Recommendation 146

The Minister for Welfare Delivery responded to this by telling us that the Scottish Government had announced their intention to roll out the further option of split payments for Universal Credit claimants in Scotland but had ‘no clear intention or basis on how it could be delivered or operationalised.’364 He went on to say that whilst this was possible, as split payments are available on a ‘manual basis on request’365 at present, making it available ‘as part of any automated process is far more complex.’366 The Minister for Welfare Delivery did make it clear that the Department was working to make this policy a reality despite the difficulties that he raised. He said the UK Government ‘stand ready to support the Scottish Government to implement that policy, but my understanding is that we are yet to find a way in which it could be operationalised at scale.’367