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The next item of business as portfolio questions. Number one, | :00:14. | :00:21. | |
Rose Thompson. Thank you. To as the Scottish Government Harry agrees it | :00:22. | :00:26. | |
estimate of ?150 million annual cost for the new Social Security agency. | :00:27. | :00:33. | |
Presiding Officer, the executive summary of the outline business case | :00:34. | :00:35. | |
for this Social Security agency Scotland which was published on the | :00:36. | :00:40. | |
Scottish Government website on the 27th of April 2017 contains if real | :00:41. | :00:45. | |
explanation. Further detail is also contained in the main document and | :00:46. | :00:53. | |
chapters two, five and nine. And I forgot to say the usual mantra, | :00:54. | :00:58. | |
short questions, short answers, though I except that that was | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
required. I thank the Cabinet Secretary for that answer. I know | :01:04. | :01:06. | |
that the Cabinet Secretary Finance committee conceded that the cost of | :01:07. | :01:10. | |
delivery of the benefits will be greater than the present cost. When | :01:11. | :01:15. | |
quizzed by my colleague Alness, Mr Mackay was unable to elaborate on | :01:16. | :01:23. | |
these cars. Can the Cabinet secretary explained where the | :01:24. | :01:25. | |
Scottish Government has quantified this cost and exactly what it will | :01:26. | :01:31. | |
be? The Cabinet Secretary for refiners conceded no such thing, but | :01:32. | :01:34. | |
of course it is on the official record what he did or did not say to | :01:35. | :01:39. | |
the Finance committee. Can I point out that the agency running cost | :01:40. | :01:46. | |
will be around 5% of what we spend on benefits, and the combinable | :01:47. | :01:53. | |
figure for DWP is Ashley 6.3%. The running costs estimates from a cost | :01:54. | :01:59. | |
using activity base and information from the Department of work | :02:00. | :02:04. | |
impressions, and a minister in her statement not that long ago said | :02:05. | :02:07. | |
that these figures would be further refined in terms of the more nuanced | :02:08. | :02:14. | |
details signs of the system. And of course, the location of the agency, | :02:15. | :02:21. | |
but I think of running cost, at estimated at around 5%, that shows | :02:22. | :02:25. | |
that our figures are credible, they are compatible with the UK | :02:26. | :02:28. | |
Government, and they are value for money. To assess Scottish Government | :02:29. | :02:34. | |
plan has two the guidance on what constitutes a danger this building. | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
Thank you. This got is Government does not provide guidance on what | :02:41. | :02:44. | |
constitutes a danger this building. Local authorities are responsible | :02:45. | :02:49. | |
and the building Scotland act, 2003, to deal with buildings that they | :02:50. | :02:50. | |
consider to be dangerous. They also have powers to deal with | :02:51. | :03:01. | |
buildings they considered effective. Has the Scottish Government made | :03:02. | :03:08. | |
consideration for buildings that need security monitoring to keep | :03:09. | :03:15. | |
children out? I do not feel... We have got your question, thank you. | :03:16. | :03:21. | |
As I said, it is up to local authorities themselves to decide | :03:22. | :03:27. | |
whether a building is dangerous or defective and to take the necessary | :03:28. | :03:32. | |
actions they feel they need to take with the legislation in place to do | :03:33. | :03:39. | |
so. Question three. Thank you. To ask the Scottish Government how it | :03:40. | :03:42. | |
will encourage the uptake of all the devolved benefits to which people | :03:43. | :03:50. | |
might be entitled. Social Security is a human right and we are | :03:51. | :03:54. | |
determined to support everyone to claim the benefits to which they are | :03:55. | :03:58. | |
entitled. There are a range of reasons why people do not claim such | :03:59. | :04:04. | |
support and it is disappointing UK Government has not taken action to | :04:05. | :04:08. | |
improve take-up, making sure everyone receives financial support | :04:09. | :04:13. | |
is one of the first steps to putting dignity and respect at the heart of | :04:14. | :04:17. | |
Social Security in Scotland. We have made a clear commitment to do all we | :04:18. | :04:23. | |
can to maximise family income. Over the course of this parliamentary | :04:24. | :04:27. | |
term, we will deliver a programme of activity to increase uptake of | :04:28. | :04:30. | |
Social Security by encouraging people to exercise their rights and | :04:31. | :04:37. | |
claim the benefits they are due. What assessment has the Government | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
made of the effectiveness...? I beg your pardon. Quite right. Frowning | :04:42. | :04:48. | |
at me. Alison Johnson. I am out of practice! Thank you. I thank the | :04:49. | :04:55. | |
Cabinet Secretary for her response. Today the Scottish Parliament | :04:56. | :04:57. | |
