Hansard

On behalf of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, I am pleased to contribute to the debate on the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill. I thank the individuals and organisations that responded to the committee’s call for views and attended meetings to inform our scrutiny.

The bill, which continues the journey to build, enhance and improve Scotland’s social security system, was introduced by the Government to make changes to the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, which established the devolved social security system. As the cabinet secretary highlighted, the 2018 act includes the principles 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 that

“the Scottish social security system is to be efficient and deliver value for money.”

The amendment bill follows on from that, aiming to enhance Scotland’s benefits system and improve the client experience but also to deliver increased efficiency and value for money. Overall, during our scrutiny, we heard that the amendments that are made by the bill take account of the ethos of the 2018 act.

Witnesses saw many of the proposed provisions as positive and they shared constructive ideas that would further improve the system. For example, they welcomed changes to the legal footing of the Scottish child payment that would make it a stand-alone benefit instead of one that is linked to reserved benefits. They also welcomed the introduction of a new category of assistance to help care-experienced people, with the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland—the ALLIANCE—saying that the proposed care leaver payment would be

“a good opportunity to provide further support to people who face quite unique challenges compared with others in society, and it shows the positive change that is possible with the devolution of social security powers”.—[Official Report, Social Justice and Social Security Committee, 14 March 2024; c 21.]

We heard calls for the Government to make good use of its regulation powers to maximise the impact of those benefits, including by widening the eligibility criteria for the Scottish child payment to include families in receipt of carer benefits and those with parents living apart; introducing measures to prevent parents from losing their entitlement as soon as they earn too much to receive universal credit; and extending the right to independent advocacy to people who are applying for care experience assistance. The committee will monitor the development of the benefits and we hope that the Scottish Government will consider those suggested improvements to maximise their impact.

Three key themes—accessibility, simplicity and consistency—were brought up throughout our scrutiny. Those themes arose most prominently when we reviewed the proposed provisions for people to challenge decisions about the level of benefits that they have been awarded. The committee heard that the redetermination and appeal journey is complex and can be daunting. The Royal National Institute of Blind People told us that claimants should not feel pressurised into accepting a new decision on their entitlement straight away but should be offered a cooling-off period to seek advice. On the requirement for a redetermination stage prior to an appeal, Citizens Advice Scotland highlighted the endless loop that some claimants face and asked for a streamlined process.

The committee believes that those witnesses made valid points, informed by the experience of the people who they support and advise. I am pleased that the cabinet secretary wrote to the committee last week, confirming that the Scottish Government will embed client choice and flexibility in the redetermination process. The Scottish Government has confirmed that it will lodge amendments at stage 2 and the committee encourages the Government to consider our recommendations to improve the process for challenging decisions on entitlement.

Throughout our scrutiny, we have been mindful to keep at the forefront of our consideration the Scottish Government’s social security principles of fairness, dignity and respect. Of course, those different principles must be weighed against one another to reconcile upholding the needs of individuals with achieving efficiency and growth in the system, while ensuring value for money.

That is true when deciding whether an individual, or their representative, is responsible for a mistake when they receive an overpayment. It is important to ensure that liability is established to protect public money, but those processes must come with safeguards so that people who have neither claimed assistance in bad faith nor misused funds are treated fairly and compassionately.

We look forward to hearing how the processes that the Government proposes will work in practice to prevent often difficult financial circumstances from being further exacerbated. Part of that revolves around audit requirements, which my colleague John Mason will discuss further. Witnesses told us that there must be processes in place to prevent social security payments from being suspended if people fail to provide information for audit. The committee has some reservations about that area and we ask the Government to ensure that the provisions do not conflate error with fraud.

The cabinet secretary told us that the Government recognises the importance of continuous improvement, building on a track record of successful delivery. The committee welcomes that sentiment, and we look forward to scrutinising the bill further to ensure that fairness, dignity and respect are at its heart and that the rights of the most vulnerable people in Scotland are protected.

Social security is a human right that is crucial to tackle poverty and build a fairer society. The bill will continue that journey. The committee therefore recommends to the Parliament that the general principles of the Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill be agreed to.