Holyrood, made browsable

Hansard

Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

129
Current MSPs
415
MSPs ever elected
13
Parties on record
2,354,908
Hansard contributions
1999–2026
Coverage span
Official Report

Search Hansard contributions

Showing 60 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
27 Feb 2020
Correspondence (Constituency Inquiries)
I understand that the DWP deals with constituents’ issues in the same way as NHS Scotland and local authorities do. If that is not the case, I would be interested in hearing the correct information. As I read the letter, the DWP is saying that a member who made an inquiry wou...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
07 Feb 2023
Social Security Programme Business Case
No, it was “in February”. He went on: “it is critical that the DWP maintains its commitment to providing data to Social Security Scotland by 31 January, to allow us to conclude our internal assurance of the 400,000 records.”—Official Report, Social Justice and Social Security...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
23 Feb 2023
Subordinate Legislation
My concern, minister, is that that could take months and we would then be in June or July. If you came to the view that you wanted to make the payments in November or December, that would give the DWP very little time to pass that information to you. Have you at least highligh...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
29 Oct 2019
Social Security (Disability Assistance)
The cabinet secretary is referring to the process, including how many pages a person has to fill out and whether someone will receive an assessment. With respect, we are not hearing from the Government about whether the descriptors and what people will get will be any differen...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
29 Sep 2020
Social Security Administration and Tribunal Membership (Scotland) Bill
I thank Mr Doris—that is probably the most positive comment that he has made in the past four and a half years. Laughter. I was about to say that the committee has worked really well on the bill in a very short time. Having been slightly rude to the convener, I pay tribute to ...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
19 Sep 2024
Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
The cabinet secretary has raised quite a number of issues. At a high philosophical level, the issue—which I think that the cabinet secretary and others will come back to time and again—is about the divergence were we to do things differently in Scotland to the rest of the Unit...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
03 May 2018
“Managing the implementation of the Scotland Acts”
On the issue of data and the sharing of information, clearly the DWP can provide only the data that the Scottish Government wants, in the way that the Government wants it. Are you confident that the Scottish Government has the experience that will enable it to ask the right qu...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
04 Nov 2021
Social Security Benefits
I understand the risks, but I agree with Willie Rennie that an agreement with the DWP should be reached much sooner than 2025, which will be the earliest possible date for that to happen. That is one of many ways in which the Scottish welfare system could be implemented. The...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
21 Dec 2017
Draft Budget Scrutiny 2018-19
Looking forward, minister, will the staff for the new agency be transferred from the DWP under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, will new people be brought in afresh or will there be a mixture? What discussions are going on with the DWP in th...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
14 Jun 2018
Passported Benefits
My final question is on a slightly different area. We will possibly end up having different regulations from England and Wales for many benefits that have been devolved. For passporting, do we just accept that the different regulations and rules apply? How will that work in pr...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
27 Sep 2018
Social Security and In-work Poverty
A person’s not being willing to engage with the DWP because they might need support is different to someone turning up 10 minutes late and suddenly being sanctioned. Is the DWP trying to help by sending texts or letters or making phone calls before going to sanctions?
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
28 Feb 2019
Subordinate Legislation
It is a short question that requires a yes or no answer. Cabinet secretary, I think that you said that, if you went back to the DWP to renegotiate, that might delay progress on other benefits, such as the personal independence payment. Is that correct? Is there a danger that ...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
04 Apr 2019
Social Security Support for Housing
I have two clarification questions and then I want to briefly explore one new area. I think that it was Jeremy Hewer who said that the system is set up so that the DWP can pay the rent on the day that someone applies and then that money has to be paid off over a 12-month perio...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
23 Apr 2019
Social Security and In-work Poverty
I thank the cabinet secretary for that intervention, but I must make it clear that the DWP’s approach is not a digital-only approach. People can telephone or text the DWP, or can have face-to-face interviews with its staff. I would be interested to know whether Ms Somerville i...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