becomes responsible for a range of benefits including carers allowance | :04:58. | :05:02. | |
and many of the benefits have complicated interactions with one | :05:03. | :05:07. | |
another, making it more difficult for people to understand their | :05:08. | :05:11. | |
entitlement. When someone... Let us have a question. What work is under | :05:12. | :05:16. | |
way to review how the benefits being devolved interact and what steps are | :05:17. | :05:21. | |
being taken to make this complicated system easier to not navigate? -- | :05:22. | :05:30. | |
easier to navigate? It is complex and therefore a very important point | :05:31. | :05:34. | |
for the Scottish Government to help people navigate their way through | :05:35. | :05:39. | |
the laxity is to ensure the agency has the duty to maximise income is | :05:40. | :05:47. | |
-- the complexity. It will help us know and evaluate what works in | :05:48. | :05:52. | |
terms of encouraging people to take up the benefits they are entitled | :05:53. | :05:56. | |
to, whether they are reserve benefits or devolved. As I say in my | :05:57. | :06:02. | |
closing remarks to yesterday's debate, we will have a Round Table | :06:03. | :06:06. | |
with our partners and local government, ensuring the work we do | :06:07. | :06:14. | |
in this parliamentary term is consistent and broadbrush and | :06:15. | :06:21. | |
targeted to people who need advice. Yesterday I was confused with | :06:22. | :06:25. | |
someone else and today Alison Johnson. Probably progress! What has | :06:26. | :06:37. | |
the assessment been of the week-long campaign to highlight support? It is | :06:38. | :06:45. | |
a fair point. The campaign in March was just phase one, broadbrush | :06:46. | :06:48. | |
campaign to support the general take-up of benefits, the press | :06:49. | :06:52. | |
activity had the potential to reach over 1 million people, the radio | :06:53. | :06:57. | |
activity had the potential also to reach 1.3 million people. And we | :06:58. | :07:03. | |
know from the Citizens Advice Bureau that they have had an increase in | :07:04. | :07:07. | |
inquiries and website activity. In terms of the more detailed nuanced | :07:08. | :07:13. | |
analysis of the impact, that work is still going on. Can the Cabinet | :07:14. | :07:19. | |
Secretary tell us the value of the unclaimed devolved benefits that the | :07:20. | :07:23. | |
UK Government has failed to encourage the take-up of? It is | :07:24. | :07:28. | |
quite difficult to get accurate information in relation to benefits | :07:29. | :07:34. | |
that will be devolved but what we know over the piece and terms of | :07:35. | :07:41. | |
benefits and child tax benefits in particular, there are more than half | :07:42. | :07:47. | |
a million individuals and families who are not claiming what they are | :07:48. | :07:54. | |
entitled to. That gives an onus on the Scottish garment to do more but | :07:55. | :07:57. | |
it begs big westerns about what the UK Government is doing to increase | :07:58. | :08:03. | |
uptake -- that gives an onus on the Scottish Government to do more but | :08:04. | :08:06. | |
it begs big questions about what the UK Government is doing to increase | :08:07. | :08:12. | |
uptake. What assessment has been made of the impact that an increased | :08:13. | :08:17. | |
carers allowance would have on disability poverty? Thank you. The | :08:18. | :08:23. | |
aim of the increased carers allowance is to recognise the vital | :08:24. | :08:27. | |
contributions carers make to society. We are assessing the impact | :08:28. | :08:32. | |
currently of the policy on other groups along with other policies | :08:33. | :08:36. | |
including disabled people through the equality impact assessments. I | :08:37. | :08:42. | |
thank the Minister. Now that both the powers to top up and make | :08:43. | :08:47. | |
changes have been devolved and ends in this Chamber, we have the powers | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
to legislate and improve the lives of carers across Scotland. I am a | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
cocoa bean of the cross-party group for carers. I want a question. | :08:57. | :09:04. | |
Before we get to carers week... I want a question. Can the Minister | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
give greater clarity on the payment of the increased allowance as to | :09:10. | :09:12. | |
when and how it will be paid and whether she has considered the | :09:13. | :09:17. | |
possibility of backdating to September to reflect when the powers | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
of top-up would evolve? As she rightly says, we now have to bring | :09:22. | :09:27. | |
the legislation to the parliament to give us the legal framework to give | :09:28. | :09:33. | |
additional payments. We will do so before summary says. We are | :09:34. | :09:38. | |
considering how we will make the additional top-up payments. -- | :09:39. | :09:42. | |
before summer recess. We want to do it sooner. We will use the views and | :09:43. | :09:51. | |
