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The Prior Information Notice (PIN) published on 3 April alerted interested parties to the Scottish Government's intention to establish an Advocacy Service for the Scottish Social Security system. Alongside the PIN, the Scottish Government published a "Request For Information" (RFI). The RFI sought information from the advocacy sector around contract options, capacity and outcomes to enable the SG to develop a suitable procurement strategy. Services were able to ask for further information and seek clarity while the RFI was open.

Officials have also been working with advocacy and other third sector organisations around the development of the advocacy service standards required by the Act. At meetings with these organisations, officials outlined the procurement options being considered.

Ten third sector organisations responded to the prior information notice/request for information. The number of bodies requesting information cannot be given as the Public Contracts Scotland portal anonymises questions.

Reporting and operating arrangements would be agreed with the contractor or contractors as part of any procurement process.

The £10 million capital funding in the 2019-20 Social Security Directorate budget is allocated to the development of IT systems.

The Scottish Government will ensure that all assessors are suitably qualified to carry out their role, with a proportion of assessors specifically trained in the impact of mental health conditions. Specialist Advisors will also be available to provide information and advice to Case Managers on matters which require specific input, including in relation to mental health. Our approach to assessments is explained in the consultation which can be found through the following link:  https://consult.gov.scot/social-security/improving-disability-assistance/ .

The Scottish Government notes the publication of the National Audit Office report ‘Investigation into overpayments of Carer’s Allowance’ and the Department for Work and Pension’s (DWP) actions to address the issues it identifies.

In September 2018 I wrote to the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to make clear that in any debt recovery action, individual circumstances should be taken into account. Following publication of the National Audit Office report, I have again written to the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to reiterate that individual circumstances should be taken into account when recovering overpayments and measures should be taken to ensure that individuals are not disadvantaged or placed into hardship as a result of overpayment recovery.

At 24 April 2019, 123 responses had been received on the Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland.

The Consultation is due to close on 28 May 2019.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22237 on 28 March 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.

Projected Staffing Requirements - Social Security Scotland

The figures in the following table are the projected Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff numbers for Social Security Scotland for each quarter of financial year 2019-20. These figures are based on currently available staffing forecasts and process development information and may be subject to revision and remodelling as benefit requirements become fully scoped and rollout draws near.

a. The payments to be made by the Social Security Directorate to the DWP for implementation costs are currently subject to ongoing negotiations between the two organisations; and must complete the rigorous scrutiny process to ensure fairness to the tax payer and provide assurance that the costs offer good value for money. Therefore, we are unable to set out indicative payments to be made by the Social Security Directorate to the DWP for 2019-20 at this time.

b. Please see the following table setting out indicative running cost payments to be made by Social Security Scotland to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for 2019-20.

Payments for Running costs (indicative only) to DWP from Social Security Scotland 2019-20