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Showing 56 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

United Kingdom Government Welfare Reforms

We all want more people to be in employment, particularly those with a disability. However, does Paul O’Kane recognise that getting more people into employment does not necessarily mean a reduction in ADP or PIP payments? The point of ADP and PIP is to help those with a disabi...

Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber

United Kingdom Government Welfare Reforms

I am absolutely happy to confirm that, and I will come to that in a moment. This is not easy. In prioritising certain benefits, we necessarily need to take away from others. That is the reality of government—hard decisions must be made and defended. That is the predicament th...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

United Kingdom Government Welfare Reforms

I thank the witnesses for coming in this morning. I want to explore two areas under this theme, the first of which Emma Jackson and Chris Birt have already picked up on. The criteria for ADP—which, I should acknowledge, I am in receipt of—and PIP are almost identical for most...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

Social Security Spending

Liz Smith knows that I absolutely agree with her on the issue of universalism and benefits. However, on the issue that Mr Stewart raised and that I think that Liz Smith is trying to develop, I note that ADP actually helps people into employment. If we take ADP away from people...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Adult Disability Payment (Mental and Behavioural Disorders)

Does the cabinet secretary agree that ADP helps people to get into and stay in employment? If ADP is cut, more people in Scotland will have to claim other benefits because they are not able to work. I remind members that I am in receipt of higher-rate ADP.

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

I want to move on to two more technical areas, the first of which relates to the recommendation, which you have not accepted, that people receiving CDP be eligible for short-term assistance if they are moving on to ADP. Why have you said no to that? We have said—and rightly so...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2023-24

Good morning, panel, and thank you for coming to the meeting. It may be too early to ask about this, but one of the forecasts that you or your predecessor made was that there would be a higher uptake of ADP compared with PIP. I think that the Scottish Government has budgeted ...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Social Security Scotland

My final question around this is a parochial one concerning the Lothians. The figures show that 55 people have been transferred from PIP to the new ADP—I am not one of those 55. Is that the speed of the process you expect? It seems quite slow. Do you have at least a working id...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2024-25

Thank you, convener. I hope that you can hear me. Good morning, panel. I am a wee bit confused about this, because the criteria are exactly the same for ADP and PIP—there is no difference between the two—so, surely, the awards in England match the awards in Scotland. Whether ...

Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber

Social Security (Investment)

I am grateful. Up to this point, Social Security Scotland has moved across fewer than 5,000 people per month on average. To meet the new target, the Government will need to move just over 10,000 people a month on average. I ask the cabinet secretary to clarify in closing wheth...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Once she has heard my question, she might not want to take it. I welcome the witnesses—thank you for coming. I absolutely agree with everything that you have said so far about social security being an investment. I should remind members that I am on ADP myself. Going back to...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Chamber

Social Security Spending

On a point of order, Deputy Presiding Officer. I intervened a couple of times on ADP. I should have declared that I am on higher-rate ADP and, happily, am in employment as well.

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2022-23

It is nice to see you back. I would like to pursue the differential that you foresee with the Scottish Government’s move from PIP to ADP. The regulations are similar for both benefits, so there will be no differential in that regard. Could you give me a bit more on why you thi...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

The question is more about those who are moving on to ADP having to reapply, given that they are already on the system and have been identified as having a need that requires them to receive benefits.

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

I am grateful for that helpful explanation, minister. I do not want to hold back the committee’s considerations for too long—I understand that this is quite technical stuff—but I am slightly unclear about a certain point. I know that there are different criteria for deciding ...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee

Benefit Take-up Strategy

Good morning, minister, and good morning to your team. It is good to have you back at the committee again. On page 48 of the strategy document, there is a commitment “to undertake a review of Adult Disability Payment in summer 2023”. Will that review look at whether the tra...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Good morning, convener. I add my congratulations on your appointment. I look forward to working with you. I also wish Neil Gray all the best in his new role in the Scottish Government. I have about four or five questions to ask the minister, but I will take them one at a time...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

I thank Ms Blair for that answer. Some of the key decisions around PIP and DLA have been made by the Supreme Court, so any decision that might be made by the Supreme Court, if it is an English case on PIP, will not be binding on the Scottish system. Can she clarify that all de...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Minister, you said previously that there will be a review of ADP and that the first stage of that, on mobility criteria, will start later this year. When would you expect that first stage to report to the Scottish Government? Will you set a timetable and, if so, can you outlin...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Good morning to the minister and his team. I have a couple of questions. First, when David Phillips, from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, gave evidence to the committee, he talked about a “cliff edge” for some families, who fear losing out on their eligibility for SCP if the...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Good morning to your team, minister. I suppose that, for the record, I should point out that I am at present on PIP and will, I hope, transfer to ADP at some point. I declare that as an interest. I think that you said that you would lay the regulations in May. Did I hear that...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

When will detailed guidance on case transfer from PIP to ADP be published? Do you have a date for publishing it?

