Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 133
Second Report - Welfare policy in Scotland
Published 23 Jun 2021
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Welfare policy in Scotland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We heard in our inquiry that Universal Credit Scottish Choices is a positive feature for people who claim it in Scotland. Neil Cowan from The Poverty Alliance highlighted that ‘anything that makes Universal Credit more responsive to people’s needs and gives people greater choice over how they are supported is a positive thing and should be welcomed.’327 Nina Ballantyne of Citizens Advice Scotland noted the demand for the Scottish Choices options, adding that 37% of people offered the more frequent payment option took it.328 Engender, a feminist policy and advocacy organisation, outlined how the choices ‘offer additional flexibility and are better able to meet individual need.’329
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, Second Report - Welfare policy in Scotland (HC 55), 23 June 2021
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 19 November 2021 (deadline 23 August 2021).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The UK Government "notes the Committee's recommendations" and responds to each in turn, accepting little of the report's welfare-policy proposals and referring several to the Scottish Government.
- On the £20 uplift and legacy benefits, it states "There was never any plan to extend the uplift to legacy benefits."
- On work allowances, it states it "has no plans to extend the work allowance to single adults".
- On Help to Claim funding, it "considers the existing resource to be sufficient", and says DWP agreed to fund Citizens Advice Scotland for another year, "up to 31 March 2022".
- On data sharing and Recommendations 2, 7 and 8, it says each data request "must be examined" by DWP as Data Controller, and treats several recommendations as "for the Scottish Government".