���˿���

Good morning, convener. I look forward to Mr Balfour’s direct feedback on the case transfer process, as it progresses.

I am pleased to speak to the committee about the draft Disability Assistance (Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance) Regulations 2025 today. The regulations, and the associated consequential amendments, will introduce the Scottish adult disability living allowance from March 2025 and provide a like-for-like case transfer for all remaining adults in Scotland who are in receipt of disability living allowance. This is the final important milestone in the Scottish Government’s ambitious five-year project to safely and securely transfer people’s disability and carer benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland.

Like DLA for adults in the rest of the United Kingdom, Scottish adult DLA will not be open to new applications. Adult disability payment will remain the main disability assistance for adults in Scotland. Instead, Scottish adult DLA maintains the commitment that was made that adults who were over 65 in 2013 when PIP was introduced can continue to receive DLA for as long as they are eligible. The regulations extend that commitment to all adults who are still on DLA, regardless of their age.

That approach is in marked difference to that of the DWP, which requires anyone who was under 65 in 2013 to make an application for personal independence payment if they have a changing condition or are due an award review. We have repeatedly heard how that process has caused significant stress and anxiety for those who went through face-to-face PIP assessments, and we have taken the opportunity to remove that concern from people.

As our priority is the safe and secure transition of awards, the eligibility rules for Scottish adult DLA are broadly similar to those for DLA. However, we have made a number of improvements, as we have done for other forms of disability assistance in Scotland, such as our more generous special rules for terminal illness, providing short-term assistance and ensuring that equal consideration is given to all sources of supporting information.

Once people’s awards have safely moved to Scottish adult DLA, anyone in the younger group—those who were under 65 in 2013—can apply for adult disability payment if they wish to do so. We will provide individuals with clear information to inform their choice of whether they wish to apply for ADP or remain on Scottish adult DLA.

We have engaged extensively with disabled people and our key stakeholders in developing proposals for the transfer of all remaining DLA awards for adults in Scotland. I am immensely grateful to everyone who has participated in the process for Scottish adult DLA, including the members of the former disability and carer benefits expert advisory group, who have been so generous with their time, and the members of the Scottish Commission on Social Security, which provided a number of thoughtful and constructive recommendations on draft regulations. I have accepted almost all of the recommendations from both groups, and I issued my response to the commission’s report when the regulations were laid.

I welcome the opportunity to assist the committee with further consideration of the regulations today.

I am happy to provide further detail in writing about the success of the case transfer process. I was speaking just this week to DWP and Scotland Office colleagues about how the case transfer process has gone exceptionally well, from the points of view of both Governments. We appreciate that there were lessons to learn about speeding up the process at the beginning, but it is going exceptionally smoothly and well, and to time. I am happy to provide reassurance to the committee on that, and in particular on what will happen with the individuals who will be coming over to Scottish adult DLA.

In addition to the information that I gave in my first answer, to Paul O’Kane, I note that we are keen to ensure that Social Security Scotland is staffed, and that those staff are trained specifically on Scottish adult DLA. Some of them will be new staff, but there will also be experienced staff who have dealt with the case transfer process with the adult disability payment, so the new staff can gain from experience that has already been amassed of the previous process.

I am happy to clear that up, and my officials can chip in if I miss anything.

That is one of the changes that we are keen to make from the DWP’s practice. The DWP requires people to change to PIP when their circumstances change. We will not do that: claimants will be assessed in the Scottish adult DLA system and will not be required to change over to the new system. They may wish to do so, but that is for them to decide—we may come on to that discussion later—but there is no requirement for them to do so.

We gave careful consideration to that point. In essence, the decision came down to the fact that I believe that a bright-line rule, such as the one that we have suggested, provides clarity and consistency for both individuals and support organisations.

People will be able to request that their Scottish adult DLA award be reinstated if it has ended in the past year. That ensures parity with the DWP’s approach for DLA renewal applications for an interval. We anticipate that, due to the rolling awards and light-touch reviews, the process will rarely be needed for Scottish adult DLA awards. On the other hand, the DWP’s DLA renewal process requires a full new application at the end of a fixed-term award. There are nuanced differences.

