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Social Justice and Social Security Committee 27 January 2022

27 Jan 2022 · S6 · Social Justice and Social Security Committee

Item of business

Subordinate Legislation

Social Security Information-sharing (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2022 [Draft]

Macpherson, Ben SNP Edinburgh Northern and Leith Watch on SPTV

Good morning. Welcome to the committee, convener, and congratulations on your new role. Thank you for inviting me to give evidence on these important regulations, which, if passed, will introduce the adult disability payment in Scotland. The adult disability payment will be the 12th benefit to be administered by Social Security Scotland and it is the biggest and most complex undertaking for the organisation to date. I strongly believe that the regulations deliver on the principles of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 and the Scottish social security charter. That is in large part due to the extensive input of a range of organisations and individual disabled people across the country and I take this opportunity to thank all those whose contributions have helped to shape the adult disability payment. I am also immensely grateful to the members of the Scottish Commission on Social Security, who have given generously of their time and engaged openly with me and officials. SCOSS has made a number of insightful recommendations on the regulations, almost all of which the Government has accepted. The regulations enable the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland to commence the delivery of the adult disability payment for new applicants from 21 March, initially in Perthshire and Kinross, Dundee and the Western Isles. We will then introduce the adult disability payment across two further pilot phases, before rolling it out nationally on 29 August. Critically, the passage of the regulations will enable us to take a very different approach to delivering disability assistance, developed around our principles of dignity, fairness and respect. We will put an end to the stress and anxiety of private sector assessments. There will be no undignified physical and mental examinations. We will end the stressful cycle of unnecessary re-assessments and the adversarial approach of the Department for Work and Pensions. In contrast, we are introducing a system that is rooted in trust and supported by the input of suitably qualified in-house health and social care practitioners. We are funding an independent advocacy service that will support people to access social security throughout their journey. Only one piece of information will be sought from a formal source to support the general care and mobility needs in a person’s application. The onus of collecting that information will be on Social Security Scotland. Equal weight will be given to all sources of information, including from the people who know a client best: their friends, family and informal support network. Applications from people with a terminal illness will be fast tracked so that they can access the support that they need and are entitled to as quickly as possible. Overall, the experience of applying for and receiving the adult disability payment will be fundamentally different from the current DWP experience. If the regulations are not passed, people will not be able to benefit from the significant improvements that we intend to make. People would be left on the personal independence payment for longer and potentially subjected to the indignity and anxiety of private sector assessments. It is crucial that the Parliament agrees to the regulations. We intend to begin the case transfer of PIP awards to the adult disability payment when it launches nationally in August. The case transfer of approximately 300,000 disability benefit awards from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland is an unprecedented exercise both in scale and complexity. We have, therefore, consistently prioritised the safe and secure delivery of the adult disability payment. That approach has been supported by SCOSS, the Disability and Carers Benefits Expert Advisory Group, DACBEAG, and by many responses to our public consultations on disability assistance and the adult disability payment. We have focused on making changes that will have the greatest positive impact on how people experience accessing support, while not risking the safe and secure delivery of that support. That is why the rules for the adult disability payment will be broadly the same as those for PIP during the transition period. I want to stress, though, that what will be delivered on day one will be significantly different from how people experience the DWP and is not the limit of the Scottish ministers’ aspirations. We have already announced an independent review of the adult disability payment that will be carried out in two stages. The initial stage will commence later this year and will look at mobility criteria. The full adult disability payment framework will be considered during the second stage of the review, beginning in summer 2023. In conclusion, I remain confident and determined that, from day one, the adult disability payment will deliver a new and much improved experience for disabled people and those with long-term health conditions. That experience will reflect the human right to social security and the ethos of dignity, fairness and respect that is at the heart of the new system that we are creating and delivering. I welcome the opportunity to assist the committee in its consideration of the regulations and I am very happy take any questions that members might have.

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Social Justice and Social Security Committee 27 January 2022

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