16 May 2019
Welfare Rights Services
I want to broaden out the discussion slightly. We have heard about the cluttered environment, with lots of different benefits, some advice being funded through the DWP, some being funded through the Scottish Government and some being funded through local authorities. When the ...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
30 May 2019
Audit Scotland Report
I have a couple of lines of questioning. The first concerns the fact that the Scottish Government’s original plan was for everything to be taken over by the agency by 2021. It is clear from your report that that was never likely to be possible. I suppose that the risk now lies...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
23 Jan 2020
Benefit Take-up
That leads on to my main question, which is about your process of checking the information that you have on people. As I have said many times, I am a client of the DWP—I receive PIP, which comes into my bank account every month. Do you ever look at my account and say, “That’s...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
30 Jan 2020
Portfolio Question Time · Welfare Reform (Disabled People)
The cabinet secretary will be aware that PIP has now been devolved to the Scottish Parliament. In her answer to Alasdair Allan, she indicated that she felt that the mobility criteria were being falsely interpreted by the DWP, which was having a bad effect on individuals in Sco...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
27 Feb 2020
Correspondence (Constituency Inquiries)
I do not agree with your last comments. We need to focus on getting it right for MPs and MSPs; that is the issue. We should have a separate debate and discussion on how that is done once we have agreement with the DWP that it will treat MPs and MSPs in the same way. I want to ...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
24 Jun 2020
Social Security Administration and Tribunal Membership (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I thank all members for their contributions to the debate, which has been helpful. As has been said, the bill is quite technical, but it contains welcome policy changes, too. None of us wants to be in a place where, as Graham Simpson pointed out, we have seen a delay in the d...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
10 Sep 2020
Correspondence
This feels a bit like an English higher exam, in which you are given a letter and you have to interpret what it says, and you will be marked on what you come up with. My interpretation is slightly different from the one that Shona Robison has given, in particular with regard t...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
24 Sep 2020
Subordinate Legislation
With regard to entitlement, as the cabinet secretary said, only children who are on the highest rate of disability living allowance will get the benefit, but the intention is to expand that in due course. What is the reason for the delay in that? Why were you not able to ask t...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
24 Sep 2020
Subordinate Legislation
Not exactly. That information for the extension is available from the DWP at the moment. Did you ask the DWP for that?
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
04 Nov 2021
Social Security Benefits
I remind members that I am in receipt of PIP at the higher rate. The best way for the vulnerable in our society to be aided is from a devolved level. It is pretty self-evident that those who are closer to the communities that they seek to help can more effectively identify ne...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
27 Jan 2022
Subordinate Legislation
Thank you. Minister, you said that one reason why we cannot change the eligibility criteria is that that might affect passported benefits. How many meetings have you had with the UK Government and the DWP to discuss whether that is the case and what line the DWP is taking on t...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
03 Feb 2022
General Question Time · Department for Work and Pensions (£10 Christmas Payment)
The issue is that, from this time on, we are still going to have two lists. Every year, Social Security Scotland is going to have to pass that information on to the DWP. Has the minister had discussions with the DWP about devolving that power to the new agency, in order to sav...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
31 Mar 2022
Benefit Sanctions
A well-run and effective welfare state stands to benefit not just the people who rely on it directly for support but wider society, as it allows many people to continue engaging in society even when times are tough, and times are just that—tough. While the country begins to r...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
03 Nov 2022
Social Security Benefits
The minister is missing the point. The process would have been delayed even without Covid: the delays were already happening before the pandemic hit, which was all to do with the Scottish Government and nothing to do with the DWP. Add to that the fact that the Scottish Govern...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
15 Dec 2022
Subordinate Legislation
Yes, convener. I have to say, though, that I am slightly concerned by that last answer to Mr Briggs, minister, because I did not hear any guarantee from you or your official that the payments will be made in February. We have seen slippage in other payments by Social Security ...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
15 Dec 2022
Subordinate Legislation