experiences of our panels and expert groups and if the cross-party group | :09:52. | :09:58. | |
has additional comments to draw to my attention, I would be happy to | :09:59. | :10:01. | |
receive those. The Scottish Government, by what date for the | :10:02. | :10:07. | |
next phase of the benefit uptake campaign begin and how long it will | :10:08. | :10:10. | |
run and who the target audience will be? We will have a rolling programme | :10:11. | :10:17. | |
of activity over the course of the Parliamentary term, the next phase | :10:18. | :10:19. | |
will be focused on young carers. During carers week from the 12 until | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
the 18th of June, we will take action to ensure young carers are | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
aware of the benefits available to them and to encourage take-up. We | :10:30. | :10:34. | |
are working in partnership with carers trust Scotland and a wide | :10:35. | :10:37. | |
range of stakeholders who will support this activity. We know | :10:38. | :10:41. | |
carers and young people play a crucial role in society and it is | :10:42. | :10:45. | |
vitally important we support them in looking after the people they care | :10:46. | :10:48. | |
for which can often be in very challenging circumstances. I welcome | :10:49. | :10:52. | |
the comments she has made about young carers. My disappointment in | :10:53. | :10:59. | |
the level of investment, I have raised it recently. Up to ?2 billion | :11:00. | :11:08. | |
in benefits in Scotland are going in -- going unclaimed. Has she | :11:09. | :11:15. | |
considered for example for everyone can spend advising, it is estimated | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
?39 is delivered in additional benefits? Can she look to use the GP | :11:21. | :11:26. | |
contract process to look at that as being a possible location for the | :11:27. | :11:31. | |
benefit right services? I thank him for his question. He is aware that | :11:32. | :11:36. | |
in terms of the phase one of the campaign, we have made a modest | :11:37. | :11:41. | |
value for money investment. It will increase over the lifetime of the | :11:42. | :11:45. | |
parliament and it will amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds. The | :11:46. | :11:49. | |
issue about: patient is very potent. It could be something we could pick | :11:50. | :11:53. | |
up in terms of a Round Table discussion -- co location. We could | :11:54. | :12:05. | |
ask health ministers to discuss some issues with those who engage with | :12:06. | :12:12. | |
GPs, but certainly, that issue of co location of people being able to get | :12:13. | :12:15. | |
advice where they currently access public services it is a point well | :12:16. | :12:21. | |
made, it features in the work we are doing in and around Social Security | :12:22. | :12:27. | |
and our advice services review. Can the Cabinet Secretary confirm how | :12:28. | :12:29. | |
much benefit uptake campaigns have cost this fast and what the Scottish | :12:30. | :12:35. | |
garment hands done to ensure value for money in the delivery -- cost | :12:36. | :12:40. | |
this far and what the Scottish Government has done. The broadbrush | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
phase one of the campaign was a modest investment of ?6,000. As I | :12:46. | :12:50. | |
said, that investment will increase to hundreds of thousands of pounds, | :12:51. | :12:58. | |
but it begs the question, while we and the Scottish garment are | :12:59. | :13:01. | |
prepared to invest in benefit take-up campaigns, we have half a | :13:02. | :13:05. | |
million families, households, they are not getting what they are | :13:06. | :13:09. | |
entitled to, it begs the question why we have no activity from the UK | :13:10. | :13:15. | |
Government. Further to the previous questions and answers, can the | :13:16. | :13:18. | |
secretary tell the Chamber of what work it is aware of the UK | :13:19. | :13:23. | |
Government carrying out to increase benefits uptake? I am not aware of | :13:24. | :13:30. | |
any recent work undertaken by the UK Government to increase benefit | :13:31. | :13:33. | |
uptake which is both disappointing but perhaps not unsurprising. Thank | :13:34. | :13:43. | |
you. To ask the Scottish Government how many planning appeals determined | :13:44. | :13:46. | |
under ministerial direction in the last year have been contrary to | :13:47. | :13:51. | |
local development plans. Nine planning appeals were determined | :13:52. | :13:54. | |
under ministerial direction in the last year, seven of the appeals | :13:55. | :13:59. | |
determined were for development contrary to the relevant development | :14:00. | :14:02. | |
plans, and two were approved of these. I thank the Minister for the | :14:03. | :14:08. | |
response. I hope he acknowledges public confidence in the planning | :14:09. | :14:12. | |
system will be low where communities have spent years working on local | :14:13. | :14:16. | |
