Mentions:
1: Arthur, Tom (SNP - Renfrewshire South) to work stakeholder forum to allow stakeholders to engage directly with the Department for Work and Pensions - Speech Link

Mentions:
1: Hyslop, Fiona (SNP - Linlithgow) to form Skills Development Scotland, way back in 2007, 2008 or 2009 or whenever that was, there are pensions - Speech Link

Mentions:
1: None unique legal powers that we utilise, are in our recent announcement about the Department for Work and Pensions - Speech Link
2: None of times, is our DWP investigation to establish whether successive Secretaries of State for Work and Pensions - Speech Link

Mentions:
1: Somerville, Shirley-Anne (SNP - Dunfermline) When we choose to roll out the carer support payment, the Department for Work and Pensions forces carers - Speech Link

Mentions:
1: Balfour, Jeremy (Con - Lothian) We have a system that, basically, is a carbon copy of the Department for Work and Pensions system in - Speech Link

S6W-27701

Asked by: Lennon, Monica (Scottish Labour - Central Scotland)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding any potential impact on devolved benefits in Scotland of the proposed early release of prisoners, in light of the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs on 16 May 2024.

Answered by Constance, Angela - Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs

Following the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs on 16 May 2024, the Director of Justice in the Scottish Government wrote to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Area Director for Scotland, to make them aware of the Cabinet Secretary’s statement.

The letter committed to keeping the DWP informed regarding plans for emergency release and other measures as they continue to be developed.

The Scottish Government, with the Scottish Prison Service, has established an Operational Delivery Leads Group, to support planning and delivery in relation to emergency release. Representatives from the DWP have been invited to join the group. The group met for the first time on 30 May 2024.

S6W-27632

Asked by: Dunbar, Jackie (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen Donside)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Poppyscotland’s Credit their Service campaign.

Answered by Dey, Graeme - Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans

We welcomed Poppyscotland’s Credit Their Service campaign last summer and acknowledge the two primary areas of concern highlighted in it. The first of these, Pension Credits, is reserved to the UK Government and the Scottish Government is therefore unable to intervene on this issue. However, we are in regular discussions with the UK Government on a range of related topics and have made them aware of the issues raised by Poppyscotland. We understand that officials from The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) met with Royal British Legion, Poppyscotland's sister organisation to discuss this.

The benefits administered by Local Authorities that are referenced by the campaign are Council Tax Support, Discretionary Housing Payment and the Scottish Welfare Fund. The Scottish Government recently published an Action Plan outlining improvements to the Scottish Welfare Fund which will be delivered in partnership with Local Authorities. Officials are working to update the statutory guidance and improve the Fund’s administration, accessibility and experience.

Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) as a Local Authority benefit is administered by Local Authorities, who consider the circumstances of each individual case when dealing with applications. However, to receive DHP, an individual must be in receipt of either the housing element of Universal Credit or Housing Benefit. As both of these remain reserved to the UK Government, neither the Scottish Government nor Local Authorities have any powers over how they are administered.

With regards to Council Tax support, the Council Tax Reduction Regulations already instruct that Armed Forces independence payments should be fully disregarded as income in the calculation of council tax reduction in both the pension age and working age schemes. Therefore, all Local Authorities should disregard these payments as income in relation to applications for Council Tax reduction. The Scottish Government continues to keep the Council Tax Reduction regulations under review.

S6W-27499

Asked by: Sweeney, Paul (Scottish Labour - Glasgow)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to any potential impact on devolved benefits in Scotland, what engagement it has had with the Ministry of Defence, including Veterans UK, regarding reported delays in the award and payment of war pensions for veterans resident in Scotland.

Answered by Dey, Graeme - Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans

The Armed Forces Pension Scheme and benefits including the War Pension Scheme are wholly reserved to the UK Government and are assessed and administered by Veterans UK on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. The Scottish Government is therefore unable to intervene on those matters. Nevertheless, the Scottish Government has previously been made aware of people experiencing issues with their pensions and Scottish Ministers wrote to former Ministers for Defence People and Veterans at the Ministry of Defence in 2021 and 2022 highlighting this. I will raise this again at my next meeting with the UK Minister for Veterans Affairs.

S6W-27633

Asked by: Dunbar, Jackie (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen Donside)

Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to ensure that any armed forces compensation is not included in means testing calculations in relation to Scottish social security benefits.

Answered by Dey, Graeme - Minister for Higher and Further Education; and Minister for Veterans

None of the benefits delivered by Social Security Scotland are directly means tested although some rely on a reserved UK benefit, such as Universal Credit as a qualifying benefit. In practice this means that armed forces compensation generally does not directly affect Scottish Government social security benefits. It may affect Funeral Support Payment. If the compensation payment has been issued to the deceased person it may be treated as funds that can cover or help towards funeral costs. This is to ensure that support goes to those who need it most.

Scottish Government officials do engage with The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on a range of subjects and in October 2023 raised the issue of war pensions being treated as income for pension credit. This engagement was prompted by Poppyscotland’s Credit their Service campaign. DWP made clear they had no plans to change their current policy, and as this is an area reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government is unable to intervene on this issue any further.