Meeting of the Parliament 25 April 2018
As others have done, I thank the many people who have helped us get to where we are today. I thank those who have helped us get a bill that we can be proud of and which will take things forward: the clerks to the committee, the legislation team, the Scottish Parliament information centre and my staff in the Conservative group.
I also thank the minister for all the work that she and her team have done behind the scenes. She has been open to suggestions, to meetings and to telephone conversations—and even to sending emails in the early hours of the morning. For all those things, we as a Parliament should be grateful. As another member said, the First Minister made a good choice in appointing Jeane Freeman to take this legislation through.
I also thank the third sector for its work, over not just the past few weeks but the past year or so. Local charities have come to talk to me, as have national charities. We have not always agreed with them, as became clear today, but they gave us information and they gave us questions to ask. They, too, can be proud of what they collectively achieved in developing the bill.
There are things in the bill—which I hope will soon become an act—of which we can be proud. The setting up of an independent commission is a massive step forward that will help us to scrutinise what is going on by giving us the independent advice that the Parliament sometimes needs, given the pressure that we are all under.
The inclusion in the bill of provision for advice and representation is also a massive step forward. The right to advocacy, where it is required, will open up the system to many people.
We can also all be proud of the provision that we have made in relation to terminal illness, which is a horrible diagnosis. I hope that when the new guidance comes out, it will ensure that people are given the help that they need at that most difficult time.
As I think that I said earlier, we are just at the start of the second half of our journey. I ask the minister whether she is still committed to ensuring that all benefits will be up and running before the next election. If she is, and if the Government is, will they give us an outline as to when regulations on the different benefits will be laid and the stages in that regard?
In general, I am an optimist in life, and I think that the minister must be, too, because she has set a high bar for the delivery of social security in Scotland. There will be challenges to do with culture and delivery, and we have to be careful with the language that we use, so that we do not overpromise. I do not want to sound pessimistic; I think that we can have a system that is different and good and that helps more than a million people in Scotland. However, I think that we all have to be careful about what we promise.
Regulations will be the key. I am getting back on my hobby-horse—much to Alison Johnstone’s annoyance. Questions such as how far someone can walk before they can get a benefit will be key. Let me be the first person to lobby the minister on behalf of people with epilepsy, who I think face a real struggle under the current PIP regulations. We need to consider how we can help people who have that condition.
Ultimately, Pauline McNeill was right; indeed, my own assistant confessed last week that she was dreaming about the superaffirmative procedure—that cannot be a good place to be. There is a responsibility on not just the Scottish Government and the Social Security Committee but all members of the Scottish Parliament to ensure that we scrutinise the forthcoming regulations, to ensure that they are fit for purpose.
We must do that so that we help our constituents, as George Adam said. We can have the best motivation and the best framework and charter, but unless the right award is made and the right amount of money is delivered into someone’s bank account on the right day, the Parliament will have failed the people of Scotland.
Let us be glad today. Let us congratulate ourselves. Let us even have the weekend off. But on Monday morning, let us get down to business on the regulations and ensure that we get them right. Then we can be proud of what we deliver.
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