development plans only to have decisions in line with the plans | :14:17. | :14:20. | |
overturned. Can I ask why it has taken so long to determine the | :14:21. | :14:24. | |
controversial appeal on the development given it has been nine | :14:25. | :14:28. | |
months since the public inquiry concluded and nearly five months | :14:29. | :14:31. | |
since the report landed on his desk? Thank you, this is a complex | :14:32. | :14:38. | |
planning application and ministers are currently giving full and proper | :14:39. | :14:42. | |
consideration to it. Every effort is being made to issue the decision as | :14:43. | :14:49. | |
soon as possible. Question seven, sorry. Donald Campbell. What is the | :14:50. | :14:56. | |
Scottish Government's response to the Census 2016 estimating the | :14:57. | :14:59. | |
number of churchgoers will have more than halved between 2000 and 2025? | :15:00. | :15:09. | |
Freedom of religion and of the choice to worship is an important | :15:10. | :15:12. | |
right in our society and the Scottish church census things the | :15:13. | :15:17. | |
useful picture of how the right is being exercised. It is not for the | :15:18. | :15:20. | |
Scottish Government to express a view on how individuals choose to | :15:21. | :15:24. | |
exercise their faith, but we will continue to engage with the | :15:25. | :15:27. | |
different faith communities to understand the issues and listen to | :15:28. | :15:32. | |
concerns. In relation to this, we would be happy to meet with the | :15:33. | :15:37. | |
church and the council and others to discuss the particular issues raised | :15:38. | :15:43. | |
by the census. She will be aware that the report suggests that | :15:44. | :15:47. | |
Christian denominations are seeing falling church attendances. Given | :15:48. | :15:52. | |
the importance of faith to the well-being of people and society, | :15:53. | :15:55. | |
what can the Scottish Government offer in terms of support for all | :15:56. | :16:02. | |
faith groups at this time? Scotland has a strong sense of social justice | :16:03. | :16:10. | |
and faith communities include -- including Christian communities. In | :16:11. | :16:17. | |
terms of the support that we give to faith communities, we support | :16:18. | :16:24. | |
interfaith work and Scotland is a world leader in interfaith work and | :16:25. | :16:29. | |
that interfaith dialogue and relations is crucially important to | :16:30. | :16:35. | |
community cohesion and ensuring we continue to have good community | :16:36. | :16:39. | |
cohesion and it is imperative, given the challenges we face, | :16:40. | :16:44. | |
collectively, in our society, but there is mutual understanding and | :16:45. | :16:47. | |
respect and that has become more in recent study macro -- more important | :16:48. | :16:55. | |
in recent times. There is a fun supporting interfaith work, but the | :16:56. | :16:59. | |
border third sector work also supports some of the issues of faith | :17:00. | :17:06. | |
communities, very active in terms of social justice. -- there is a fund. | :17:07. | :17:11. | |
Food justice would be a good example in terms of the work all faiths have | :17:12. | :17:16. | |
been doing in that area. I quite like short answers and shorter | :17:17. | :17:19. | |
questions. Number eight, Kenneth Gibson. What discussions have they | :17:20. | :17:25. | |
had with the UK Government regarding the impact of the welfare reforms on | :17:26. | :17:31. | |
communities in North Ayrshire? The Scottish Government has repeatedly | :17:32. | :17:35. | |
called on the UK Government to halt the welfare reform programme, | :17:36. | :17:38. | |
specifically we have called for an immediate stop to the roll-out of | :17:39. | :17:41. | |
both Personal Independence Payments and universal credit, as well as an | :17:42. | :17:45. | |
end to the sanctions regime until the issues of | :17:46. | :17:57. | |
Our Sheffied Hallam University that Tory Social Security cuts have no | :17:58. | :18:04. | |
relationship with employment growth and that the evidence provides | :18:05. | :18:08. | |
little support for the view that welfare reform as having important | :18:09. | :18:13. | |
impact on them labour market in Scotland. But she acknowledged that | :18:14. | :18:20. | |
?540 dart that a long, long question, sorry minister. Thank you. | :18:21. | :18:29. | |
I do acknowledge both that figure, they figures that I have seen range | :18:30. | :18:35. | |
from between 382 540 pounds per person in Escher removed as a result | :18:36. | :18:38. | |
of the welfare reforms, all of which of course is part of the 1 billion | :18:39. | :18:44. | |
removed by the UK Government from people in Scotland in the welfare | :18:45. | :18:49. | |
reforms introduced between 2015 and 2020, on top of the 1.4 billion that | :18:50. | :18:54. | |
had already been taken up until that point, and I do absolutely agree | :18:55. | :18:57. | |
with the member that there is no sustainable evidence that any of | :18:58. | :19:01. | |
these welfare reforms at either reducing the national debt, which is | :19:02. | :19:04. | |
