—whether or not ...

Mark Griffin Lab

I am about to come on to that. When Michelle Ballantyne was speaking, the committee convener made an intervention about how vulnerable people would be affect...

Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green) Green

I, too, thank all who gave evidence in writing and in person to the committee and I thank the clerks and advisers who helped to prepare the report. Poverty ...

Alex Cole-Hamilton (Edinburgh Western) (LD) LD

I, too, commend the committee’s work on this really important subject. When I was growing up and learning about economics, I always thought that there was a...

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Linda Fabiani) SNP

We now move to the open debate. Speeches should be six minutes. However, I have a bit of time in hand and I am happy to give extra time for interventions and...

Keith Brown (Clackmannanshire and Dunblane) (SNP) SNP

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak today about in-work poverty, an issue that is of particular importance to many of our constituents, and also about...

Jamie Halcro Johnston Con

The IPPR noted in its evidence that in-work poverty cannot be divorced from the economy. The member is a former economy secretary; does he take any responsib...

Keith Brown SNP

Indeed I did, and one of the things that we did to alleviate in-work poverty was to support the national minimum wage, which the member’s party has never sup...

Jamie Halcro Johnston (Highlands and Islands) (Con) Con

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the Social Security Committee’s report on in-work poverty. Last week, the Office for National Statistics released figure...

Dr Alasdair Allan (Na h-Eileanan an Iar) (SNP) SNP

The member—quite rightly—mentions the problems associated with debt. Does he feel that people waiting five weeks for the initial payment of a benefit to whic...

Jamie Halcro Johnston Con

As I have mentioned and as I will come on to again, a number of areas cause problems and that is one that has been looked at. For those on the lowest income...

Alex Cole-Hamilton LD

Will the member take an intervention?

Jamie Halcro Johnston Con

I am afraid that I do not have time. Within the mix, this Parliament has a great many levers that can have a positive impact on in-work poverty. Unfortunate...

Clare Adamson (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP) SNP

I thank the Social Security Committee for its work on this important report. I was a member of the Welfare Reform Committee in the previous session of Parlia...

Elaine Smith (Central Scotland) (Lab) Lab

Did the member, like me, receive the briefing from Citizens Advice Scotland, which works every day with clients who are detrimentally affected by universal c...

Clare Adamson SNP

I would certainly encourage them to read the briefing and to listen to the people who are affected by the appalling legislative decisions of the Conservative...

Elaine Smith (Central Scotland) (Lab) Lab

I am not a member of the Social Security Committee, but I thank it for its work in preparing the report. Despite what the Tories claim, there is no doubt tha...

Tom Arthur (Renfrewshire South) (SNP) SNP

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I commend the Social Security Committee on what is a worthwhile, considered and timely report...

Gordon Lindhurst (Lothian) (Con) Con

I thank everyone for their work on this important report. We are debating the issue of in-work poverty at the same time as we are seeing record-breaking empl...

Tom Arthur SNP

I am listening to the member’s remarks with interest. Does he recognise the argument that increased wages can drive up productivity by necessitating that fir...

Gordon Lindhurst Con

All these things are, of course, interlinked. It is not a simple matter of one leading to the other; there is a complex interplay between such factors, which...