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We were proud to introduce the carers allowance supplement from 2018 and it was the right thing to do. It was the first thing that was done by Social Security Scotland, by the minister at that time. It has provided a significant amount of additional support to carers, which we are determined to do. Also, through that period, there has been the carers allowance additional supplement, which I was thinking about at the beginning of this answer. That provided additional support in the year of the pandemic and then in the winter of 2021.

How we continue to support carers is demonstrated by the fact that we want to increase the carers allowance supplement through the instruments and we are asking the Parliament to support us in that. Also, we are now moving to a position where we will be transferring to the carer support payment. I draw members’ attention to the remarks that I made in the Parliament in the debate on 7 February. As I said then, I will shortly publish the response to the consultation on the carer support payment and the issues raised within that about how we provide additional support.

As with all the benefits that we are responsible for, we are looking to provide additional support, and the increase by 10.1 per cent of the carers allowance supplement through the instruments is part of that. Also, as members know, we are in a situation where we have to balance the budget across the Scottish Government as a whole. Given that we are providing £776 million of additional support above what we receive from the UK Government from the block grant adjustment, and given that we are providing new benefits that are not available elsewhere in the UK, including the carers allowance supplement, I think that the Government demonstrates consistently that we are seeking to provide additional financial support where and when we can.

The Parliament has, just this week, agreed a budget. The financial situation is incredibly challenging and finding additional support is difficult, but, where we are able to secure additional support, such as the £428 million that is committed to uprating across the board, which we are considering today, we are seeking to step up and do that.

I do not think we have time to go through considerations around the Barnett formula. There have been numerous debates on that, and the debate continues. Allocations through the fiscal framework and of course Scotland as a collective, through different taxations, pays a very significant amount of money into the Treasury through its resources, which we should not underestimate.

We provide additional support in Scotland that is not available elsewhere in the UK through child winter heating assistance, for example, which we introduced. Initiatives have been undertaken to provide extra support. We talked about carers allowance supplement in connection with the set of regulations that we just considered. Of course, there are further considerations through future primary legislation when we will be able to consider what we wish to do as a Parliament as we continue to develop Scotland’s social security system. However, when it comes to adult disability payment, the focus has been on the safe and secure delivery of our new payment, adult disability payment, which was introduced nationally from 29 August, and undertaking case transfer safely and securely.

Yes, there is, and we will undertake an evaluation of when would be the best time to pay the winter heating payment.

We all know the significant additional delivery demand that the Scottish Government took on in the week of 14 November, when eligibility for the Scottish child payment increased to the under-16s. We all know what was required in terms of the programming and ensuring the systems were set up, which they were—and very successfully. Everything has worked very well with that payment. That significant additional capacity will not be required of Social Security Scotland in the year ahead. However, we will be reliant on a data scan from the DWP, so we will have to negotiate and agree collectively with the DWP on a date for the data scan for the winter heating payment in the winter ahead. We will discuss that in good faith and collaboratively with the DWP. It will not necessarily be impacted by but will be somewhat contingent on the demands that the DWP is wrestling with at that time. Of course, I encourage all members to emphasise to the DWP the priority that MSPs place on good engagement between the DWP and Social Security Scotland, because it is important for all people in Scotland.

Absolutely, it has an effect across different policy areas. I think the argument for more borrowing powers for the Scottish Government becomes stronger all the time. The current fiscal framework arrangements clearly constrain the extent to which we can respond to the cost of living crisis and any other crisis, because we need to operate within that largely fixed budget. Our ability to target funds to respond to any emerging crisis is therefore limited to reprioritising, as I emphasised to Pam Duncan-Glancy, from within an existing budget and that is a significant limitation. That is the reality on which we will rightly be pressing UK ministers and the UK Government as part of the upcoming renegotiation of the fiscal framework.

