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The carers allowance supplement was the first benefit to be introduced following passage of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. Throughout the process of its introduction and our experience of the past years—particularly with the additional payment in June 2020 and the additional payment that is forthcoming in December this year—we have undertaken proactively to promote it, through central communications in the Government and the agency and, particularly, through engagement with carers organisations. We have encouraged them to raise awareness of, and encourage application to, the benefit within their networks so that people can receive the additional amounts. That is an on-going exercise that we undertake with the relevant stakeholders.

The passage of the bill helped bring attention to that issue organically, just by virtue of the fact that it was the first non-emergency bill that we passed in that parliamentary session. Awareness was raised significantly through that process. That work continues.

The point about accessibility is extremely important; I will bring in Kirsten Sweeney to talk about how accessibility of Social Security Scotland’s communications and application processes is fundamental to the design of the information technology infrastructure, the forms that are created and the language that is used. We want to produce materials that are as inclusive as possible and are available in various languages, as required, in Braille and in other ways. We are, quite rightly, creating materials that are accessible.

One of the key factors in the creation of Social Security Scotland is that we want people to be able to access the service in a way that is right for them. That theme ran through the discussions on the bill and has, rightly, been an aspect that we have considered strongly in our consideration of the application process for clients and during the journey of creating benefits and the service itself. For example, for people who access the service online, our interface needs to be as accessible, clear and user friendly as possible. Social Security Scotland’s IT teams are very focused on and are delivering that.

However, we also want people to be able to pick up the phone, have a video call or meet an adviser in person to help them with forms, if one of those is their preferred method of applying to, accessing, engaging with or communicating with the service.

We are providing all that, which is why the local delivery teams that are about to be initiated countrywide are so important. They are already in place in the three areas that are piloting the child disability payment. The extra contribution, commitment and resource to ensure that people access the service and the benefits in the way that is right for them lie at the heart of what we are providing. The local delivery teams are really important, which is why I am so enthusiastic and passionate about them. They will make a difference to people who are not confident about going online, who might not be digitally literate or who need support to fill out their forms.

I will bring in Ruari Sutherland shortly, but I will say a bit about that first. One of the challenges that we face collectively is that it is not possible to be 100 per cent accurate in estimating take-up of disability and carers benefits using existing household data such as the family resources survey. Using existing survey data to calculate the eligible population for disability benefits would, unfortunately, result in an inaccurate estimate of take-up due to a number of factors. The survey does not capture certain aspects.

For example, the assessment of eligibility for disability benefits is required to look at all needs and day-to-day limitations, and there is an element of discretion in how the assessments for disability benefits are undertaken and in benefit award decisions. As a result, those who are determined to be eligible through the surveys might not match those who are determined to be eligible through the assessments. Therefore, there are challenges with the data. Disability is self-reported in the surveys, which means that they are not an objective measure for the eligible population, although I appreciate that that is partly why you asked the question.

On the engagement work to ensure that we are doing what we can, I will let Ruari talk about the stakeholder engagement that has taken place, because officials have led on that. Reflecting back and looking forward, there are strong commitments in the strategy to ensure that we are doing what is required and what we can to reach out to those hard-to-reach groups and those who are more vulnerable in order to inform them and to encourage and support benefit uptake as much as possible.

That question is slightly off topic, but I am happy to answer as well as I can at this juncture.

The commitment to the review of ADP in 2023 was made by the previous cabinet secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville—I refer Jeremy Balfour to the comments that she made at that time. The Scottish Government is actively considering what the review will include and how it will be undertaken, and we will, of course, update Parliament on that, via the committee, in due course.

As the previous cabinet secretary stipulated, the review will look at how ADP has performed at that juncture, but changes will also be considered, and the recommendations that are received as part of the review will be evaluated. Consideration of what the relationship will be with passported benefits will have to be undertaken, so discussion will be required with the United Kingdom Government. As I have alluded to previously, the UK Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, Chloe Smith, and I have already corresponded somewhat on passported benefits. I look forward to discussing that constructively in due course.

There will also have to be active consideration of the conclusion of case transfers. Jeremy Balfour will know that, as the Government undertakes both pieces of work—starting the new benefits and opening them for applications, and undertaking case transfers—we have to consider how they will work in tandem. At the moment, we have to consider how the eligibility criteria correspond to both, so that there is equity in that regard and because of passporting considerations.

I am afraid that that is all that I can say about the ADP review at this juncture, but I am happy to confirm and emphasise that it has always been our intention to update the committee on that in due course.

As I alluded to in my opening remarks, the five principles have been developed through our extensive engagement with stakeholders and people with experience of the social security system. They build on the themes of the previous take-up strategy, which were: removing social barriers to access; addressing costly and complex access; and improving access to information. In addition, the five principles were considered and decided on because of consultation with the stakeholder take-up reference group and the learning that was gained through the projects that were funded through the benefit take-up and income maximisation funds. Building on all that experience, insight and feedback, we decided on those five principles.

