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Social Security Scotland’s interim headquarters at Dundee House in Dundee and the Glasgow office at 220 High Street are both situated close to main bus routes and mainline rail stations.

Proximity to public transport links, frequency and volume of services and the availability of ground floor public spaces were key criterion in the analytical process which rated the shortlisted buildings in each city.

The interim Headquarters in Dundee and Glasgow office are fully compliant with Equalities Act legislation.

Accessibility and mobility access both to the interim buildings was a key criteria in arriving at the interim headquarters in Dundee and the office in Glasgow. A crucial component of this analysis was the accessibility of these buildings. The accessibility component considered the buildings themselves and their surrounding environments.

The Scottish Government will deliver Pregnancy and Baby Grant payments before Christmas 2018. We will publicise the start date in due course.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission have chosen to present indicative forecasts for costs in 2018-19 based on potential delivery from 1 November 2018 or 1 December 2018 as the start date is still unconfirmed. This illustrates a range of possible costs in 2018-19, depending on when payments start.

We welcome the first forecasts for the Best Start Pregnancy and Baby Grant from the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC).

The SFC report highlights the uncertainties around take-up rates and expenditure. There are particular uncertainties with these estimates given that this will be the first benefit to be administered by Social Security Scotland.

The SFC figures were lower than those previously published by the Scottish Government (SG). The main reason for the difference in forecasts is that SFC have assumed lower take-up rates than were used in forecasts previously prepared by SG analysts.

We welcome the SFC's commitment to review data as it becomes available to inform future forecasts.

The eligibility criteria for Best Start Grant (BSG) ensure that low income families in Scotland who would have received a Sure Start Maternity Grant continue to receive support where they would not if eligibility was narrowed to match that for free school meals. Free school meals are universally available to pupils in primary 1-3 at all publicly funded schools in Scotland. For pupils above primary 3, free school meal eligibility is dependent on whether the pupil’s parents or carers, or the pupil themselves are in receipt of specified qualifying benefits, which are set out in legislation. There is an income threshold set in the qualifying benefits for free school meals where there isn’t for BSG. This means that BSG is paid to people on higher incomes than free school meals, including those experiencing in work poverty.

At the event held on 11 September, we had the opportunity to engage with a range of interested suppliers in order to help inform the service design procurement going forward.

The Social Security Experience Panels provided extensive input into the Disability Benefits Discovery work, particularly in relation to their experiences of the current system of assessments. This work has influenced the development of the contract, although they were not directly involved in the development of the Service Design contract or Prior Information Notice.

Scottish Government has published 2161 notices since 2015-16. The breakdown for each calendar year is as follows: 2015: 477; 2016: 511; 2017: 615; 2018: 558. Of this number we are aware of 3 notices being subject to NDA. We are also aware of a further 6 procurement exercises which used an NDA although there was no requirement for a contract notice in these instances. Complete data on the use of NDA across Scottish Government is not centrally held and confirmation of the actual number could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Where words are used without further definition in legislation, they take their natural meaning in each context in which they are used. It is for the courts to interpret them if necessary, not the Scottish Government.

The information requested has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 60057).