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I think that it has been a very worthwhile exercise. For one thing, we are obligated to do it, so it is worth our while on that basis. However, if the system had not been working effectively—although, as I say, it is not the case that there is no room for improvement—and we did not have an effective system that people felt had dignity, fairness and respect at its heart, we would have seen an entirely different process. We would have had many more stakeholders wishing to be involved, and the feedback from clients would be in a completely different ballpark.

As you said, some of the changes are very small. It was important that the charter was gone through with a fine-toothed comb by clients of the service and our key stakeholders, as well as by staff. It was important for the charter to be tested in that way. We could otherwise have been in an entirely different place and this could have been a much more uncomfortable session. The fact that the charter is well regarded is demonstrated by the fact that the changes are, as you say, relatively very small, although they are not just stylistic—there are some important changes.

Again, that is just a tightening up of the language. Support is available to people face to face should they wish that. The client’s preference about how their needs are met is still integral. It has been right from the start and will continue to be so.

Face-to-face support is very much part of the service. Anyone can have that—it is not just for someone who is housebound, for example, or on a disability benefit. The change is a recognition of the fact that, particularly over the past couple of years, people are much more relaxed about using a video call and so on. It is simply a change in language to reflect the fact that we have all changed the way in which we deal with public services. For many people—not all—that will not be face to face. The face-to-face local delivery service is unique to the social security system in Scotland and is a very important and integral part of it, which we will not be losing.

Good morning. I welcome the opportunity to assist the committee in its consideration of the proposed revised social security charter, which was laid in Parliament on 16 May.

In 2019, following an in-depth co-design process with people who had lived experience of the United Kingdom benefits system, the social security charter was published. The charter sets the standards for the performance of Social Security Scotland. The charter measurement framework, which is published annually, assesses how Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Government are delivering on commitments, and identifies areas for improvement.

In effect, the charter took the social security principles in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 from high-level ambitions to more detailed commitments, thereby underpinning everything that we do with dignity, fairness and respect.

It is a requirement that the charter be reviewed every five years, so this is the first review since it was made in 2019. A significant difference since then is that we now have a maturing social security system that is delivering to the people of Scotland 14 benefits, seven of which are available only in Scotland. Whereas the original charter was co-designed by people who had experience of the UK benefits system, the revisions have been co-produced with people who have experience of engaging with the new Scottish system. I extend my sincere thanks to all the individuals and organisations who supported the review process.

It is important that the committee appreciates that one of the key findings of the process was that the charter as it exists is already held in high regard by all parties who were consulted. That is evidenced in the limited number of proposed changes. The changes and restructuring largely reflect a social security system that is now operational, while adopting more inclusive and consistent use of language. Fundamentally, the revised charter continues to uphold the eight Scottish social security principles that were set out in the 2018 act, thereby reinforcing the Scottish Government’s strongly held view that social security is a human right.

I recently visited Motherwell and Grangemouth, among other places, and met a number of clients who shared positive experiences that they had had with the social security system. Some highlighted that they finally felt listened to and treated as human beings, as opposed to how they felt under the previous system. I am in no way saying that there are no improvements that we need to make, but that we are determined to make improvements. I remain proud of what we have achieved to date.

Similar views on the social security system were offered by clients during the charter review process. The committee should be reassured that the revised commitments are, therefore, truly reflective of the priorities that were identified by clients, social security colleagues and partner organisations and that they improve an already highly regarded document.

Subject to parliamentary approval, the Scottish Government and Social Security Scotland will work to meet the revised commitments and ensure that the delivery of social security reflects the wishes of those who invested their time and effort in the review.

I thank the committee for its scrutiny of the charter.

When we look at the measurements in the charter, we see that clients largely feel that it reflects the service that they receive at the moment. However, as I said in my opening remarks, and as I often say in the chamber, it is still a very new system that we are keen to continuously improve. I am proud that there are very good results under the measurement framework, but we are determined to go further. The charter is a living, breathing document, as part of the agency, and we know that we can always, and will, do better in the future.

On that aspect, we have got a bit sharper with our language, through the review. Colleagues will be aware that the term “referral” is often taken by public bodies to have a specific meaning around welfare rights and so on. In essence, it can mean the sharing of personal data—that is often what the word suggests or implies to people. Clearly, there are complications around sharing of personal data, which is not something that the agency can do on a whim, but we are working with the agency to improve such arrangements, when they would be helpful. More sensible and appropriate language is now used.

David Wallace might wish to give some details on what the agency already does to signpost people—through award letters, for example—to other services that are available. There is also the independent advocacy service, for example. This is one example in which we are trying, with the help of clients, to include in the charter words that explain what we actually do, but we always look at how we could go further in the future. David Wallace might wish to elaborate on that.