itself increasing, while assisting more people into employment. | :19:05. | :19:14. | |
Question nine, Monica Lennon. I draw the members attempting to might | :19:15. | :19:18. | |
register of interests as a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute | :19:19. | :19:21. | |
and a former south Lanarkshire councillor. To assess Scottish | :19:22. | :19:24. | |
Government by the table with chart their planning consent it issued for | :19:25. | :19:30. | |
an incinerator facility at white hell in Hamilton. The Scottish | :19:31. | :19:37. | |
ministers do not propose to use a revocation powers in this case. I | :19:38. | :19:42. | |
thank the Minister for his short answer. It will be no surprise to | :19:43. | :19:46. | |
him that I am disappointed and my constituents will also be | :19:47. | :19:51. | |
disappointed and very angry. I simply ask why? I met with Ms Lennon | :19:52. | :20:00. | |
last year, and at that meeting I pointed out to heart that any | :20:01. | :20:03. | |
revocation are planning permission would be for South Lanarkshire | :20:04. | :20:08. | |
Council in the first instance. Ms Lennon has a ready pointed out that | :20:09. | :20:11. | |
she was a member of South Lanarkshire Council at that point, I | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
wonder if Juninho tenure there that he adds the mood for a revocation of | :20:17. | :20:26. | |
this planning application. Incinerator capacity is projected to | :20:27. | :20:30. | |
increase 12 times in the next five years, so this will mean councils | :20:31. | :20:35. | |
might be contracted to both a barn and recycle the same waste, which | :20:36. | :20:40. | |
clearly cannot happen. By the Scottish Government consider a | :20:41. | :20:43. | |
moratorium on new incinerator construction? As the member is well | :20:44. | :20:51. | |
aware, it will be held considered of me as planning Minister to talk | :20:52. | :20:58. | |
about any applications which may be forthcoming. In terms of the general | :20:59. | :21:04. | |
policy regarding energy from waste, his question would be best directed | :21:05. | :21:09. | |
to the Cabinet Secretary for the environment. Question 11. To assess | :21:10. | :21:14. | |
Scottish Government by that there are plans for the access to elected | :21:15. | :21:20. | |
office from Scotland to be open to disabled people wishing to be | :21:21. | :21:22. | |
nominated for the 2017 general election. Thank you. Because all | :21:23. | :21:29. | |
aspects of election to the House of Commons and reserve, the 26 in | :21:30. | :21:32. | |
Scotland I prepared its eyes from using our fund to provide to provide | :21:33. | :21:37. | |
assistance to disabled candidates in the general election. The UK a clone | :21:38. | :21:40. | |
of the fund ended in 2015 when the Conservative Party came to power and | :21:41. | :21:44. | |
repeated tours took reopen it have gone and he did. Given the success | :21:45. | :21:53. | |
of the fund at the most recent local elections, helping 39% candidate Pat | :21:54. | :21:57. | |
and 412 to ultimately be elected, there is a minister not agree that | :21:58. | :22:00. | |
this Labour funding levels the playing field and which you join me | :22:01. | :22:04. | |
in calling on the UK Government to reopen the UK equivalent fund? I | :22:05. | :22:10. | |
thank the member for that follow-up. Actually, more importantly than | :22:11. | :22:15. | |
either Mr Beatty or myself, the candidates, those individuals who | :22:16. | :22:21. | |
used our fund to stand in the most recent local council elections | :22:22. | :22:25. | |
themselves say, and the organisations including including | :22:26. | :22:27. | |
Scotland, who monitored and 11 that find on our behalf all say that | :22:28. | :22:33. | |
defined act significantly to level the playing field, so I think it is | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
proving itself to be six vessel. We will continue it for the Holyrood | :22:38. | :22:41. | |
elections, and as we said yesterday, we are now looking at how we may use | :22:42. | :22:45. | |
that fund and that approach in terms of other areas of public life, and | :22:46. | :22:49. | |
I'm very happy to continue our calls to the UK Government to follow our | :22:50. | :22:57. | |
example. To assess Scottish Government what safeguards are in | :22:58. | :23:02. | |
place to protect communities that in close but omitted to extensive | :23:03. | :23:07. | |
building works. A range of safeguards are in place including | :23:08. | :23:15. | |
planning, environmental health, bulging standards and environmental | :23:16. | :23:20. | |
protection regulations. I thank the Minister for that answer. I have | :23:21. | :23:26. | |
been contact by a constituent living in close proximity to Donaldson | :23:27. | :23:28. | |
School in Edinburgh which is currently undergoing extensive | :23:29. | :23:35. | |
building works. They have concerned about the dust in the air. By the | :23:36. | :23:42. | |
Minister Loic at this issue alongside other Government | :23:43. | :23:45. | |
