Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the process for the Scottish Government to exercise their power to top up reserved benefits; and whether he has had discussions with the Scottish Government on the potential merits of expediting that process.
The Scottish Government is accountable for exercising its power to top up reserved benefits. Section 24 of the Scotland Act 2016 enables the Scottish Government to introduce discretionary top‐up payments to people in Scotland who are entitled to a reserved benefit.
The Scotland Office, DWP and the Scottish Government have dedicated work programmes to implement the relevant changes following the devolution of welfare powers introduced by the Scotland Act 2016. As my ministerial colleague the Minister for Pensions has previously set out, we work closely together and officials hold regular discussions. In addition, discussions are held at ministerial level through the regular Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare and bilateral meetings between the relevant Scotland Office, DWP and Scottish Government ministers take place as required.