I am grateful that it is guaranteed, because it is not guaranteed. If the DWP were saying, “We will try to get a payment to you, but it might be several weeks late,” would that be acceptable? If it is not acceptable for the DWP, why is it acceptable for Social Security Scotland?
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
12 Sep 2023
Child Poverty
Would the minister acknowledge that most of the benefits in Scotland are still being paid for and run by the DWP and that, in fact, it is the DWP that is keeping money in people’s pockets, not Social Security Scotland?
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
14 Sep 2023
Child Poverty and Parental Employment Inquiry
That is very helpful. I will just ask for clarification on one point. If the proposal is possible and the negotiations with the DWP go well, would the payment be delivered by the DWP or by Social Security Scotland?
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
26 Oct 2023
Subordinate Legislation
Good morning. I feel that there is a slight sense that you are putting your head in the sand. I appreciate that we can all cite cases, but I have a constituent who applied in June whose case was not looked at until September. At that point, they—not Social Security Scotland—we...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
07 Feb 2024
Social Security (Investment)
I ask the cabinet secretary to reflect in closing that the August 2025 date came from her press release. That is the date that the Government has set. I am aware that the SNP will accuse me of being partisan for pointing out those failings, but members should rest assured tha...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
20 Feb 2024
Social Security
So, the Scottish Government will simply raise taxes or raise money from another budget next year. As with previous debates of this type, this is not a serious subject matter. Even if we indulge the nationalists, simple facts get in the way of their delusions. The biggest insu...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
28 Mar 2024
Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I have a couple of questions. I am sorry—my mind is working a bit slowly this morning. I go back to the question about the appeal processes being different for Social Security Scotland and the DWP. Is it possible under the agreement, if it is signed by the two parties, that on...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
16 May 2024
Subordinate Legislation
I suppose that, to an extent, this is an academic discussion until either Government actually tries it out. Obviously, you have conversations with the DWP in private. In those conversations, has there been any fleshing out of how to find a way? Have you tested the DWP by askin...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
26 Sep 2024
Social Security (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2
I will be brief, as always, convener. I thank the cabinet secretary for her remarks, but I still do not agree that the information is coming forward quickly enough. There is frustration that we do not know some of the timescales that are involved in the process. I welcome the...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
31 Oct 2024
Subordinate Legislation
That is helpful. Did you have any discussions with the DWP about the agency agreement and doing something slightly different here in Scotland? Did the DWP come back and say that it does not have the resources to do that, or did you have that discussion with it?
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
07 Sep 2017
Universal Credit
The DWP is holding surgeries across the country every week to provide digital support to claimants. I accept that for many people the idea of having to fill out all the forms online is intimidating. That is directly mitigated by the fact that people can drop in with no appoint...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
21 Sep 2017
Social Security (Scotland) Bill: Stage 1
I want to thank all four individuals on the panel. Some of the issues about how much should be covered in the bill have already been addressed, so I will leave that matter for another day. Before I ask my questions, which are aimed at Jessica Burns, I should declare that I ha...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
16 Apr 2018
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Good morning, secretary of state, and thank you for coming. I have two questions, the first of which follows on from one that was asked by Adam Tomkins about PIP, disability living allowance and attendance allowance. We have not yet seen the regulations on how those will work...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
03 May 2018
“Managing the implementation of the Scotland Acts”
I would like to follow up on that point. Clearly your approach is retrospective. You are looking back, and we are looking at lessons learned. As a committee, we want to make sure that things are happening. Can you clarify for me how quickly you report if you see that an issue ...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
04 Oct 2018
Subordinate Legislation
I have four questions—two overarching ones and two specific ones. I should probably remind members that I used to be a member of the tribunal service. My first question is a practical one. Cases all come from the DWP, so different appeals—for example a personal independence p...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
01 Nov 2018
Social Security and In-work Poverty