departments in order to find a solution to this problem? I would | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
suggest that Mr Lang has contact Edinburgh City Council to get them | :23:50. | :23:54. | |
to to check what is going on at that site. I would imagine that that | :23:55. | :24:00. | |
would be helpful to his constituent. The council itself has the ability | :24:01. | :24:06. | |
to take action if there is anything improper going on. To assess | :24:07. | :24:14. | |
Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the availability of | :24:15. | :24:17. | |
affordable housing in the north-east of Scotland. We continue to make | :24:18. | :24:23. | |
significant increases to our investment in building more | :24:24. | :24:26. | |
affordable housing in the north-east. Aberdeen city and | :24:27. | :24:31. | |
Aberdeenshire councils were allocated ?12 million and ?90 | :24:32. | :24:34. | |
million respectively for the affordable housing programmes in | :24:35. | :24:40. | |
2017, which in itself requested approximate double the resources | :24:41. | :24:45. | |
allocated in 2015. Aberdeen said the deal also includes ?29 of | :24:46. | :24:47. | |
infrastructure funding from the Scottish Government to unlock | :24:48. | :24:54. | |
Housing sites, and a five-year certainty of ?130 million of | :24:55. | :24:59. | |
affordable housing grant. Thank you for that answer. High House prices | :25:00. | :25:03. | |
in the north-east have an impact on filling vacant post in the public | :25:04. | :25:07. | |
sector. Can a minister advise me of any schemes that are ongoing to | :25:08. | :25:10. | |
prioritise availability for affordable homes for those working | :25:11. | :25:16. | |
in the public sector? The Scottish Government provided additional ?8 | :25:17. | :25:22. | |
million to support 124 units key worker housing project on surplus | :25:23. | :25:25. | |
public sector land at the former Craig and his present in Aberdeen, | :25:26. | :25:30. | |
which is due for completion in March 2000 18. A big sector workers | :25:31. | :25:34. | |
provide an essential service, including any staff and teachers in | :25:35. | :25:39. | |
particular, will benefit from this offer. Also in the pipeline is a | :25:40. | :25:47. | |
Scottish Government funded 100 unit housing project at Burnside in | :25:48. | :25:51. | |
Aberdeen, were NHS staff will also be prioritised. And so you will be | :25:52. | :25:57. | |
heartened to Poti and very and see the new housing there by the housing | :25:58. | :26:02. | |
association, which I think was welcomed by all the tenants. To as | :26:03. | :26:07. | |
the Scottish Government what response it has received from the | :26:08. | :26:11. | |
third sector to the comment by the Minister for social security and | :26:12. | :26:14. | |
private sector should not be involved and assessment for | :26:15. | :26:19. | |
Scotland's the benefits. We have received a very positive response | :26:20. | :26:23. | |
from across the third sector including poverty Alliance, gel | :26:24. | :26:25. | |
poverty action group, inclusion Scotland and the Council of Scottish | :26:26. | :26:30. | |
voluntary organisations. We have also received a number of positive | :26:31. | :26:34. | |
responses directly from individuals with disabilities and their | :26:35. | :26:36. | |
statement was adversely welcomed by the public service union. I thank | :26:37. | :26:43. | |
the Minister for that answer. Does the Minister believed that the model | :26:44. | :26:48. | |
of assessment will be better able to deal with mental health conditions | :26:49. | :26:52. | |
and fluctuating conditions of claimants than is currently the case | :26:53. | :26:57. | |
under the reserved UK system? It is certainly our intention that that | :26:58. | :27:02. | |
will be the case, and we are working with the disability and carers | :27:03. | :27:06. | |
benefits expert advisory group and in particular with the assistance of | :27:07. | :27:10. | |
Doctor Alan McDevitt, who chairs the GP group, to work with other health | :27:11. | :27:15. | |
professionals and those in the social care sector to divide her as | :27:16. | :27:22. | |
a much quicker, and fear assessment process which will allow better | :27:23. | :27:25. | |
decisions to be made first time, and will allow us to use those with the | :27:26. | :27:32. | |
relevant clinical, medical or social care experience to conduct any | :27:33. | :27:36. | |
assessments that may be required, relevant to the condition of the | :27:37. | :27:40. | |
individual. That should, and it is our intention that it well, address | :27:41. | :27:45. | |
your particular deficiencies in the current system, particularly our own | :27:46. | :27:48. | |
mental health, fluctuating conditions and other matters were | :27:49. | :27:53. | |
people from people from the expert panels, from the experienced banners | :27:54. | :27:56. | |
and from a consultation made very clear to see improvements. To assess | :27:57. | :28:03. | |
