 We are now moving on to the questions communities and local government first question. Alexander Stewart, please. Alexander Stewart, to ask the Scottish Government what impact the Scottish budget had on local authorities. Cabinet Secretary, Elaine Campbell, the 2019-20 local government finance settlement provides an increase in revenue funding of £298.5 million and capital spending of £207.8 million taken together with the actual increases in council tax, the overall additional funding available in 2020 will amount to more than £600 million, a real-terms increase of 3.8 per cent. Local authorities are empowered to make and take decisions to utilise the significant package of funding to ensure that they deliver positive outcomes that the people in their local communities and across Scotland expect and deserve. Alexander Stewart. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Figures produced by Spice revealed that there was a nationwide 3.1 per cent reduction in real terms, which translated to, in excess of £300 million in cuts, which meant that every single local authority in Scotland had to radically reduce services. Can I ask the cabinet secretary when will the Scottish Government recognise the needs of local councils and support them accordingly to ensure that they have adequate resources to support the communities in which they serve? I just want to remind Mr Stewart about the answer that I gave him, which said that, overall, we will be giving a real-terms increase of 3.8 per cent. I also gently remind Mr Stewart that, if we had followed his party's tax plan, 500 million would have had to come out of public services. Perhaps it might have been even the local government budget, so we will take no lessons from the Conservatives about how to marshal our budget. Instead, we will continue to focus on supporting local authorities and making sure that we can work in partnership with them to deliver the outcomes that the people of Scotland deserve. Alex Rowley. I wonder if the cabinet secretary accepts that there were £400 million of new financial commitments placed on local government, and that is where the discrepancy between Mr Stewart's figures and your own has come in. Does she agree that we need to get a better relationship with local government, and we should start to work closer now in looking at next year's budget? I believe that we have a fairly strong and positive relationship with local authorities. My regular meetings that I have with his colleague Alison Everson have embedded that partnership further, and we will continue to work with them in partnership around budget issues. Of course, we recognise that we are all facing challenges that are financial. However, I should also remind Alex Rowley that, with the commitments that we had that we worked through in partnership with local authorities, such as early learning and childcare and health and social care, we have provided and recognised that within the budget settlement. I take on board the interest that Mr Rowley has in local government, but we will continue to work in partnership, which is constructive partnership, and we will continue to work with local authorities and COSLA around future budget management. To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting housing, regeneration and community empowerment in the Amond Valley constituency. The Scottish Government supports activity in those areas in a number of different ways. The Scottish Government's affordable housing investment in West Lothian will be substantial at over £60 million over the current parliamentary period. In the Amond Valley constituency we will be supporting the building of high-quality affordable housing in Livingston Fault House, Pullbeth, Pumferston, East Calder and West Calder. Through our Empowering Communities programme, the Regeneration Capsule Grant Fund and the recently announced Town Centre Fund, the Scottish Government is supporting locally developed regeneration projects to tackle inequality and deliver inclusive growth in West Lothian. Angela Constance West Calder and Hardburn Community Development Trust have developed plans in consultation with the community for the old co-operative building in West Calder in essence to celebrate and use this asset of heritage to create a regeneration hub and a modern community facility. Therefore, I wonder if the cabinet secretary could advise how local organisations can access and pursue regeneration funding, and will she meet me to discuss further how local organisations across Amond Valley and West Lothian can pursue a generation funding? Angela Constance I absolutely welcome a chance to meet Angela Constance to discuss what sounded incredibly exciting developments and projects in her constituency. In terms of funding, we provide the Regeneration Capsule Grant Fund as one example of how we are working together with the local government to support community-led regeneration in our most disadvantaged and fragile communities. We have recently announced projects that are due to be supported from that fund, and we will be planning to invite proposals from local authorities and other eligible applicants for 2020-21 funding soon. I am so happy to meet the member and to engage with her on the projects. I am happy to make sure that we can furnish her with information that will support her constituents. Mark Griffin In a decision that clearly has not empowered communities, can the cabinet secretary tell me why the Government overruled its own reporters and road roughshod over the views of my constituents, permitting the likely closure of the Bones road? Angela Constance It is not about Amond Valley constituency matters, but if you wish. Angela Constance It might be difficult to furnish the member with information when it is a live application and planning process. If he wants to raise those issues, he can do so through the usual channels of writing to us. Linda Fabiani To ask the Scottish Government how it can assist credit unions in encouraging the uptake of payroll saving. Linda Fabiani The Scottish Government plays a key role in promoting the clear benefits of payroll