The current arrangements—constrained borrowing and reserved powers—limit the Scottish Government’s abilities and we are dependent on decisions made by the UK Government. That was the case during the pandemic. It has been the case during the cost of living crisis and determines whether we are able to pay more. For example, we could pay more for the carers allowance additional supplement in 2021 because the additional resource was available. Additional flexibilities would allow the Scottish Government to mobilise and deploy funding most effectively and efficiently to support our citizens.

The fiscal framework review must ensure that the Scottish Government and Parliament have the necessary fiscal flexibility to manage the risks that we face within our devolved responsibilities and to support economic recovery, as well as households who need it. In doing so, the review must ensure that the Government has the necessary levers to manage the budget effectively and to respond to pressures and risks. Social security is part of those considerations—

Unless you want me to, I will not repeat what I laid out to Pam Duncan-Glancy but will emphasise that the Scottish Government and our analysts annually review the inflation metrics that could be used to uprate benefits.

I will emphasise what we are doing for low-income households. I talked about the £442 million that we have allocated in our largely fixed budget for the Scottish child payment. As I emphasised in my answer to Mr Dornan, now that the Scottish child payment is paid at £25 per week per child, our five family payments could be worth around £10,000 by the time a child turns six, compared to around £1,800 for eligible families in England and Wales and over £20,000 by the time the child turns 16. That is a significant investment in helping low-income households, which is the right thing to do. That is why we are doing it, and we are determined to provide that support and be proactive about it.

For subsequent children, those payments are worth £9,700 by the time a child turns six, compared to around £1,300 in England and Wales. Of course, we would like people in England and Wales to get similar support, but we do not have determination over that. In Scotland, however, that is the extra support that we are providing to low-income households.

Thank you, convener, and good morning, colleagues. I welcome this opportunity to assist the committee in its consideration of the draft Social Security (Up-rating) Order 2023 and the draft Social Security (Up-rating) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2023.

The draft Social Security (Up-rating) Order 2023 provides for the uprating of benefits administered in Scotland by the Department for Work and Pensions, while the draft Social Security (Up-rating) (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 provide for the uprating of devolved benefits administered by the Scottish Government. The laid instruments provide a 10.1 per cent increase in support covering all devolved benefits, excluding the Scottish child payment, for which uprating was included in the 25 per cent in-year increase. That means that we are uprating all those benefits where there is a statutory requirement for us to do so and have additionally chosen to uprate those for which there is no statutory requirement for ministers to do so.

As the committee is aware, we took the decision to increase the Scottish child payment from £20 to £25 per week in November 2022, which was a 25 per cent increase. Now that eligibility has been extended to under-16-year-olds, that will benefit more than 300,000 children across Scotland in the financial year 2023-24. The Scottish Government estimates that the payment could reduce the relative child poverty rates in Scotland by 5 percentage points in 2023-24, lifting around 50,000 children out of relative poverty.

We have taken the decisions on uprating in recognition of the difficulties facing people in Scotland during the on-going cost of living crisis, which has seen inflation rates reach a 40-year high over recent months. Subject to parliamentary approval, the new rates in the regulations before us will come into force in April 2023. I thank the committee for its scrutiny and consideration of the uprating instruments and urge colleagues to welcome and support them.

That is certainly an important issue, although a question not directly related to the instruments before us. Of course, the carers allowance supplement will be uprated through the instruments by 10.1 per cent overall, in line with other benefits.

The question around doubling the carers allowance supplement in the next financial year and considerations once we get to that juncture in the next period—sorry, Pam Duncan-Glancy, I thought that you were talking about the additional carers allowance supplement, so please excuse me. Of course, there is relevancy and I apologise for that misspeaking.

I know that the member is interested in this area. It is important to consider how we go forward from the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. How is the Scottish Government most effectively equipped to respond to issues that require additional financial support for people and to situations in which it needs extra capacity in its financial armoury to help people? That is more specifically a consideration for the finance committee and finance ministers, but it has an impact across—