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

I am on PIP at the moment. How much notice will be given to people of when they will be transferred to ADP? It is quite a long time. Is transfer being carried out geographically or alphabetically? How much notice will people be given that they are transferring from the DWP to ...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee

Medium-term Financial Strategy and Resource Spending Review

Good morning, panel. Which is easier or harder to forecast: a benefit that goes to lots of people such as the cold weather payment, which I think goes to most people in Scotland, or something like the new ADP, which is much more variable? Can you guide the committee as to whic...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Medium-term Financial Strategy and Resource Spending Review

That was very helpful. As a quick follow-up, if there is any divergence between the UK and Scottish Governments on, say, ADP, what information do you need from both to do your forecasts? Do you take a view on whether the divergence is significant and whether it has to be paid...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Resource Spending Review

I am grateful for that answer, although it would be good to hear a bit more on the policy side. I genuinely do not mean this in a “Look at that!” sort of way, but the figure seems to be going in the opposite direction in England. I have asked lots of people why that is the ca...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Resource Spending Review

I appreciate that. I will finish by remarking that although, according to the Scottish Government, it might be easier to apply in the new system, a no is still a no. None of the criteria with regard to benefits has changed under ADP compared with PIP. I might get a nicer lett...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

Social Security (Special Rules for End of Life) Bill

It feels a bit like déjà vu, as we had a similar debate on a different social security issue last week. Last week, the minister felt that I was slightly partisan in my comments, so I will try to be more constructive this week. However, it is worth pointing out, particularly a...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

Clearly, we will vote for the regulations. However, I think that it is worth putting on the record three points—one is procedural and the other two are with regard to these particular regulations. First, I think—the minister will know this, because I used to make the same poi...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Social Security Scotland

Good morning. It is good to see you again. I am a wee bit confused, given that the system has been designed from scratch. I appreciate that it was designed by the Scottish Government, which you now work with, but it seems to me, as an amateur information technology person, th...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Social Security Scotland

If you have a charter, it is uncommon to say, “We will never hit this figure,” or, “We will not get most of it done.” What is a realistic time for an application? If I put an application in for ADP, what is my expectation?

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Social Security Scotland

You may not be able to answer this, but I am interested in the matter. The latest figure that we have is that, under ADP, there were 1,845 new applications out of 3,545. That seems quite a high figure. Do you have any early indication of why there are so many new applications ...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Adult Disability Payments (Delays)

Presiding Officer, the Conservative members also want to pay our respects to Winnie Ewing and associate ourselves with the comments that you made about her. I had the privilege of meeting her on a few occasions. She was a formidable woman but also sought to encourage everyone ...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

In relation to the monitoring side, will Social Security Scotland monitor the number of individuals who get a different level of award on ADP than they received on CDP?

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Subordinate Legislation

I totally understand that, but, as a member of this committee, I want to know whether in two years’ time it will be possible to say that X number of children got CDP and that, after they were transferred, X number of people now get ADP. I understand that there are different el...

Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber

Social Security (Investment)

I am always happy to try to help Mr Swinney. We have higher and higher costs of administration of the same benefits. We are spending more money on doing the admin compared with what happens in the DWP. Most recently, the Scottish Government has pushed back its estimate of how...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Social Security Scotland

I should remind members that I am on the enhanced rate of PIP and that I am a former member of the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. I notice that, at the moment, 365 of the 1,745 ADP appeals have been decided. Are you concerned that backlogs are already occurring in such a n...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Pension Age Disability Payment

The criteria for being awarded the new benefit are different from that for adult disability payment, the descriptors are not the same and it is based on an average day in someone’s life. Is that the best approach, or would you like the descriptors that we have for ADP to be br...