The advantage of going almost last, I suspect, is that most of the questions have been dealt with, but I want to go back to one issue. Because of the controversy around the subject, I have gone out of my way to visit a number of jobcentres in my region and I have had helpful d...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
17 Jan 2019
Budget Scrutiny 2019-20
I have a brief supplementary question on that. I presume that, as a cabinet secretary in the Scottish Government, you are still committed to having all the benefits up and running by 2021, which will mean greater and greater pressure. What work has been done with the DWP, whic...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
31 Jan 2019
Draft Social Security Charter
Good morning, cabinet secretary, and thank you for coming. I agree with some of what the deputy convener and convener have said. At the start, for the sake of transparency, I say that I am in receipt of the personal independence payment, and I look forward to working with the ...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
28 Feb 2019
Devolved Benefits (Delivery)
The message that we got on Tuesday lunch time was very different from what we are hearing today. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will be speaking to her colleagues Alasdair Allan, Keith Brown and Shona Robison about not being at such a vital meeting. I will go on to a ve...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
12 Mar 2019
Fair Work
I, too, thank the minister for bringing this important debate to the chamber today. I will touch on some of the actions in the disability employment delivery plan, which is one of a suite of labour market plans that forms the fair work action plan. I will also refer to some of...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
28 Mar 2019
Social Security Support for Housing
I hope that there will be a bit more consensus on this issue. One of the things that has concerned me about the new system is the mandate for the vulnerable individuals whom we are talking about. The Scottish Government has raised the issue, and the DWP started to review it in...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
04 Apr 2019
Benefit Automation
I am happy with the direction in which we are going. To pick up Mark Griffin’s point, I say that this seems to be an issue of legal definition. It would be interesting to ask the secretary of state what legal advice DWP has taken and is relying on. As we all know, if you have ...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
04 Apr 2019
Benefit Automation
I want to ask one more question. The deputy convener asked an interesting question about who owns the data. If I am right, the new agency Social Security Scotland will take control of the data in April next year. It is an interesting question generally but, in relation to this...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
04 Apr 2019
Social Security Support for Housing
When people apply for universal credit housing costs, the DWP can make an up-front payment on the day, which the person has to pay off over a 12-month period.
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
04 Apr 2019
Social Security Support for Housing
You said that there seems to be a breakdown in communication or that people are not aware of that option. Is the issue that the DWP is not telling people, is it because the system is too complicated for people to understand, or are people hearing about it but just not choosing...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
25 Apr 2019
Social Security Support for Housing
One issue that claimants have raised is, as I understand it, the need to set up a fresh mandate every two weeks if someone is speaking on your behalf. If I need help from a representative from, say, a citizens advice bureau or some advice shop to engage with the DWP on univers...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee
02 May 2019
Social Security Support for Housing
It is now just over a year since the act was implemented and the Scottish Government has not yet taken the powers. You said that the guidance is imminent. What does that mean in layman’s terms? Are we talking six months, nine months or 12 months before we see the Scottish Gove...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
29 Oct 2019
Social Security (Disability Assistance)
I remind members that I am in receipt of PIP. I welcome this afternoon’s debate, but with a caveat: we have been here before. We have debated this issue on a number of occasions. Although I acknowledge that the Government has made progress, that progress is slower than most or...
Jeremy Balfour Con Committee
31 Oct 2019
Social Security System (Performance)
That is great. Perhaps David Wallace could write to me on my final question rather than our getting into a long discussion now. I have reflected on your comment that, when the circumstances of someone who has made an application change, the agency can look at that—in a sense, ...
Jeremy Balfour (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber
20 Nov 2019
Universal Credit
I have found this afternoon’s short debate slightly disappointing. I was surprised initially that this subject was brought forward; it shows a lack of imagination by the Labour Party that our devolved Parliament is debating something that is reserved to Westminster. That maybe...
Jeremy Balfour Con Chamber
20 Nov 2019
Universal Credit
I am sorry—I do not have time. Some members say, “Let’s have all the powers.” We have powers at the moment regarding PIP, but we are simply asking the DWP to continue to do it all for us. The UK Government has listened to those for whom universal credit has not worked, and it...
← Back to list
Committee

