Seòmar agus comataidhean

I refer the member to the answers to questions S5W-14564 on 6 March 2018 and S5W-14565 on 8 March 2018. 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

Regulations under section 11 of the Social Security (Scotland) Bill will be brought forward following the passage of Bill. These will make provision for a number of forms of assistance to be provided to carers, including assistance to replace Carer’s Allowance and to introduce the Young Carer Grant.

Carer’s Allowance Supplement is a temporary measure until the Scottish social security agency takes on full responsibility for paying assistance to carers as provided for by the Bill. At this point, carers in Scotland will receive support at a higher rate, removing the need for the additional payment provided through the Carer’s Allowance Supplement.

We will announce further implementation dates in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14350 on 27 February 2018. 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 . The Scottish Government does not intend to publish a policy paper on the ‘once-for-Scotland’ approach at this time.

Although the Council Tax Reduction Scheme is not a benefit, the entitlement criteria broadly replicate those for Council Tax Benefit prior to its abolition. This contributes to the fulfilment of the policy objective of ensuring nobody is worse off as a consequence of the UK Government's abolition of Council Tax Benefit in 2013.

Regulation 7 of the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018 has the effect of reverting the Scheme to the original provisions of regulation 85(8)(b) and (c) of SSI 303 of 2012. This is because there is evidence that difficulties associated with the Department for Work and Pensions’ roll out of Universal Credit full service result in some applicants for a Council Tax Reduction potentially having good cause for an application to be backdated by 6 months.

Universal Credit is not available to people in receipt of Pension Credit, therefore the equivalent difficulties are not manifest for such cases and there is no evidence to suggest a change is required to the backdating provisions of the Council Tax Reduction (State Pension Credit) (Scotland) Regulations.

The Scottish Government will continue to proactively amend the Council Tax Reduction scheme where evidence indicates any element of its impact or operation is unsatisfactory.

Local authorities promoted the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, including the extension to the Scheme, when council tax bills issued last year. In addition the Scottish Government ran a nationwide campaign in October 2017 to encourage older people to contact Citizens Advice Scotland and take up benefits and reductions to help maximise their income. We are exploring possible further work to promote the Council Tax Reduction Scheme in the future.

The Scottish Government ran a nationwide campaign in October 2017 to encourage older people to contact Citizens Advice Scotland and to take up benefits and reductions to help maximise their income. Further to that the Scottish Government commissioned Citizens Advice Scotland to run a pilot Financial Health Check service in November 2017, which gave advice to older people on a range of benefits and reductions, including the Council Tax Reduction Scheme. We are currently considering the next stage of work on the Financial Health Checks for older people.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14939 on 12 March 2018. 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 .

No subcontractors have ended their involvement in the Fair Start Scotland Programme. Both the Tayside and West Lots have seen changes to the mix of subcontractors, however these same subcontractors retain an interest in other Lots.