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Access by Social Security Scotland staff to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Central Payments System (CPS) will be via backend API (application programming interface) calls which take place ‘system to system’ as opposed to a member of staff accessing the CPS system directly on screen. Therefore, Social Security Scotland staff would not require any accessibility programs they use to be compatible with DWP’s Central Payments System in itself.

Scottish Government is currently working with the UK Government to define the interactions for different household types, and what the net effect of the two policies will be before agreeing what further action, if any, needs to be taken.

The Scottish Government does not have access to the data required to provide robust estimates and has asked the UK Government to share its data. The majority of current UC claimant households will not be affected by the interaction at all because they will not include any individuals who pay income tax. The size of the portion who are affected will depend on the pattern of UC rollout and migration.

The latest Department for Work and Pensions statistics indicate there are 65,000 Scottish households in receipt of Universal Credit as of December 2017. Based on the latest forecast data shared with us by DWP, we estimate that there would be around 150,000 Scottish households in receipt of Universal Credit by the end of the 2018-19 tax year but very few of these will include individuals who pay income tax. Some households will receive more UC as a result of paying more income tax. It is not yet possible to determine whether this will result in a net gain (or a net loss) for the UK or Scottish Governments.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-15427 on 18 April 2018, the Scottish Government does not currently have access to the data required to estimate the overall impact of income tax changes on Universal Credit expenditure in Scotland.

Some households will receive more UC as a result of paying more income tax. It is not yet possible to determine whether this will result in a net gain (or a net loss) for the UK or Scottish Governments.

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

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-15424 on 18 April 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 , and the answer to S5O-01937 on 28 March 2018 which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=11450&i=104015&c=2079481#ScotParlOR .

The Scottish and UK Governments are considering this issue in relation to the no detriment provisions of the Fiscal Framework.

Paragraphs 89 and 90 relate specifically to welfare benefits introduced by the Scottish Government. These provisions do not apply for the purposes of Scottish income tax policy.

Some households will receive more UC as a result of paying more income tax. It is not yet possible to determine whether this will result in a net gain (or a net loss) for the UK or Scottish Governments.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-15424 on 18 April 2018. The Scottish Government is working with the UK Government to understand the impact on households across the income distribution of the combined income tax and UC policies before deciding what action, if any, is taken. UC computations are carried out by DWP and the power to change these is reserved to the UK Government.

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 Client Financial Gain figure is based on awards to 66 individuals.

The Client Financial Gain figure is based on confirmed awards for individuals who engaged with a Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB), either in person or by phone, and who referenced campaign activity as the reason for their initial engagement.

The figure is only completely confirmed awards and is not based on any extrapolation. That is because CAB advisers only record a gain once the client has confirmed the award directly with them. The actual figure therefore is likely to be more as it does not include awards to people who engaged with a Citizens Advice Bureau due to the campaign but didn't go back to CAB to confirm an award was successful. It is also expected to increase as CAB advise that it can take many weeks or even months to go through the process following a CAB intervention, and they only record a gain once the client has confirmed the award.

We do not intend to publish the figures used to calculate the Client Financial Gain figure. This was calculated by our partners at Citizen Advice Bureaux and provided to the Scottish Government for the purposes of this evaluation.

The figures used to calculate the Client Financial Gain are calculated relevant to the length of the award. In some cases these are one-off payments. When awards are for on-going benefits these have been calculated up to a maximum of 52 weeks.

The Client Financial Gain figure is based on confirmed awards for individuals who engaged with a Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB), either in person or by phone, and who referenced campaign activity as the reason for their initial engagement.

The figure is only completely confirmed awards and is not based on any extrapolation. That is because CAB advisers only record a gain once the client has confirmed the award direct with them.

The actual figure therefore is likely to be more as it does not include awards to people who engaged with the Citizens Advice Service due to the campaign but didn't go back to the service to confirm an award was successful. It is also expected to increase as CAB advise that it can take many weeks or even months to go through the process following a CAB intervention, and they only record a gain once the client has confirmed the award.