Draft Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (Disability Assistance for Children and Young People) (Consequential Modifications) (No. 2) Order 2021

David Rutley Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd November 2021 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (David Rutley)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (Disability Assistance for Children and Young People) (Consequential Modifications) (No.2) Order 2021.

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Dowd.

The draft order we are considering today was laid on 7 September 2021. It is part of the Government’s ongoing commitment to devolution, and I am grateful for the opportunity to debate it.

I will start with some background to the order. It is made under the Scotland Act 1998, which devolved powers to Scotland and legislated for the establishment of a Scottish Parliament. The biggest update to the devolution settlement as far as social security is concerned was the passing of the Scotland Act 2016, which delivered the cross-party Smith commission agreement. As a result of that Act, a wide range of measures and powers, including welfare powers, have now been transferred to the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament.

The order we are considering is a section 104 order, which allows for legislative amendments that are considered necessary or expedient in consequence of an Act of the Scottish Parliament. It makes technical amendments to United Kingdom reserved legislation and Northern Ireland legislation to facilitate the policy aims of an Act of the Scottish Parliament.

In terms of the purpose and effect of the order before us, it amends specific elements of social security legislation in the United Kingdom as a consequence of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. Through the 2018 Act, the Scottish Government are able to introduce new forms of disability assistance using the social security powers devolved under section 22 of the Scotland Act 2016. The Scottish Government introduced their first form of disability assistance for children and young people on 26 July 2021, the child disability payment. That payment operates in broadly the same way as existing reserved benefits, namely the disability living allowance for children, currently provided by the Department for Work and Pensions.

The UK and Scottish Governments’ intention is to ensure that there is equal treatment for child disability payments with similar reserved benefits. As part of their commitment to that benefit, the Scottish Government will continue to pay the child disability payment for a period of 13 weeks after a claimant has left Scotland, if they have moved to another part to the UK.

The Christmas bonus is a one-off tax-free payment of £10 made annually before Christmas to customers who get certain qualifying benefits in a certain qualifying week. Disability living allowance for children is one such qualifying benefit. The UK Government have agreed that as the child disability payment will operate as broadly equivalent to the disability living allowance, which it replaces, the child disability payment should also act as a qualifying benefit for the Christmas bonus. As such, the child disability payment will need to be listed in the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, alongside the DWP’s benefits for the purposes of determining entitlement to the Christmas bonus.

The order also makes amendments in relation to carer’s allowance and carer’s credit. Carer’s allowance has been fully devolved since September 2018. I should be clear that changes to carer’s allowance legislation to take account of the Scottish replacement qualifying benefits in and as regards Scotland need to be made by Scottish Ministers and have been included in the Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021. However, there is a small possibility that once cases are transferred to Scotland—DWP are only dealing with carers in England and Wales—a carer could be living in England and Wales but the person needing that care live over the border in Scotland. The order before us will allow reserved carer’s allowance to be paid for someone caring for a person in receipt of child disability payment in those very rare circumstances.

Class 3 national insurance carer’s credit, which protects individual state pensions, can be awarded on application to people if they are looking after one or more people for at least 20 hours a week and the person being cared for is getting disability living allowance for children. We are also therefore amending UK legislation for England, Wales and Scotland to ensure that child disability payment can be treated as a qualifying benefit for entitlement to carer’s credit. Corresponding provisions for entitlement to carer’s allowance and carer’s credit have also been included for Northern Ireland to ensure that child disability payment is treated as a qualifying benefit during the 13-week run-on period only. Although social security in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter, what has become known as the “parity principle” contained in sections 87 and 88 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 provides for a single system of social security. Carer’s allowance and carer’s credit are therefore maintained in line with DWP in Great Britain, as part of the ongoing provision for a single social security system.

The order is a sensible and pragmatic step on the part of the UK Government in their commitment to make devolution work. It reflects the continued strong co-operation between Scottish and UK Governments. I therefore commend the order to the Committee.

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[David Rutley]

I thank the hon. Member for Edinburgh South for his comments, and for turning up. As he said, it is sad that we do not have any SNP Members in attendance. However, I can confirm to the Committee that the UK Government and Scottish Government are working well together, so perhaps no SNP Members are here because they are happy with the way things are progressing. I very much hope so.

The hon. Gentleman asked about the cost of setting up a new social security agency in Scotland. I think that is for the Scottish Government to answer, but I will certainly find a way to give him a more detailed answer myself. He also asked about the time it has taken the Scottish Government to implement the changes. We are working very closely with them, and obviously we want to make sure that the arrangements are right for the claimants. Ultimately, the Scottish Government need to help set the pace and we are working carefully with them on that.

The hon. Gentleman asked about the impact on universal credit, and I can confirm that the child disability payment will be disregarded in the calculation of that credit. It will be paid on top of any universal credit payment. Of course, I am sure he shares my delight and that of my hon. Friends in the Chancellor’s great work to increase the taper rate and increase the work allowance, which will help substantial numbers of low-income working families in the UK. The introduction of the household support fund will also help many others.

My hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley asked whether the 13-week period will provide enough time to process a new claim for DLA in England and Wales, and I believe that it does. I hope that reassures him.

The order is a sensible and pragmatic step forward on the part of the UK Government in their commitment to make devolution work. On that basis, I commend it to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.