saving schemes to employers and will continue to raise awareness of payroll deduction partnerships through, for example, the Scottish business pledge. Linda Fabiani I thank the cabinet secretary very much for that answer. Can I ask her to consider further and perhaps discuss with the UK Government and regulatory authorities how credit unions can be supported in expanding their operations further, perhaps in terms of enabling home ownership for savers and housing provision in the area of operation? Credit unions such as the Cwbride Credit Union have ambitions towards helping their communities further, but they are constrained from doing so by the rules framework under which they work. I understand that, for example, in Ireland, derogations make it so that they can be much more involved in their local communities. Linda Fabiani I thank Linda Fabiani for her question and recognise her clear interest in it. Of course, I enjoyed the event that she hosted in Parliament, which really did shine a light on the good work that credit unions are doing across the country. I am aware of the fantastic work of the Cwbride Credit Union. Most recently, I was interested to learn of their home start deposit scheme, which aims to help first-time buyers to get a foot on the property ladder. We are aware that there is ambition there, but it cannot be met because of the regulatory circumstances that we find us in, which shows that much of the powers to do some of that innovation is reserved. Of course, we will continue to push the UK Government because it is unfortunate that we have ambition from our credit unions, which has not yet met the regulations, which we have no power to change, but will continue to push the UK Government to make the changes that are necessary. Fife Clare Baker To ask the Scottish Government how many accessible homes have been built since May 2016. Our annual out-town report published the percentage of affordable new-build completions meeting housing for varying needs standards. Based on information returned for 2016-17, it shows that 91 per cent of new-build units met that standard, rising to 99 per cent in 2017-18. Information relating to 2018-19 will be published later on in the year. Local authorities are responsible for assessing and meeting the housing needs in their areas. I can confirm that we will publish guidance shortly for local authorities on the setting of local housing strategy targets to support the delivery of more wheelchair-accessible housing across all tenures and to report annually on progress. Clare Baker I thank the minister for the full answer. I will look at the official report to pick up the detail of what he said. He will be aware that EHRC has recently concluded that disabled people in Scotland are being robbed of their dignity and independence due to a chronic shortage of accessible housing, stating that many disabled people are unable to leave their homes or are forced to live in a single room, which is leading to mental health pressures. The minister will know that ACHR has called for at least a 10 per cent of new-build to be accessible. At the committee, the minister said that the target was arbitrary, but could he commit today to request information on the volume of accessible housing that is currently available through local authorities and makes this information available to Parliament? I have been quite clear to local authorities around about the delivery of wheelchair-accessible housing. I have said that, while we have the benchmark figures for housing, we will be very flexible with local authorities who want to build wheelchair-accessible homes or housing with more bedrooms if there is a need in their areas. I recently visited a new development in Cooper and Fife in Ms Baker's region, where it has done very well in relation to new wheelchair-accessible housing and houses with more bedrooms. The key thing in all of that is to ensure that the local housing strategy targets are right. I said that we will publish shortly that new strategy guidance. It will happen later on this week. We will be keeping a very close eye on all of that, but I would urge local authorities to use the flexibility that they have at this moment in subsidy to deliver for the people of their communities. Jeremy Balford briefly. Minister, would you recognise that accessible housing is not just about wheelchairs but involves many disabilities? Would you also recognise that, often for local authorities, it is an afterthought and often houses have to be adapted once they are built rather than having it at the front of planning so that accessible houses can be built appropriately for people with many different types of disability? My original answer is that I highlighted that, in 2016-17, 91 per cent of houses that were delivered in the affordable programme were housing-for-vary and need standards. That has risen to 99 per cent. I would say to Mr Balford—I have listened very closely to what stakeholders have had to say about that—that the housing-for-vary and need standard itself is a little bit old now. It has come out for 20 years old. I commit to reviewing that standard in the very near future so that we continue to build housing and deliver housing that is fit for purpose not only for today, for folks with special needs but also for tomorrow. Alex Rowley To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Shelter Scotland report, housing is a human right. We are committed to ensuring that Scotland is a modern, inclusive nation that protects, respects and realises internationally recognised human rights. The Scottish Government embraces constructive challenge and is happy to support action that pushes public institutions to go further in embedding human rights. In its recent report, the First Minister's advisory group on human rights leadership recommended a new human rights framework for Scotland, which would incorporate human rights treaty obligations, including the right to adequate housing into domestic law. The First Minister has welcomed the vision for how Scotland can show leadership on human rights. Scotland already has some of the strongest