Recommendation 39

The most pressing data sharing issue between the two governments relates to the planned rollout of the Scottish Child Payment to children aged six to 16, a policy priority for the Scottish Government. Currently the Scottish Government offers £10 a week to eligible families for each child under the age of six to help support household costs. The Cabinet Secretary used the example of rolling out the Scottish Child Payment for older children as a case where the process of data sharing faces administrative hurdles. She said the Scottish Government asked the DWP for the necessary data in the ‘summer of 92 Q134 93 Scottish Government (WPS0013) 94 Scottish Government (WPS0013) 95 Q158 96 UK Government, Memorandum of understanding: social security and employment support services in Scotland, accessed 7 May 2021 97 Q158 98 Q156 99 Q156 22 Welfare policy in Scotland 2019’.100 Catherine Reeves of the Social Security Programme Management Office, Scottish Government, told us that during discussions with the DWP over this data there was a ‘change in attitude from DWP about exactly what data it wants to share’101 with the result being that the DWP wanted to give the Scottish Government ‘less data than we need to be able to extend the payment to those children from six to 16.’102 The Cabinet Secretary highlighted that the Scottish Government ‘cannot deliver the Scottish Child Payment for six to 16 year-olds without data from the DWP’103 and this policy was ‘critical to how we deal with child poverty in Scotland.’104 UK Government perspective on data sharing