Seòmar agus comataidhean

It is for Mr MacRae, only because he is in the room and he made eye contact. I am not sure who would be the best person to answer that question.

Good morning.

My understanding is that levels of fraud are relatively low, as far as we know, but there will have to be robust processes and procedures in this country soon anyway, because the legislation will require Social Security Scotland to request that clients provide information for audit purposes. How does the agency intend to use the new powers, proportionately and appropriately, to help to estimate client-induced fraud and error?

In the year ahead, we will see completion of the roll-out of the carer support payment, following the pilot. We will also see new pension-age benefits being introduced. I am conscious that the case load for pension-age winter heating payments will be around 1 million claimants. That is far in excess of any other benefit that Social Security Scotland has had to cope with. I am not casting any aspersions, but it is reasonable for us to ask: are you prepared for that, are you confident and is planning going well?

We would welcome that, Mr MacPhail. I take it from your comments that you are making the point that, although the scale is substantial, the complexity does not give you any concerns at this stage.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I will absolutely be brief. I want to be consistent with my line of questioning on the issue last week, when I made the point to the Deputy First Minister that there is an 11.1 per cent increase in the social justice and social security budget, which is benefiting some of the most vulnerable communities across Scotland, including in my constituency in Maryhill and Springburn. The budget in the round has supported that, including the ScotWind moneys, I would imagine.

To get the step change that we need and the buy-in of communities across Scotland, we need to stand by those communities, so it is vital that we use the funds to support the most vulnerable communities. I just want to put that on the record. It is not an either/or—we absolutely have to do both with the budget.

I am interested in how, in this budget, we are using public funds to roll out public electric vehicle charge points across Scotland. I know that there was a £30 million commitment, in partnership with local authorities, over four years, which we are just over half way through. I think that the money goes through Transport Scotland. How much money has been drawn down so far in relation to that? In particular, I see that there was a budget of £4.48 million to local authorities. I am keen to know how that money has been spent and to get a bit more information on it before I ask a couple of follow-up questions.

That is helpful. I apologise, cabinet secretary; I should have name-checked the fund in my initial question in order to allow you to find those details in your briefing pack.

That £20 million is a significant amount of money. My understanding is that a lot of the works are in the pipeline, which means that we still do not have any additional EV public charging points, we do not have anything out to tender from local authorities, and we are still unsure as to how much private money will be leveraged in. It seems reasonable to ask when we will start to get some details of that so that the committee can decide whether the moneys that have been invested will deliver the outcomes that we want to see. Is that on track?

I understand that there is a pipeline of two years and that there is a four-year plan, but there has not yet been any delivery. When can we expect to see delivery, and when can the committee get some details around that?

That is helpful. I am not sure how much of that is in the public domain. Anything that you are able to provide to the committee in writing in relation to projections, and when we will get some firm details, would be helpful. I get that a lot of it might be commercially confidential and that things are being worked up, but the committee would nonetheless like to scrutinise it on an on-going basis.

I have a final question, which I suppose goes in partnership with what I said earlier about a step change for individuals, families and communities in relation to getting EV charge points at their own home or investing in an EV vehicle. I know that the fund is not specifically for that. I am conscious that there are no grants available for EV chargers at home in an urban setting and that the used car loan initiative has come to an end. I understand that there is a tight financial settlement, but might the Government return to that at a future date?