rights in the world for people facing homelessness, and we believe that that gives the strong platform from which we can do more. Our ending homelessness together action plan demonstrates our commitment to housing as a human right, setting out how we will achieve our vision, that everyone has a home that meets their needs and homelessness is ended. Alex Rowley I thank the minister for that answer. I think that he is saying that it will be incorporated, but can we confirm that? As he says, the First Minister's advisory group on human rights published a report in December recommending a new human rights act for Scotland. The question is, is that going ahead? Does he accept that the proposition for Shelter Scotland that housing should be a central element of that new act? If he does, could he give us an update on the timeframe for this legislation and, as he makes in representation, that housing will be a key part of that act? I can't give Mr Rowley the timeframe, but the advisory group has been quite clear, as has the First Minister and all of this. One of the key things that we must do at this moment in time, though, is ensure that the human rights legislation that we have is protected, because that is very much under threat, as far as I'm concerned, if we end up in a situation with a hard Brexit or even a softer Brexit, where we know that the UK Government has not made the commitment around about human rights. I think that, over the peace, this Parliament has done very well under all political guises in government in terms of enshrining people's rights. The homelessness legislation that we have shows that we can and should go further. I think that, in co-operation across the board in this Parliament, we should be doing all that we can to protect human rights legislation that could very well be at risk in leaving the EU. Fulton MacGregor, if you are brief. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can the minister outline the work that has been undertaken to end homelessness and how that has affected the long-term trend in homelessness applications? Presiding Officer, the Scottish Government is fully committed to tackling and preventing homelessness. As the member will be aware, in November 2018, we published along with COSLA the Ending Homelessness Together High-Level Action Plan. That sets out our five-year programme to end homelessness and transform temporary accommodation in our country. That is backed by the £50 million Ending Homelessness Together fund, which will support the delivery of the action plan and help to drive sustainable change. The Ending Homelessness Together fund is being targeted towards transformative projects supporting local authorities and others. We have already allocated £23.5 million from the fund and from the health portfolio for rapid rehousing and housing first, which can make transformational change. To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to owners of former social housing units who face compulsory cosmetic upgrades to their buildings. Owners who have acquired houses under the right-to-buy scheme are subject to the same rules as other home owners. The local authority can require them to carry out work on housing that is substandard, dangerous, defective or in such a state as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance. If they live in a tenement, they may also be obliged by a majority decision of other owners to contribute to common works to repair, maintain or install insulation or carry out other work that is required under their title deeds. I do not believe that such works can fairly be described as cosmetic, but if an owner needs support, the local authority has wide discretionary powers to provide assistance. It is for the local authority to determine what kinds of assistance should be provided in different circumstances in accordance with local priorities and resources. Alison Harris I thank the minister for his answer. A constituent of mine who owns an ex-council flat, which he rents out, has recently contacted me to say that he is required to pay £12,000 for compulsory cosmetic upgrades, and that is the council's word, not mine, to the exterior of the building. He is not in a financial position to pay this and would struggle to secure a loan. He does not want to be put in a position where he has to evict tenants in order to sell the flat to cover those costs. He is now in a catch-22 position. When support is not available from the council, what assistance can the Scottish Government offer my constituent who cannot afford the five-figure bill? The Minister for Public Health and Sport is very difficult for me to comment on an individual case. By the signs of it, this is the landlord in the private rented sector. There are, depending on where that person lives, opportunities for loan funding, but I cannot comment any more on that. If Ms Harris wants to write to me about this particular case, I will look into it, but, as I say, each homeowner, including private landlords, is responsible for their own properties. There will have to be a quick question, a quick reply and a quick supplementary. Stewart Stevenson, number eight. To ask the Scottish Government how much communities will receive from the Regeneration capital grant fund in 2019-20. Cabinet Secretary, briefly please. We were delighted to announce earlier in March that, for 2019-20, a further 20 million will have been invested in our communities through the Regeneration capital grant fund. That funding is offered to support locally-led regeneration projects in our most disadvantaged and fragile communities across the country. Stewart Stevenson, does the cabinet secretary expect that 20 million to be as successful as it has been in supporting projects such as BAM's silversmiths and the home bakery in McDuff in projects right across Scotland? Absolutely, and, importantly, for that fund is that these projects and this fund enables local people to be in the lead, to be engaged with, to be listened to and responded to, because it is those people, local communities and local organisations, that know their spaces and places best. That is