Jeremy Balfour Con Committee

Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

This is a fairly technical group of amendments, and I am grateful to CPAG and Citizens Advice Scotland for the discussions about the issues. Currently, Social Security Scotland does not have the power to make a new determination while waiting for an appeal to be heard. For exa...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

Portfolio Question Time · Social Security (Impact of Spring Statement)

I understand that a review of the adult disability payment in Scotland is on-going and that it will issue its report this autumn. Does the cabinet secretary think that that is an opportunity for us to have a whole look at the ADP, its criteria and how it could work better for ...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

United Kingdom Government Welfare Reforms

I remind members that I am in receipt of ADP. It has always been a problem in politics that there are very few easy questions and even fewer easy answers. As Willie Rennie pointed out, social security has never been a simple topic. Since its inception, Governments have had to...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

I wonder if I can develop that point—I am conscious of time, so you should not feel that you have to answer every question that I or other members ask. Interestingly, the MS Society Scotland, in its submission, said that universalism would “risk spreading ... resources too t...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Pre-Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

I have a question for Stephen, Chris or Emma. Clearly, both Governments have to make their own choices, and it is not necessarily for us to comment on that, positively or negatively. The big issue is passporting. If you get ADP, you passport into other benefits. Is there any w...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27

I am done with my questions, deputy convener. I should have declared that I am on ADP at the higher rate.

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Ind) Ind Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Good morning, cabinet secretary, and to your team. I want to follow up on that question. I think I am right in saying—I am just looking to get this on the record—that, at the moment, we have no way of knowing the income of those who are in receipt of ADP, which I am, and what ...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Pre-budget Scrutiny 2026-27

I want to pursue one area. Mr Wallace is sitting here very quietly, so maybe he can help us out. As I said previously, thanks to Social Security Scotland, I transferred very smoothly from PIP to ADP. I got a letter a few weeks later saying the agency was going to carry out a r...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Adult Disability Payment

Thank you. Convener, I apologise—I should have declared an interest at the start of the meeting, in that I am in receipt of ADP. I have a further question. I was interested in the comments in your report about VoiceAbility. Its contract with the Scottish Government, which inv...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Adult Disability Payment

Thank you—that is helpful. My final question is also about picking up on your wider experience. If we were to implement some of the recommendations that are in your report, there would be a divergence from the PIP regulations, particularly on the points-based system. One of th...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Adult Disability Payment

The hardest thing for politicians is to take things away from people. Once someone has something, it is very hard to take it away. As we heard earlier, ADP is not means tested, and it was deliberately set up that way—as were its predecessors. Have you considered the idea of ta...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Adult Disability Payment

Good morning. I put on record that I am in receipt of the higher rate of ADP.I thank the four witnesses for coming. That is not only for today—you represent the third sector, and we have had people from that sector giving evidence to the committee for the past five years. As a...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

I remind members that I am in receipt of ADP.Cabinet secretary, I fully agree with the comments in your opening statement about the Conservatives. I have written to the Conservative leader to ask why he said what he did, but I am still waiting for a response.I have a couple of...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Budget Scrutiny 2026-27

Indeed. If we go all the way back, we see that the predominant reason why the original payment was brought in was to help disabled people into employment. Do you think that is still the main reason for ADP, or do you think that it has evolved and is now simply a benefit for di...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Scottish Fiscal Commission

Arguably, both the UK and Scottish Governments should be tackling those social issues. If we got them right, the level of ADP and other disability payments might then reduce.

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Scottish Fiscal Commission

Professor Roy, you are too young, but for those of us who are slightly older and go back to the dark ages, PIP and its predecessors were all set up to help those with disability get into employment. They were meant to help with the costs of doing that. Has any work been done o...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Social Security Scotland

I put on the record that I am in receipt of the higher rate of ADP. One of the things that came out of the Edel Harris report, which probably relates to you rather than the Scottish Government, is the application form, which is complicated. I confess that I have a lot of empat...

Jeremy Balfour Ind Committee

Social Security Scotland

It would be interesting for the committee to know, from the reviews that you do, how many cases then change—either to a higher award or to a lower one. If you have that information, the committee would be interested in you providing it.I am conscious of time, so I will move on...

