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I am always brief, convener. We have a power to create new benefits. Was that looked at as a way to introduce what you wanted to do—simply via a new benefit?

You said that a lot of progress has been made, and you mentioned two payments. What other progress would you say has been made in the past couple of years?

Just finally from me—you will be glad to hear that, minister—if such support is to be introduced, will it require regulations or could it be done within your existing powers?

That is very helpful. I will just ask for clarification on one point. If the proposal is possible and the negotiations with the DWP go well, would the payment be delivered by the DWP or by Social Security Scotland?

Thank you.

Good morning to you, cabinet secretary and minister, and to all your team. It is good to have you before the committee today.

I address my first question to Mr Dey. When will the Scottish Government deliver its lifelong learning offer, and how will it ensure that lifelong learning is accessible to lower-income parents in particular?

One of the commitments made in the Scottish National Party’s manifesto at the last election was to introduce a special support payment so that students who are in receipt of benefits do not lose out because they are in receipt of or entitled to student support. When will that manifesto commitment be delivered?

I will push you a wee bit on that, minister. It is a bit vague for people who are listening to hear you say, “We are working on it”. I am sure that that response could be used for lots of policies. Have you any indication of when that manifesto commitment will be delivered?

I am a bit confused by your answer. Why would that require Westminster legislation? Why could we not just pass legislation here in the Scottish Parliament to introduce a new benefit, which would supplement the income that you want to pass on to people? I am not sure why that would need Westminster approval.

Cabinet secretary, I take you back to the first question that my colleague asked about the information that we have. We all want information so that we can assess how the process is going.

One disappointment was the letter that we received over the summer from David Wallace, the chief executive of Social Security Scotland, who told us that the organisation is not monitoring at all the time from when someone puts in an application for a new benefit to when the application is processed. Is that an issue with how the system was designed by the Scottish Government or with Social Security Scotland not using the system properly? Are you concerned about that? If so, what are you doing about it?