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We do not know about this year, Mr Balfour. I do not mean to be flippant about that. This week would have initiated a cold weather payment in certain places in Scotland, because there have been seven consecutive days of weather at 0°C or below, but we do not know whether there will be another two weeks of that this winter in Scotland, even in those places. I appreciate, from last week’s evidence and the stats, that there are places that have, historically, in some past years—not all years—received more than £50, but there is no guarantee that that would happen this year or in the years after that, even in those places, although, looking at the weather and analysis, it could be likely, and I accept that. Overall, however, as I said, tens of thousands more people will benefit from the winter heating payment than did under the cold weather payment system.

Again, I will bring in Owen Allen in a minute because, of course, engagement takes place more at official level. The decisions on the development of winter heating assistance were made before I was appointed as minister, so it would not have been me personally. I will bring in Owen to discuss official engagement and perhaps he can also refer to any engagement that Ms Somerville undertook as cabinet secretary.

Owen, could you answer that for Mr Balfour? If you are unable to identify how many meetings there were, perhaps you can give an approximate number.

I should say that engagement between the Scottish Government at official level and the DWP has been strong and constructive on the delivery of this benefit. In my opening remarks, I mentioned how important it is for us to get the scan that we require from the DWP before the end of January in order to deliver the benefit. We wished to get the scan earlier in January, but we appreciate and understand the demands on colleagues in the DWP in delivering the cost of living support, which is a significant undertaking for it. There is an understanding of the priorities and needs of both Governments in delivering support, and we are working to do that constructively.

That is such an important question. First, people do not need to be aware of the winter heating payment; they will just get it. Social Security Scotland will write to people, and they will get the payment.

Collectively, as a committee and as a Parliament, we have discussed raising awareness in a constructive and helpful way, and public discourse is very engaged in raising awareness of the support that is available more generally. The Scottish Government hosts a website that lists the support that is available to people, and we should encourage the use of that by disseminating it widely and raising awareness of it in all regions and constituencies of Scotland. I know that that is happening, and I appreciate members’ engagement in that. The Government is working with local authorities, the third sector and other bodies to constantly raise awareness of what support is available.

We should all ensure that people are aware of the fuel insecurity fund, appreciating that some payments have already been initiated. Child winter heating assistance has gone out from Social Security Scotland to around 25,000 households; that is an additional support that has been paid in recent weeks. There are other supports available that require an application. The Scottish Government continues to raise awareness of the various family benefits that require an application. The response to the Scottish child payment has been remarkable; the number of applications has been extraordinary. Social Security Scotland is working to deliver and pay that as quickly as it can.

A campaign is under way to encourage people to apply for pension credit from the UK Government. I commend the DWP for the proactive way in which it is encouraging people to take up pension credit. That is helpful because it is a benefit that unlocks some Social Security Scotland benefits. A range of work is under way, and I encourage all parliamentarians, everyone who has a network and any people listening who have personal networks—whether through word of mouth, online or otherwise—to continue to raise awareness of the support that is available. The Government absolutely wants to get every pound of support that people are entitled to out to them, particularly at this time.

That is an important question, and I understand the focus on the date. During our consultation, we engaged with several stakeholders, as well as people with lived experience of cold weather payments through our Social Security Scotland experience panels, which I mentioned. We appreciate that differing views were expressed about what would be the best time for the benefit to be delivered. However, some consultation feedback and wider considerations have argued that it can be colder in January and February. Also, it could be helpful to people who get quarterly bills, as the largest of those tend to land with people in February. However, I know that there are differing opinions on this, and we will consider it ahead of future years. There are people who expressed a preference for such a payment to be made earlier in the winter. I have committed to reviewing that ahead of delivery next year and in future years. The regulations deliberately state that we deliver the benefit in winter, which creates flexibility so that we can consider when the optimum time would be.

This year, we have a congested delivery landscape. In answer to Mr Balfour earlier, I talked about the fact that the DWP is under pressure to deliver its payments of additional support, although I am in no way suggesting that the DWP has determined our timetable. We set our timetable for February because of what I said previously, but we also had to consider the fact that we were delivering child winter heating assistance and needed to deliver those payments. We were delivering the carers allowance supplement and had to consider that payment, and we rolled out adult disability payment this year, which has increased the demands on the agency. Significantly, we launched the second phase of the Scottish child payment on 14 November.

We always have to consider how we deliver benefits safely, securely and reliably, and, with the winter heating payment, the agency has to deliver a new benefit, providing enough time to ensure that we have developed the capacity to process the 400,000 cases when we receive the data scan from the DWP and ensuring that essential system testing is completed prior to commencing any payments. A wide range of considerations went into why, in this instance, the payment will be made from February, but, as I said, I have committed to considering if we would want to change that for next year or future years. I have listened attentively to the feedback on that, and I appreciate the evidence that the committee has heard.

You could argue that a smaller number of people would be better off with the cold weather payment, but, of course, more than 200,000 people will be receiving support from the winter heating payment who would likely not have received the cold weather payment. So, it is a balance.

Before I bring in Angela Keane, I should say that, contingent on receiving the data scan from the DWP, the data being in order and the processes being initiated in the way that we intend—all of that considered—we will aim to pay everyone as quickly as possible in February, but I cannot guarantee that everyone will receive the benefit in February. It is certainly our intention to get the support to people as quickly as we can.

Angela, do you want to say a bit more about that, please?

Thanks, Angela. As for Mr Briggs’s previous points, I would emphasise to those requiring a little bit of extra support that they should please engage with the fuel insecurity fund, which we have doubled, and the home heating support fund. We want people to get support if they are entitled to it.

It is not in my gift to write to communities in that way. Ministers are not able to write to individual households.