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Chamber

Meeting of the Parliament 23 April 2025

23 Apr 2025 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament

Item of business

United Kingdom Government Welfare Reforms

Balfour, Jeremy Con Lothian Watch on SPTV

We all want more people to be in employment, particularly those with a disability. However, does Paul O’Kane recognise that getting more people into employment does not necessarily mean a reduction in ADP or PIP payments? The point of ADP and PIP is to help those with a disability to get into employment, thus there would not necessarily be a cut in ADP just because more people were in employment.

In the same item of business

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Liam McArthur) LD

The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-17242, in the name of Shirley-Anne Somerville, on the UK Government welfare reforms. I invite members who...

The Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice (Shirley-Anne Somerville) SNP

I open this important debate with a message of solidarity: I want all disabled people to know that this Government stands with you in opposing the planned UK...

Michael Marra (North East Scotland) (Lab) Lab

Shirley-Anne Somerville SNP

Oh, he apologised, I hear Mr Marra saying from a sedentary position. Well, that makes it fine, does it not? That makes it absolutely fine to say things like ...

Craig Hoy (South Scotland) (Con) Con

Will the cabinet secretary give way?

Shirley-Anne Somerville SNP

I will if I can get some time back. Can I, Presiding Officer?

The Deputy Presiding Officer LD

Craig Hoy Con

I accept the cabinet secretary’s point in respect of the UK Government, but has the Scottish National Party Government not made the same mistake at various p...

Shirley-Anne Somerville SNP

Our benefits bill is not related to whether people are in or out of work—with the greatest respect to Mr Hoy, I think that he is conflating different issues....

Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con

I will put party politics aside for a minute, Presiding Officer. The recent debates about Labour’s welfare changes, highly charged as they have been—and I am...

Shirley-Anne Somerville SNP

Will the member take an intervention on that point?

Liz Smith Con

I will, but I think that I am nearly out of time.

The Deputy Presiding Officer LD

Very briefly, cabinet secretary.

Shirley-Anne Somerville SNP

I thank Liz Smith for her contribution so far, much of which I agree with. However, the comparison that she has just made is unfair, because the 2.2 per cent...

Liz Smith Con

We do need to be careful, because the point has been raised by the Scottish Fiscal Commission. I am very aware of the saying that all political careers end...

Paul O’Kane (West Scotland) (Lab) Lab

During the debate, we have already acknowledged the complexity of social security and the complexities of having a devolved system and a reserved system that...

Liz Smith Con

I entirely agree with that point, but how does that sit with the UK Labour Government’s intention to put more and more costs on to employers, who are the ver...

Paul O’Kane Lab

Liz Smith and I have debated the national insurance increase before, as she has with Mr Marra and other members in the chamber. That choice was made so as no...

Shirley-Anne Somerville SNP

The day before the proposals were unveiled, Mr O’Kane and I were on a panel together, and he did not want to speculate. We do not have to speculate any more—...

Paul O’Kane Lab

The point that I was about to make is that the green paper contains a range of proposals. The cabinet secretary now wants to pick and choose and debate indiv...

Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con

We all want more people to be in employment, particularly those with a disability. However, does Paul O’Kane recognise that getting more people into employme...

Paul O’Kane Lab

I was just coming on to talk about ADP and PIP and trying to understand our devolved context in relation to ADP. The reforms to PIP are at UK level; we have ...

Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green) Green

This afternoon’s debate is a call to conscience. The Scottish Green Party believes in building a society in which everyone can live with dignity; in which co...

Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD) LD

The debate is about a number of competing challenges. It is about dignity for disabled people—particularly those in poverty. It is about balancing the books ...

The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing) SNP

We move to the open debate. Back benchers will have speeches of up to six minutes. 15:36

Collette Stevenson (East Kilbride) (SNP) SNP

Since the election last year, the Labour UK Government has failed to compensate the WASPI women—women against state pension inequality—and has scrapped winte...

Jeremy Balfour Con

I agree with the cabinet secretary that social security is a social investment, but a social investment has to be paid for. We have a £1 billion deficit comi...

Collette Stevenson SNP

The heart of the issue is about political choices, with social security being a human right. I will touch on that later. The DWP’s analysis has shown that i...

Roz McCall (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con

I am pleased to speak in the debate, and I will direct my remarks to the Scottish Conservative amendment, in the name of Liz Smith. The amendment correctly ...

Shirley-Anne Somerville SNP

Does the member agree with her colleague Jeremy Balfour, who pointed out earlier in the debate that the ADP is not linked to employment, and nor should it be...