the principle that underpins the RCGF and also the newly announced town centre fund. I am happy to engage further with the member around particular projects on his constituency. That concludes the questions in that section. I now move on to social security and older people question 1 game, Simpson. To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances it would introduce a universal basic income. Cabinet Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville. The Scottish Government is committed to reducing poverty and tackling inequality, and we are interested in any proposal that would help us to achieve that, including a citizens basic income. We have invested £250,000 over 2018-19, 2019-20 to fund a feasibility study that will set out the ethical, legislative, financial and practical implementation of a basic income. Graham Simpson. Europe's first national government-backed citizens income scheme in Finland has just been scrapped. It has found that it does not incentivise people into work, so does the minister think that universal basic income is a realistic option here? Will she take into account the reasons why Finland made their decision? Cabinet Secretary. We will take into account the evidence that is coming from across the chamber, and my colleague Eileen Campbell, who leads on universal basic income, will do just that. I have to say that I am rather disappointed by the member's tone to this one. I compare that to Adam Tomkins, for example, in the daily record, who considered the CBI a radical idea that could herald a revolution in social security provision and unite left and right. We should look at all options to be able to tackle poverty. We are doing that through the feasibility work that is going on with the four local authorities. The steering group is looking at all the evidence and we will progress on the basis of the analysis of that evidence, and I hope that that is something that all the chamber can get behind. Mark Ruskell. Cabinet Secretary, you are aware of the strong support in Fife for a CBI pilot. However, there are concerns that the Scottish pilot could be scupper due to a lack of co-operation from the DWP. What conversations has she had with her counterparts in the UK Government regarding this pilot? What further steps can she take to ensure that the DWP helps rather than hinders us? Cabinet Secretary. As I said, this is an issue that Eileen Campbell is leading on from the Government, and I know that there is a great degree of work that is going on with the DWP, because it is absolutely imperative that this is to go forward, that we have the co-operation from the UK Government to be able to help to build our understanding from that. We have had reassurances from the Secretary of State that she has offered co-operation, and we are taking her very much up on that offer because we need to build an understanding of the scale and the scope of that work. We need the UK Government to carry on that partnership with us on that process. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the most recent social security and child support tribunal statistics regarding employment support allowance, disability 11 allowance, personal independence payment and universal credit appeals. The latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that from October to December 2018, 70 per cent of appeals were found in favour of the claimant. That increased to 73 per cent for cases involving PIP. Those figures demonstrate that the system of decision making is effectively broken, leaving many vulnerable claimants facing a difficult and stressful journey as they apply for payments to which they are entitled. It is clear from those statistics that the DWP should look closely at its decision making process when impartial and independent scrutiny overturns so many decisions. Fulton MacGregor. I thank the cabinet secretary for that response. I know that many of my colleagues here will be like me and have countless constituents telling of their ordeal because that is exactly what it is dealing with the DWP. People with complex physical and mental health issues have been continually beaten down and often be traumatised by the system. Given the latest statistics, as I said thereby, the cabinet secretary showed that the majority of people are staggering 70 per cent that actually win their appeals. Does she think that that further demonstrates the fundamental flaws at the heart of how the DWP operates? I absolutely agree with Fulton MacGregor's analysis. There is no member within the chamber that has surely not heard such stories within their own surgeries when we have people dealing with the DWP, particularly the assessment process. We are determined to have a completely different approach up here for the devolved benefits. We will do all that we can to reduce the number of vulnerable people going to appeals by ensuring that we get the right decision made at the initial stage of application. That is getting the application process right, the desk-based decision making right and the face-to-face assessments only if information cannot be gathered in any other way. That is right for the individual, but it is also right for an agency fit for purpose. To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it plans to provide to older carers of pensionable age providing care for over 35 hours per week. The Scottish Government is committed to building a system of support for all carers that recognise their needs and supports them to have a life alongside caring. We will fully consult on our plans to introduce carers assistance in Scotland. Any and all proposals to change carers allowance will require to recognise that it is a benefit with a number of complex interactions with the reserved benefits, including pensions, and I will not make any changes without ensuring that those interactions are fully understood. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Older people aged 65 and over by far the largest group provide care, but recent figures show that only 1 per cent of the carers allowance supplement went to this group, as most pensioners only have an underlying entitlement. That additional payment could make a real difference to enabling pensioner carers to afford a few days' respite in their retirement. Can the cabinet secretary set out what assessment has been made of paying the supplement to those with underlying entitlement and whether older carers can hope and expect for payment in the future? I appreciate Claudia Beamish's point, but I refer her back to the point that I was making in my original answer. Because of the overlapping benefits rule, the DWP retained responsibility for under the defilutionary set-up. If we paid carers assistance to pensioners, the DWP could see it as an overlapping benefit and reduce the benefits and entitlements in other areas. Therefore, leaving the carer no better off. I am fairly committed to making changes to the carers allowance and to social security payments when there is a clear case to do so, but we need to do that with a full recognition of the complex interactions that we have, particularly with the reserved benefits system, which we have no ability to control. We cannot make any changes without the understanding of the interactions and the work that we must undertake jointly with the DWP to work through those. I ask the Scottish Government what steps it will take to promote more community engagement with elderly people, given the Scotland's ageing population. I do not think that that is how it appears on the bulletin, but it is seven, so you should really read out words to have down as the question, unless I have the wrong question. It is a slight change to the phrasing, but never mind. That is for the minister. The Scottish Government backs a wide range of community engagement activities to support our ageing population. I have had the real joy of visiting and meeting with many of them over the past few months. We have also introduced our national social isolation and loneliness strategy that prioritises community empowerment and recognises the impact on loneliness at every age and stage of life. We are also working locally with our partners, including Age Scotland, to directly support initiatives that promote active community engagement in later life, such as in men's sheds and other organisations. The minister may be aware of initiatives in my constituency, such as the Holly's Dropping Centre in Musselborough, or the Men's Shed in Mayfield. Can she outline what steps the Scottish Government will take to ensure that such successful schemes will continue to thrive in both my constituency and across Scotland? I know very well from a previous life that the real benefit that day centres bring to local communities and the people who use them, and men's sheds and the both of them play key roles in supporting their local communities. The Scottish Government will continue to work with our partners, as I said earlier, to develop men's sheds and support the positive mental and physical health benefits that they provide. I am also delighted to chair the first implementation group meeting of our innovative social isolation and loneliness strategy in April. The strategy recognises the values of community initiatives, of the thought that the member describes, and we will build on that work when we take it forward. We will also shortly publish the older people's framework, informed by older people themselves. They have been in the driving seat of this the whole way, which will tackle the negative perceptions of older people, highlight the contributions that they make and tackle the barriers that they face. Those types of initiatives play, in my opinion, a crucial role for some older people who may be at risk from social isolation and loneliness, and I know that some of them have told me that they have even saved their life. To ask the Scottish Government on what date it took the decision to delay the low light of a second wave of social security benefits. We will take full responsibility for the remaining devolved benefits from the 1 April 2020. The timetable for delivery was determined after careful consideration of feedback from people with lived experience of the current system, who state very clearly that their priorities for their benefits are delivered safely and securely. They also took on board the views of stakeholder organisations. The timetable agreed is ambitious, but achievable and will protect people and their payments. It takes into account the joint nature of this project with the DWP. They need to link in with reserved benefits, as well as the level of change required to make those benefits fit for purpose, and in doing so deliver on our commitment to provide a system with dignity, fairness and respect. Jeremy Baill, please. I know disappointingly that the cabinet secretary still will not tell us what the exact date was, but would the cabinet secretary agree that the Scottish Government was never going to make the 2021 target when consultation documents such as disability assistance and terminate owners have only just been launched and most he apologised to the disability community who were expecting these benefits to be devolved by 2021 and yet you are failed to meet that promise? As I said in my original answer to Jeremy Baill, we will take full responsibilities for the remaining devolved benefits from 1 April 2020, but I will take no lecture from the Scottish Conservatives on how to run a welfare system. When we look at the counterparts in the DWP, we are six years too late for the universal credit roll-out. They are three years over late for PIP, and we still do not know when that full application will begin. I will take no lectures from the Tories on how to run welfare, and it is because of the scale of change that we are needing to make, particularly in the disability benefits that we need to ensure that we get this right because we need to ensure that those who have been so badly affected by the treatment from the DWP will receive an entirely different treatment up here through Social Security Scotland. Months of detailed consideration has gone in with the engaging of stakeholders, the position papers that I launched on 20 February, details a huge