Scottish Government what it is by and says to recent figures that | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
suggest Scottish welfare fund has supported more than 241,000 | :28:08. | :28:13. | |
households with awards totalling 124 mullion pounds. It is incorrect to | :28:14. | :28:22. | |
say that since 2013, 24 Jimmy haven't tested 19 million and then | :28:23. | :28:30. | |
fund, helping many households, a third of which include children. | :28:31. | :28:33. | |
Providing this vital lifeline for people of Scotland is of course the | :28:34. | :28:37. | |
right thing to do for any TV and compassionate Government, but it is | :28:38. | :28:42. | |
wrong that people in Scotland and this Government have to continue to | :28:43. | :28:49. | |
use our resources to pay for -- paper over the increasing levels of | :28:50. | :28:54. | |
hardship as a result of the UK but Government ideological agenda | :28:55. | :28:59. | |
welfare agenda. There's the Minister share my concern that this number | :29:00. | :29:06. | |
and the money will in fact rise to this six-week minimum alt Andile I'm | :29:07. | :29:15. | |
first payment on the UK Government's universal credit system? There isn't | :29:16. | :29:20. | |
a growing evidence that this six-week delay in terms of universal | :29:21. | :29:26. | |
credit first payment is producing additional hardship, and I know that | :29:27. | :29:30. | |
my colleague married Todd from the Highlands has raised this matter on | :29:31. | :29:35. | |
a number of occasions, and indeed on Monday I myself will be talking to | :29:36. | :29:39. | |
people in Inverness about precisely that problem. That then does produce | :29:40. | :29:42. | |
additional pressures on welfare fund, and we have made specific | :29:43. | :29:49. | |
additional resources allocation is to try and assist that, but the | :29:50. | :29:53. | |
bottom line always remains that the problem lies disorders, which is a | :29:54. | :29:58. | |
UK Government's welfare agenda, their cuts, which they tell as are | :29:59. | :30:03. | |
there to help manage the public finances in a situation where the | :30:04. | :30:07. | |
public debt continued to rise, and is now, I believe someone around | :30:08. | :30:16. | |
?1.8 billion. To assess Scottish Government how many households in | :30:17. | :30:19. | |
Scotland will be affected by the changes to child tax credit that of | :30:20. | :30:25. | |
integers on the 6th of April. The Scottish Government is deeply | :30:26. | :30:27. | |
opposed to the UK Government's to tell tax credit cup by 2020 and | :30:28. | :30:37. | |
50,000 Scottish has also been negatively affected. It will push | :30:38. | :30:43. | |
more and more families into poverty. Can I ask what response if any you | :30:44. | :30:48. | |
have had from the UK Government in relation to the Scottish | :30:49. | :30:51. | |
Parliament's decisive vote opposing the two tells cap and a main -- rape | :30:52. | :31:00. | |
clause. We have had no response from the UK Government at all. As we all | :31:01. | :31:06. | |
know, the rape clause is a fundamental violation of human | :31:07. | :31:09. | |
rights, it is disgraceful that despite serious concerns raised in | :31:10. | :31:14. | |
this chamber, and a wide range of organisations including Rape Crisis | :31:15. | :31:18. | |
Scotland, And Scottish Women's It, Gummer That The Uk Government | :31:19. | :31:25. | |
Refuses To Reverse This Shameful Policy. To Assess Scottish | :31:26. | :31:28. | |
Government Whether It Has Received A Response From The Uk Government To | :31:29. | :31:33. | |
Is Request To Halt The Roll-out Of Universal Credit In Scotland | :31:34. | :31:37. | |
Following Reports That The New System Is Pushing More People Into | :31:38. | :31:45. | |
Hardship And Debt. Regrettably, the Secretary of State did not respond | :31:46. | :31:49. | |
directly to this request. He has sent a five page report extolling | :31:50. | :31:55. | |
the virtues of universal credit, which itself confirmed that the UK | :31:56. | :31:57. | |
Government has no intention of halting the roll-out. The Minister | :31:58. | :32:04. | |
is aware that universal credit is causing real hardship to individuals | :32:05. | :32:07. | |
in the Highlands. An addition, Andrea 's art causing real hardship | :32:08. | :32:13. | |
to the local council and a housing associations find themselves in the | :32:14. | :32:16. | |
unenviable position of pressuring tenant through the courts for a debt | :32:17. | :32:20. | |
that is not of their own making. Does the Minister agree with me that | :32:21. | :32:23. | |
the situation is completely unacceptable and must be halted? Yes | :32:24. | :32:30. | |
I do. I think the evidence is stacking up by the day that the | :32:31. | :32:35. | |
roll-out of universal credit, in particular the built-in six-week | :32:36. | :32:39. | |
delay, for which I cannot yet find any reasonable credible explanation, | :32:40. | :32:45. | |
is beating particular strain and causing more hardship for | :32:46. | :32:48. | |
individuals. We will ourselves in with the support of the DWP to apply | :32:49. | :32:54. | |