We believe that the provisions in the regulations have been drafted in a way that maintains Scottish adult DLA as a closed benefit, which means that it is available only for individuals who already have a DLA award when the Scottish adult DLA award is launched. We also believe that it is appropriate to limit to 12 months the length of time in which two awards can be linked, given that the awards must be underpinned by the same condition or conditions. Of course, if someone whose award ended more than 12 months ago has experienced a change in their condition, they may be entitled to disability assistance, but they would make a new application through the adult disability payment system.

I will pass.

Thank you and good morning.

Since its launch in 2019, the funeral support payment has provided more than £51.1 million of support to more than 26,000 people on low incomes, at a time when they most needed it.

The improvements proposed in the regulations will provide further support to people who are struggling to pay funeral costs and will help to reduce the burden of debt that a person might face when paying for a loved one’s funeral.

The regulations before you are evidence of the Scottish Government’s commitment to the continuous improvement of our social security system. In developing the legislation, we have consulted a range of stakeholders, including third sector organisations and funeral industry experts.

We are extending the definition of “funeral” to include alkaline hydrolysis as an alternative to burial or cremation. The Scottish Government recently consulted on whether alkaline hydrolysis should be introduced as a regulated form of body disposal and found 84 per cent of respondents to be in favour. Introducing that amendment now will future proof the regulations to ensure that we can award funeral support payments for people who choose that method, should it become available in Scotland. It will also be brought into scope for people who are eligible for expenses assistance for funerals abroad.

In line with our values of dignity, fairness and respect, we are introducing an exceptional circumstance provision for funerals abroad. Doing so will allow us to award a funeral support payment in unique circumstances, such as when disruption due to war or extreme weather events prevents a body from being returned to the United Kingdom for a funeral. As recommended by the Scottish Commission on Social Security during its scrutiny of the regulations, Social Security Scotland will be equipped with robust guidance to support that provision.

The regulations also support our commitment to protect the rights given to European Union citizens under the withdrawal agreement. Although Social Security Scotland is not aware of anyone having missed out, the changes will clarify the regulations to ensure that people who, before Brexit, would have been entitled to assistance to pay for a funeral abroad will continue to be entitled to that.

To ensure that more people get the correct level of assistance, we are taking away the current restriction on costs for funerals that take place outwith the deceased’s local area. Social Security Scotland will continue to apply a test to ensure that costs are reasonable so that we retain value for money while removing any potential unfairness from the process. That means that we will provide help with costs based on what is reasonable rather than where people lived.

Finally, the regulations remove the provision to deny an application if funds to pay for a funeral are available in the estate. Instead, those available funds will be deducted from the award amount. That change means that all cases will be assessed in the same way.

We have engaged with the Scottish Fiscal Commission, which has confirmed that it anticipates no significant financial implications for the Scottish Government as a result of the regulations. That is particularly welcome in this challenging fiscal period, as it means that the regulations offer further improvements for the people of Scotland at minimal cost.

I extend my thanks to the Scottish Commission on Social Security for its formal scrutiny of the draft amendment regulations earlier this year and for its recommendations, which have strengthened the detail of the regulations that are before us today. I welcome the opportunity to assist the committee in its consideration.

I note your remarks, convener, and the work that has gone on in the area. I assure you that we will continue to work across Government and across the social justice and justice portfolios on these issues, but I am certainly delighted to play my part in assisting at least some of those families today.

Motion agreed to,

That the Social Justice and Social Security Committee recommends that the Funeral Expense Assistance (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024 [draft] be approved.

I would just point to the £1.1 billion over the block grant adjustment that the Scottish Government invests in Social Security Scotland. Clearly, a large part of that—just under half a billion pounds—goes on the Scottish child payment; there is also the funding for the child and adult disability payments, which again is over and above the block grant adjustment, and the benefits that are available in Scotland but not in the rest of the UK such as the young carer grant and the other elements of the five family payments.

Liz Smith has pointed to a very important number—the £1.1 billion, which is expected to grow. We as a Government are conscious of that, because it needs to be accounted and paid for in every budgetary process, but it is important that the committee realises what the funding is for and its impact on low-income families, the disabled and carers.

I will certainly be able to provide further advice on that in writing.

It was a good plug for the committee’s previous work on the matter, which I read with interest, and it is certainly something that we are conscious of, particularly as we move forward with developing the next child poverty delivery plan.