I thank Mr Choudhury for that question. However, that is not an area of responsibility for me, as social security minister; it is a question for the Minister for Public Health, Women’s Health and Sport. Perhaps the convener and committee could note that and engage with the minister. I think that that would be more appropriate; I would not want to answer on behalf of another minister.

On the point about an individual having only one interaction with a service, with a proactive process, either digitally or otherwise, that then enables them to engage with other support, that already happens to a large extent, but there is improvement to be undertaken. I am talking about the public service as a whole, where refinement and efficacy could be improved to a greater extent. The Government as a whole is focused on that question and I am sure that we will come back to it collectively, as a Parliament, in the period ahead. Again, the Covid recovery strategy touches on some of those issues.

Another way of thinking about it is that there should be no wrong door—that is a phrase that I have used previously. If somebody goes to a GP practice and asks about social security, they should be able to get some assistance. That is exactly why we are providing 150 advisers in GP practices: to build on that concept and capacity. It is about not only co-ordination between public services, but the development of our digital capacity in the public sector; those two things are interrelated.

How do we ensure that referrals are made with proper and appropriate consideration of data protection and all the other aspects that services rightly have to consider? How do we put in place the infrastructure as well as the co-ordination to provide people with the greatest level of support that is available to them, so that they do not have to go to different places, either physically, digitally or otherwise?

We are starting from a good position on that, but there is more work to do across Government and local government, and with stakeholders. That is a really important thematic area of attention in the period ahead, as we recover from the pandemic.

You asked about the situation with monitoring. I refer to my earlier comments, in which I touched on the most important themes. We will continue to engage through the stakeholder take-up reference group and other entities that are already in place to make sure that we are monitoring progress as much as we can, within the data constraints that we touched on earlier. Does that answer your point?

I would like to take that away—unless Jennifer Sinclair wishes to add anything.

The point about the primary legislation that was passed before the recess is almost a separate area of consideration, although I note and appreciate the accelerated timescale that we all engaged in to ensure that there was an additional December payment of the Scottish carers allowance supplement.

However, in regard to regulations more generally, looking back, we can see that the pandemic has had an effect on the delivery timetable. We are now in the process of working towards the important delivery timeframes for both CDP and ADP. The amendments to the regulations that we are considering are about improving the regulations following the experience of the pilot and consideration by the Government and Social Security Scotland on how to do the right thing and make improvements in advance of the national roll-out on 22 November 2021.

It is a fast-moving situation, because we are all determined to deliver social security benefits in Scotland and deliver them well. I would be happy to take that point away if you think that it would be helpful for us to set out any further information on the timetable.

Good morning. The regulations are required to support the introduction of child disability payment. For context, we started taking applications for child disability payment on 26 July, as part of a pilot. Child disability payment is the first regularly recurring disability benefit to be delivered by Social Security Scotland, and it will make a significant contribution to the lives of disabled children and young people in Scotland, their families and their carers. Feedback on the pilot has been positive so far. Its systems and processes are working well, and we remain on track to roll out child disability payment nationally from 22 November 2021.

Moreover, as I set out in my recent letter to the committee, 11 October marked the beginning of our ambitious case transfer process. The first disability living allowance for children awards have now been selected for transfer to child disability payment. Those individuals will continue to get the right payment at the right time, and they will not have to apply or be reassessed as part of the transfer process.

In relation to the regulations, the amendments that we are proposing are largely technical in nature. The amendments were identified as necessary after the principal regulations were passed. There is significant complexity in the principal regulations, in the case transfer process and in the interactions with the reserved system. The changes that we are seeking to make will reflect that, leading up to the national delivery of the benefit, we are continuously learning lessons and identifying areas in which we can improve arrangements.

The amendments will allow for young people to remain on CDP after the age of 18 in specific circumstances. They will clarify the period in which Social Security Scotland has to complete a redetermination, and they will extend the number of scenarios in which short-term assistance is payable. The changes will introduce further flexibility, bring more fairness to decision making and help to improve outcomes for disabled children and young people.

The amendments will enable child disability payment awards for case transfer clients to be backdated when one or more of the exceptions that are set out in the regulations are met. The exceptions relate to situations in which child disability payment awards resulting from the transfer process can be higher than the disability living allowance for children awards that they replace, due to differences in eligibility rules between the two benefits.

The backdating provisions ensure that those whose awards are selected later in the transfer process are not disadvantaged compared with those whose awards were chosen earlier, when one of the exceptions applies. Those rules were not included in the principal provisions because discussions with the Department for Work and Pensions on the effects of backdating on reserved systems were on-going at that point.

Although we expect the exceptions to apply to only a very small number of individuals, if any, it is important that no one whose award is transferred is worse off than they would have been had they made a new application. Consistency is important.

Before I conclude, I emphasise that I remain extremely grateful to Dr Sally Witcher and the Scottish Commission on Social Security for its scrutiny of the regulations and for its general work, leadership and scrutiny. However, I note that the case transfer provisions fall outwith its remit; that is an important point.

I welcome the opportunity to assist the committee in its consideration of the regulations and I look forward to any questions that members may have.