our particular flexibilities, which will allow the direct payment of | :32:55. | :32:59. | |
rent to landlords, and the choice of twice weekly payments, but even that | :33:00. | :33:02. | |
does not get us all that the six-week delay, and again, we would | :33:03. | :33:08. | |
as the UK Government is seriously consider halting the roll-out of | :33:09. | :33:12. | |
universal credit until the series as of hardship that it is imposing an | :33:13. | :33:16. | |
bringing to families in Scotland are considered properly. | :33:17. | :33:22. | |
To ask the Scottish Government when its officials last met with Atos | :33:23. | :33:33. | |
health care? On the 5th of April this year, to obtain an | :33:34. | :33:39. | |
understanding of how Atos's views the assessment process operating in | :33:40. | :33:44. | |
Scotland. There are no plans to meet again. I thank the Minister for that | :33:45. | :33:50. | |
answer. Will the Scottish Government ruled out at this stage any | :33:51. | :33:54. | |
involvement with Atos in the design and delivery of the new Scottish | :33:55. | :34:01. | |
Social Security system? I thank the member for that question. I believe | :34:02. | :34:06. | |
I have all ready done so in the statement I gave to Parliament on | :34:07. | :34:09. | |
the new Social Security agency, we made clear we see no place in the | :34:10. | :34:14. | |
assessment of benefits for private sector companies. Question 19, the | :34:15. | :34:20. | |
member is not here. I hope there will be good reasons for her not | :34:21. | :34:26. | |
being present. Question 20. John Mason. And I congratulate you on | :34:27. | :34:33. | |
getting to question 20? I was not particularly anticipating it. You | :34:34. | :34:36. | |
must never take things here for granted! What is the position on the | :34:37. | :34:43. | |
outcome of the local government elections? Scottish ministers | :34:44. | :34:48. | |
congratulate all councillors elected and welcome the role they fulfil for | :34:49. | :34:54. | |
their communities. We are delighted that elections were conducted | :34:55. | :34:58. | |
successfully and the election turnout at 46.9% was higher than the | :34:59. | :35:05. | |
39.6% in 2012. We look forward to working with Scotland's | :35:06. | :35:09. | |
democratically elected councils to take forward our priorities for the | :35:10. | :35:13. | |
people of Scotland. I thank the Minister for that answer. There was | :35:14. | :35:19. | |
considerable effort put into encourage people to mark the ballot | :35:20. | :35:26. | |
papers one, two, three, four. On looking at papers apparently | :35:27. | :35:29. | |
spoiled, it appeared a lot had either two or three Xs on them. Has | :35:30. | :35:38. | |
the Minister any suggestions how we can tackle this problem by way of | :35:39. | :35:41. | |
education or some other way? Thank you. The Electoral Commission | :35:42. | :35:48. | |
already runs information campaigns to inform voters about how to cast | :35:49. | :35:54. | |
their vote. In particular, a leaflet is delivered to every household | :35:55. | :35:58. | |
before any election giving detailed guidance on how to cast your vote at | :35:59. | :36:04. | |
that particular poll. In addition, an explanation is sent out with | :36:05. | :36:08. | |
every postal ballot pack and large print exclamatory notices are | :36:09. | :36:15. | |
exhibited in polling stations. Information is available wherever a | :36:16. | :36:18. | |
ballot paper is being completed. In the home, at the polling station. | :36:19. | :36:24. | |
Anyone unsure about how to vote can also contact the returning officer's | :36:25. | :36:29. | |
office to ask for advice and polling station staff are also available to | :36:30. | :36:39. | |
help. The SNP got 32% of the vote, the same as in 2012. It has flat | :36:40. | :36:44. | |
lined. Labour was down in vote share and numbers of seats. I would like a | :36:45. | :36:50. | |
question rather than a party political broadcasts. An extra | :36:51. | :36:57. | |
proper sense. -- 12%. Would the Minister agree the real winners were | :36:58. | :37:03. | |
the Scottish Conservatives? I think I can guess the answer. Go ahead. | :37:04. | :37:12. | |
No, I would not agree. There was only one winner in last week's | :37:13. | :37:15. | |
Scottish elections, that was the SNP. We had the largest amount of | :37:16. | :37:23. | |
votes cast, the largest amount of councillors, the largest party on 16 | :37:24. | :37:28. | |
councils and joint largest in three others. We won in the four main | :37:29. | :37:36. | |
cities. Let us be honest, there cannot only be one winner, it was | :37:37. | :37:41. | |
not the Scottish Conservative Party, it certainly was not the Scottish | :37:42. | :37:46. | |
Labour Party, those who got the most was the SNP. That concludes | :37:47. | :37:49. | |
portfolio questions. The Cabinet Secretary will take | :37:50. | :38:28. | |
questions at the end of the statement. No interventions. I will | :38:29. | :38:32. | |
ask any members who wish to ask | :38:33. | :38:33. |