Social Security Committee 27 February 2020

27 Feb 2020 · S5 · Social Security Committee
Item of business
Correspondence (Constituency Inquiries)
Balfour, Jeremy Con Lothian Watch on SPTV
I understand that the DWP deals with constituents’ issues in the same way as NHS Scotland and local authorities do. If that is not the case, I would be interested in hearing the correct information. As I read the letter, the DWP is saying that a member who made an inquiry would need a letter from their constituent confirming that they had their consent to do so. My experience has been that NHS Lothian, City of Edinburgh Council and the other Lothian councils will not deal with me until I can provide them with my constituent’s written consent for me to do so. I am not sure that the DWP’s position is any different from that of NHS Scotland or the local authorities in my region. Therefore, if we are to make a principled argument to the DWP, we will need to explore doing so with those other bodies. That is how things work in the area that I represent, and I am not sure that the DWP is asking for anything different from what other organisations in Scotland ask for.

In the same item of business

The Convener SNP
Welcome back, everyone. Agenda item 4 is correspondence from the DWP’s Scotland area director. I remind members that, following concerns being raised by Lin...
Mark Griffin Lab
The process that the Department for Work and Pensions has set out is not at all acceptable. Members of the UK Parliament are regarded as having the implicit ...
The Convener SNP
If that turns out to be the mood of the meeting, once we have heard everyone’s views, we will decide how best to ask the DWP to reflect on its position.
Jeremy Balfour Con
I understand that the DWP deals with constituents’ issues in the same way as NHS Scotland and local authorities do. If that is not the case, I would be inter...
The Convener SNP
At this point, perhaps I can provide some information. I am sure that members will have read the reply from the DWP, which says: “Once explicit consent is p...
Jeremy Balfour Con
That is not the case in Edinburgh.
The Convener SNP
Mr Balfour, I will let you come back in once you have let me have my say. That is how things work in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. With local authorities, ...
Jeremy Balfour Con
I thought you said that you would come back to me, convener.
The Convener SNP
You have indicated that what I have outlined has not been your experience in Edinburgh, and I have suggested what the committee might do.
Jeremy Balfour Con
I thought you said that you would come back to me, though.
The Convener SNP
Yes, but let me finish.
Graham Simpson Con
Yes, you did say that.
The Convener SNP
I do not need your help, Mr Simpson—I can chair the meeting without your assistance, thank you. I said that we could note the issue in writing to the conven...
Jeremy Balfour Con
Yes. I do not think that the DWP’s position is unreasonable, and I would not use the word “barrier”. I think that the department is safeguarding constituents...
The Convener SNP
I am disappointed that the cross-party consensus that we had earlier may now be fragmenting, which is not very helpful, but you have said what you want. Let...
Shona Robison SNP
I understand what Jeremy Balfour is saying, but a crucial point is being missed here. Because of the general data protection regulation, mandate and consent...
The Convener SNP
I will, of course, let you back in to respond to that, Jeremy—although not right now. We have plenty of time in hand.
Pauline McNeill Lab
Initially, I thought that Jeremy Balfour had a fair point when he said that MSPs were required to prove consent in their dealings with the NHS. However, I no...
The Convener SNP
It is also worth observing that how the DWP approaches the matter in different parts of the country—even in the same part of the country, depending on the DW...
Graham Simpson Con
There is a way through this. We all agree that there should be consistency in the way that MPs and MSPs are treated, so the question is whether MPs and MSPs ...
The Convener SNP
Thank you for your views.
Shona Robison SNP
That is helpful. I do not let any constituent leave my office without getting consent from them. We have a simple and straightforward consent form that has t...
Alison Johnstone Green
The need for consistency is at the heart of this. I agree with Mark Griffin’s and Shona Robison’s comments, and I appreciate Graham Simpson’s endeavours to f...
Pauline McNeill Lab
To be frank, I do not think that the letter has been written in good faith. If you examine the detail, you will see that the DWP is offering us very little. ...
Graham Simpson Con
You are probably right: MPs probably would not agree to that. The committee is asking for the same treatment. Whatever that treatment is, it should be the sa...
The Convener SNP
The committee has been consistent in its view that MSPs should be treated on the same basis as MPs. We do not want to withdraw the entitlement that MPs have ...
Keith Brown SNP
I agree with the comments that have been made by Mark Griffin, Alison Johnstone, Shona Robison, Pauline McNeill and you, convener. I also agree with Graham S...
The Convener SNP
We would not, of course, propose what you describe, because it would be juvenile and not in the best interests of constituents.
Keith Brown SNP
That is right.
Tom Arthur SNP
I concur with the points that you made a few moments ago, convener. As a matter of principle, there must be consistency and parity between MPs and MSPs. It t...