Seòmar agus comataidhean

We will now consider one affirmative instrument. We were also due to consider the Social Security (Up-rating) (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2022, but the committee received a letter from the Minister for Social Security and Local Government yesterday that explained that those regulations were due to be withdrawn and relaid. I hope that the minister can provide some information about that this morning.

I welcome to the meeting Ben Macpherson, the Minister for Social Security and Local Government. The minister is joined online by Scottish Government officials Simon Coote, the head of the cross-cutting policy unit; Camilo Arredondo, a solicitor; and Dominic Mellan, an economic adviser in social security analysis.

I invite the minister to make an opening statement.

As we are over time, I ask those members who still have questions to ask to put them on the record, and I will ask our witnesses to submit their answers in writing. I invite Foysol Choudhury, Pam Duncan-Glancy and Emma Roddick to ask their questions.

In the interests of time, I ask members to group together their remaining questions. We have not rigidly stuck to the themes after having set them out.

Who are you directing your question to?

Thank you for that, minister. I see that from the chat function that Simon Coote would like to respond.

There seems to be a delay in the sound. Go ahead, Simon.

We still cannot hear you, Simon. I will go to a question from Miles Briggs and then come back to Mr Coote.

Thank you very much for those questions.

I thank the witnesses for coming in. We look forward to receiving your written responses to those final questions. Your answers will really help us in our role.

I suspend the meeting briefly to allow for a changeover of witnesses.

It looks as though everybody’s screens have frozen, but I do not think that anybody had anything to add.

Pam Duncan-Glancy wants to come in.

I invite the committee to agree that the clerks and I will produce a short factual report of the committee’s decisions and arrange to have it published.

Members indicated agreement.

Great.