Meeting of the Parliament 05 December 2023
Oliver Mundell asked me recently about that particular service, and I am more than happy to reach out and speak again about what is happening. Obviously, our equality and human rights fund is under review at the moment—as is the whole budget—but we will always work to see what more can be done to achieve our shared ambitions. Those services are entirely voluntary and, of course, have no threat of benefit sanction.
The cost of living crisis, Covid and inflation impact on everyone and on every Government in the country. Where equality comes into play is that the impact is not the same for, or felt the same by, everyone due to systemic issues. Last year and this year, we have allocated almost £3 billion to support policies that tackle poverty and protect people, as far as possible, from the cost of living crisis. That includes our £30 million fuel insecurity fund, which was tripled this year, and our new winter heating payment that is targeted at low-income households, including those with a disabled adult or with responsibility for supporting a disabled child.
We have invested almost £2.7 billion in our adult disability payment, which replaces the personal independence payment in Scotland. From the beginning, we were committed to delivering a benefit that was centred on treating people with dignity, fairness and respect. From keeping assessments in-house and compassionate to not using brown envelopes to write to people who are in receipt of ADP, disabled people co-designed the system with us. In the Scottish system, nobody is subject to DWP-style assessments or degrading examinations, and we never use the private sector to carry out health assessments.