Meeting of the Parliament 09 October 2025
The Parliament’s primary duty is to pass effective legislation, which, as members will agree, can be done only if there is effective scrutiny across the chamber and through committees.
The LCM before us relates to an important issue: fraud prevention. The Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and David Wallace attended the Finance and Public Administration Committee back in September. Every penny of public money that is lost to fraud is a penny taken from the hard-working taxpayers of Scotland—money that could be spent on our schools, hospitals or roads. Nurses, teachers and workers across Scotland deserve a Parliament that protects their contributions with unwavering diligence. We do not serve Scots by cutting corners or bypassing domestic processes. Regrettably, the process surrounding this consent motion has done that. For those reasons, the Scottish Conservatives will not support the legislative consent motion.
Fraud in the public sector does not just mean financial loss—it erodes public trust. When fraudsters exploit the system, they undermine the social contract that binds hard-working Scots to the services that they fund. The £36 million fraudulent benefit claim that was highlighted by an article in The Scotsman back in August is a stark reminder of the challenges that are being faced.
The Finance and Public Administration Committee recently sought answers from David Wallace from Social Security Scotland during his appearance before the committee on 16 September. His testimony was essential to members understanding our recovery of those funds. It was alarming to find that only 10 per cent of the funds lost to fraud in 2024-25 have been recovered. That is why the Scottish Conservatives agree with the principle of recovering wrongfully claimed funds and believe that the fraud-fighting toolkit must be modernised and strengthened.