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While there is no legal impediment to automatic social security payments, in introducing the Scottish Child Payment the Scottish Government prioritised the delivery route which would deliver the benefit to the quickest timescales and with the least impact on the remaining devolved benefits.

As set out in the Scottish Child Payment position paper ( https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-position-paper-scottish-child-payment ), an automated model was rejected for a number of reasons, including the technical complexity of designing it, the resulting risks to delivery of the other devolved benefits, and the ongoing uncertainty around delays to Universal Credit migration.

The Scottish Government recognises the value of automating payments. However, in light of the considerations made during our analysis of options, detailed in the position paper, we settled on the approach of adopting an application based process which offers a more timely and efficient model for delivery.

Nearly half a million households were receiving some level of Council Tax Reduction (CTR) in June 2019, and on average recipients saved over £700 per year. 58% of CTR recipients live in one of the 30% most deprived areas in Scotland. At the end of this financial year the Scottish Government will have provided over £1.7 billion in funding for the scheme since it began.

Entitlement to CTR is determined by household circumstances and ability to pay, but also depends on the household’s Council Tax liability which in turn depends not just on the band a property is in and the council tax rate set by the local authority, but also whether any discounts or other reductions apply.

We have promoted take-up of the CTR scheme, and continue to do so, as part of the Money Talk Team service, which is delivered by the Citizens Advice Network in Scotland and supported by the Scottish Government.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-25155 on 18 September 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

As set out in the policy position paper, by the end of 2022 the Scottish Child Payment will be paid to all eligible children under the age of 16.

In the first full year of payments to under 6’s (2021-22) policy costs are expected to be around £70 million, rising to £180 million in the first full year of full roll-out to under 16’s (2023-24). The total establishment cost of the new payment to the end of this parliament, including implementation and administration, is estimated to be in the region of £32.5 million (across 2019-20 and 2020-21).

The information provided on pages 2 to 5 of the policy position paper demonstrates how the options examined in the Analysis of Options report informed our policy choices. As set out in the policy position paper, ‘having taken into consideration both the policy modelling and analysis, the delivery and timing implications and the impact on the existing Social Security Programme, we concluded that a refined version of Option 2, as set out in the analysis report, is one that balances the risks against the benefits.’

The detail of our chosen policy approach and the associated costs are set out in the policy position paper. The option we are taking forward most closely corresponds to Option 2(b) in the Analysis of Options.

Information about the number of applications received, and authorised as eligible for payment, for Best Start Grant by payment type up to the end of June 2019 is available at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/SocialSecurityforScotland/BSGJune2019 .

Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts are for financial years. It produced a supplementary policy costing for Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment in September 2018 in which it forecasted 4,000 payments in 2018-19, based on a 1 December 2018 launch. The Scottish Fiscal Commission “Social Security – Best Start Grant (Pregnancy and Baby Grant) – September 2018” policy costing is available at: http://www.fiscalcommission.scot/publications/supplementary-costings/social-security-best-start-grant-pregnancy-and-baby-grant-september-2018/ . In comparison, Social Security Scotland received 19,465 applications for Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payment in 2018-19. Of those, 11,505 had been authorised as eligible for payment by 31 March 2019.

The number of staff and grades required to support the delivery of Scottish Child Payment will depend upon an assessment of the impact of delivery of Scottish Child Payment, including staff resources. We will provide an update once the assessment has been completed.

The Scottish Government has given a commitment to uprate the Scottish Child Payment with inflation to ensure that its value always keeps up with rising prices, and provisions will be made for this in regulations.

On 2 September, we published a Policy Paper and Analytical Report, on the uprating measures that could be used to uprate devolved social security assistance. This can be found on the Scottish Parliament’s website: https://www.parliament.scot/S5_Social_Security/General%20Documents
/20190902_CabSecSSOP_to_Convener_uprating_measures.pdf .

The Social Security Committee and the Scottish Commission on Social Security have been asked to provide their views on the Scottish Government’s proposals for uprating by end October 2019.

These views will inform the decision on the uprating measure to be applied, in time for the Scottish Budget and prior to the laying of the legislation in the Scottish Parliament in January 2020.

The initial rate of the Scottish Child Payment, when the first payments are made in 2020-21, will be £10 per week, per eligible child. Its rate in future years will be informed by the approach we take to the uprating of the devolved benefits which we are currently consulting on, prior to the laying of the legislation in the Scottish Parliament in January 2020.

When it is fully rolled out, the rate of the Scottish Child Payment will be the same for all eligible children, in each age group.

As set out in the Scottish Child Payment policy position paper, once fully rolled out (by the end of 2022) eligibility for the Scottish Child Payment will be on the basis of children aged under the age of 16.