amount of detailed work that has gone on for planning for the next phase of delivery. As well as our research with experience panels and our expert advisory group advice that I have had, that is the basis for the 28 February statement, and I am proud that we will deliver a system based on dignity, fairness and respect. To ask the Scottish Government what impact UK Government welfare reforms have had on women in Scotland. The UK Government's welfare reforms have had a disproportionate impact on women who are twice as dependent on social security as men. Analysis by the UK Human Rights Commission estimates that the cumulative impact of tax on welfare changes since 2010 falls disproportionately on women. On average, women were estimated to lose £940 per year compared to £460 per year for men by 2021-22. The benefit cap, the two-child limit and its abhorrent rape clause also impact women disproportionately. Indeed, Philip Alston, the UN's special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said that the UK Government's welfare system may as well have been created by a group of misogynists in a room. Is the cabinet secretary concerned that because of the lack of transitional protection for those who naturally migrate to universal credit, for example when they have a change of address, that this could have an adverse impact? That it may force women to stay in abusive relationships so that they do not lose those funds for them and their families? I absolutely agree with Shona Robison that it is very concerning that women who are forced on to universal credit without transitional protection now face further barriers to leaving abusive relationships. We will continue to urge the UK Government to halt the natural migration on to universal credit because thousands of people are losing out on transitional protection while none of the fundamental flaws of universal credit have been dealt with. The Scottish Government is also concerned that the UK Government's policy of making a single payment of universal credit to a household can act as an enabler for domestic abuse, and we are working with the DWP to identify how best we can introduce split payments on universal credit in Scotland to give women access to independent income. To ask the Scottish Government what input disabled people, disabled persons organisations and other stakeholders will have into the design of the assessment descriptors for disability assistance for working-age people. Disabled people and their carers have had significant input into the development of disability assistance in Scotland. Their experience and views have helped us to shape the proposed policy changes outlined in the consultation on disability assistance. The consultation invites views on all of the activities and descriptors associated with disability assistance for working-age people, and that will provide an opportunity for disabled people, disabled people's organisations and stakeholders across Scotland to input into the design of the policy. Thank the cabinet secretary for her response. May I ask whether the Scottish Government shares concerns that the PIP criteria are not always appropriate for people with mental health conditions, and how will it be working with people and organisations representing them to ensure that the descriptors for disability assistance are fair? Alison Johnstone is quite right to point out the concerns that people have had about the current system under PIP that it does not deal adequately with mental health conditions or, indeed, fluctuating conditions. That is something that we are very cognisant of as we move forward with that. It is very important, as we move through the consultation responses, that we ensure that what we are building is fit for purpose for every single case that will come forward. I am happy to work with Alison Johnstone and stakeholders in this area to ensure that we get that right under our replacement for PIP, particularly those with mental health and fluctuating conditions that have been so badly served under the current system. To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on delivering additional payments of the best art grant to help with early learning costs. We are on track to deliver early learning and school age payments by summer 2019. On 6 March, the Parliament approved the regulations that create the new payments. We continue to build the IT systems that are needed to process the applications and make payments to eligible individuals. Social Security Scotland is recruiting and training the staff who will provide operational support. Mary Fee. I thank the minister for that answer. To ensure that the nursery and early learning payment delivers for children, how will the Scottish Government assess what the payment is being used for and how will it reach the most vulnerable children, such as children of prisoners, BME children or gypsy traveller children? We do not assess how people are making any requirements on how people will use their payments. It is for the individual to decide how to use their payment as it is their entitlement. Many of you bring up an important point about ensuring that we get the process right to ensure that all demographics on all parts of Scotland's population are aware of the payments and ensure that they get support to apply for those. As we did with the pregnancy and baby payments, we will take very seriously our obligations to encourage take-up and ensure that that not only works for the majority of applicants, but we are looking at the particular lemographics, for example the gypsy travellers communities or the BMA communities. That is an aspect that we are determined to get right. I am more than happy, as I said on a number of occasions on this, to work with members, including Mary Fee of their particular aspects around communication, that she would like us to look at on that. I realise that it is important that we get that right and that we are open to learning on that process. That concludes questions on social security. Older people have a short pause to allow the front benches to take their place for the next item of business.