It is important that we hear from as many people as possible and from a broad range of people, both directly from clients and through stakeholders that represent clients—especially those who are seldom heard in these types of activities. Surveys were given to clients and there was a series of workshops. As you would expect, the workshops allowed people to go into much more detail than they would be able to go into in a simple survey. There was, as a priority, engagement with people from seldom-heard groups because we need to look specifically at the barriers that they face when engaging with public services. That has given us a wealth of evidence about how clients’ priorities are already reflected in the charter and about how they could be reflected slightly better.

I do not know whether Kyle Murray wants to add anything on the specifics.

It was not for a lack of trying that there were only seven. There is a stakeholder newsletter that goes out monthly, which is distributed to literally thousands of organisations, and the review was directly promoted to welfare rights organisations. There were, absolutely, opportunities for a large number of people to take part. The partner organisations were invited to take part in the survey and in one-to-one interviews and so on. I think that the number of responses reflects the fact that they did not feel that there was much to say on the charter, rather than that they did not know that the review was going on.

To ensure that the matter was looked at in detail, there was another opportunity to steer the research and to contribute to the work through the research advisory group that includes Glasgow Disability Alliance, Carers Scotland, the Child Poverty Action Group and others.

In essence, the financial impact will be in terms of the extended eligibility. There will be a financial impact in that sense, which, I think, we discussed in greater detail when we took through the original regulations for the pilot area. Also, as I heard when I was in Motherwell, there could be an increase in the number of people who come forward for benefits because they are entitled to them and they are being encouraged and feel that the system is supportive.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission will present its forecasts as best it can with the information that we have, and, as we go on, it and we will learn how that eligibility has made an impact and about particular aspects such as how many more people are being encouraged to come forward for their entitlement who may not have done so under the previous system. It is exceptionally challenging to forecast that, but I think that the Scottish Fiscal Commission has been cognisant of that to date and will continue to be. Those discussions were already baked in when we took through the regulations for the original pilot.

Good morning, convener. The carer support payment launched in November last year in Dundee City, Perth and Kinross and the Western Isles. It is a key step in our work to transform financial support for unpaid carers and to build a different system that is based on dignity, fairness and respect, recognising the value of unpaid care and providing greater stability and support for carers.

The carer support payment is already delivering an improved service, which was developed through work with carers and those who support them, and it extends support to many full-time students who are unable to get carers allowance.

Those improvements are in addition to the extra support that is already available to carers through our carers allowance supplement. That supplement is available only in Scotland. In fact, our three Scotland-only carer benefits—the carer support payment, the young carer grant and the carers allowance supplement—mean that, in 2024-25, we are investing £60 million more than the UK Government in carer benefits.

Carers allowance is the most complex benefit that we are replacing, as it links with a range of other support. The pilot and our planned roll-out approach have been designed to allow us to ensure that robust systems are in place between Social Security Scotland and the Department for Work and Pensions, so that carers continue to get all of the support to which they are entitled.

In February this year, we also began the automatic transfer of carers allowance awards to the carer support payment. That process is taking place across Scotland, with no need for carers to re-apply for support and no gaps in entitlement. I am grateful to officials from across the UK for their continued support in that work.

We are now ready to expand the benefit to more carers and the regulations that you are considering today will, if approved, make the carer support payment available in a further 10 local authorities this summer, starting with Angus and North and South Lanarkshire in June, and across Scotland from November 2024.

The draft regulations also include special backdating rules to ensure that carers do not lose out on support because they live in areas that are in later phases of the roll-out, and they will introduce, from October to June, a further extension of eligibility to carers aged 16 to 19 in full-time, non-advanced education, with certain exceptional circumstances.

I extend my thanks to the Scottish Commission on Social Security for its scrutiny of the draft amendment regulations. I am pleased to note that each of its recommendations has been accepted.

We know that clear communication of the roll-out approach will be key to its success. We are working with the DWP to ensure that both it and Social Security Scotland are providing clear information to carers on the approach, to ensure that carers continue to access all the support to which they are entitled through the carer support payment and any linked benefits.

I appreciate this opportunity to assist the committee in its consideration of the regulations, and I am happy to take any questions.

Yes, and my thanks should go not just to this committee and SCOSS but to the DPLRC for its work on this. We appreciate very much the feedback on the regulations. We have laid out in correspondence to the committee that the carer support regulations on breaks in care have been drafted to mirror the carers allowance legislation, which has been in force since the mid-1970s, I think. Therefore, those who need to interpret the regulations have an understanding of the language and how it has been interpreted, and that has been the case for some time.

If we were starting from scratch, with absolutely nothing in place, we might have approached the drafting and the wording slightly differently. However, the instrument has been drafted in a way that is well recognised within the system and well understood by those who use it—those involved in welfare rights and those who will be supporting carers. Importantly for carers, the policy intent behind the instrument is well understood by Social Security Scotland, and that understanding will be used in how it is interpreted.