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Recruitment to Social Security Scotland’s Senior Management Team were made in line with the Scottish Government’s selection policy. The personal characteristics of panel members is not monitored or reported.

Appointments to the Executive Advisory Body mirrored the Ministerial Appointments process. The ethnicity of interviewers was not recorded.

The Scottish Government has written on numerous occasions to the UK Government requesting that the two child limit be scrapped and have made clear our total opposition to the policy. This policy is part of Universal Credit which is a fully reserved benefit the Scottish Government has have no control over and cannot change.

By 2020-21 UK government cuts are expected to take around £3.7 billion out of the Scottish welfare system. It is not our policy to mitigate all of these UK Government welfare cuts, which are the equivalent of three times the Police Scotland budget. Pressure should be maintained on the UK Government to make changes to the policy and we will continue to call for such changes.

We are already investing over £125m in 2018-19 to mitigate the effects of UK Government welfare cuts and to protect people on low incomes - £20 million more than last year. The fact the Scottish Government has to take such action was described by the United Nation Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights as “outrageous”.

Comments made by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Economy and Fair Work referred to the legitimate assumption that any policies to directly top-up reserved benefits would need the agreement and cooperation of the DWP. Mr Mackay also said that “the best way to resolve it is to address the problem at source”.

The Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan sets out the many actions we are taking to increase family incomes and reduce living costs. That includes a commitment to work towards introducing a new income supplement, to provide additional financial support for low income families.

The Social Security Programme Board considers dates for implementation, and associated Go/No Go decisions, as part of managed programme planning. They will give a formal view on Go/No Go in advance of implementation dates.

The Social Security Directorate has worked with the Scottish Government Programme and Project Management Centre of Expertise to undertake three Social Security Programme Gateway 0 (Strategic Assessment) reviews (September 2015, March 2016, November 2017) and an Agency Gateway Review Healthcheck (May 2018).

The following tables reflect actual and forecast payments to DWP:

Payments for Implementation costs (actual and indicative) to DWP from Social Security Directorate

Administration funding is given to local authorities by the Scottish Government to maintain the Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF), raising awareness of SWF using this funding is at their discretion. The Scottish Government is not aware of television advertising being used by any local authorities to encourage applications to the SWF.

We have sought to develop accessible application processes for the Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment, to meet the needs of different groups. Applicants have a choice of application routes and can apply on the phone, online (including on a mobile phone) and on a paper form.

The Scottish Government continually assesses the effectiveness of the SWF through management information of applications, awards and expenditure. We work closely with local authorities, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and third sector organisations, as well as seeking views of users of the SWF through experience panels and social media platforms. In this way we can ensure that the most vulnerable people in our society receive help when they need it. The Scottish Government has continued to maintain funding for the SWF at  £38 million per year.

There are no plans for a separate review at this stage.

The SG’s consultation on the Fraud Code of Practice has recently closed and is now being analysed. No decisions have been taken on the practical implementation of this and the systems that may be used.

We are actively working with health boards to ensure that promotion of the Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment is embedded in their maternity and health visiting pathways and in relevant publications such as "Ready Steady Baby".

Health boards are best placed to decide the approach to promotion in their individual areas. We have not placed an explicit requirement for them to provide applications to new mothers in hospital but some may choose to do so.