 Mae'r cwmaint yn y cwmaint yn Swil, dwi'n rhoi Fawr Fawr, i'w mwynau ein fi'r cymaint. Diolch yn fawr, sgwrtwch i'w ysgrifenniw, sy'n ddigwydd yr hyn o bobl arall, sy'n eu dyfodd 150 miliw ymrhyw o ranol Lwngh Alys i'rettleis cyd lugeniwol. Rwy'n ddigwydd ddigwydd ei wyddwyr, cysylltu gyda'r cyfrannu o fwynydd ar y cyfrannu cydweithiwol o'r cyfrannu cyfrannu cydweithiwol popiddeg ysgwrtwch. website on the 27th of April 2017 contains a full explanation. Further detail is also contained in the main content of this document at chapters 2, 5 and 9 on technical and XB. I forgot to say the usual mantra, short questions and short answers, so I accept that that was required. Ross Thomson. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. I note that the cabinet secretary for finance at committee conceded that the cost of delivery of the 11 devolved benefits will be greater than the present cost. When quizzed by my colleague Adam Tomkins on this, Mr Mackay was unable to elaborate on the increased cost. Can the cabinet secretary explain whether the Scottish Government has quantified this increased cost and exactly what it will be? The cabinet secretary for finance conceded no such thing but, of course, it is on the official record what he did and did not say at finance committee. Can I point out to the member that the agency running costs will be around 5 per cent of what we spend on the benefits and the comparable figure for DWP is actually 6.3 per cent. The running costs are estimates from a cost model using activity-based information from the Department of Work and Pensions. The minister, Jeane Freeman, in her statement not that long ago said that those figures would, of course, be further refined in terms of the more nuanced, detailed design of the system, any policy choices that we choose to make and, of course, the location of the agency. Given that our running costs are estimated at around 5 per cent, that shows that our figures are credible, that they are comparable with the UK Government and that they are valuable for money. To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the guidance on what constitutes a dangerous building. The Scottish Government does not provide guidance on what constitutes a dangerous building. Local authorities are responsible under the Building Scotland Act 2003 to deal with buildings that they consider to be dangerous. Local authorities also have powers to deal with buildings that they consider to be defective. Alison Harris. Has the Scottish Government made any consideration for buildings that, although they are not deemed dangerous, are derelict and in a state of major repair and that need security monitoring to perhaps keep children out who are putting themselves at risk? I do not feel that it is that, although I appreciate that. That is fine. Thank you. What is your question, minister? As I said in my initial answer, it is up to local authorities themselves to decide whether a building is dangerous or defective and to take the necessary actions that they feel that they need to take with the legislation that is in place to do so. Question 3. Alison Johnstone. Thank you to ask the Scottish Government how it will encourage the uptake of all the devolved benefits to which people might be entitled. Social security is a human right and we are determined to support everyone to claim all the benefits to which they are entitled to. There are a range of reasons why people do not claim such support and it is disappointing, if not surprising, that the UK Government has taken no recent action to improve take-up, making sure that everyone receives the financial support that they are entitled to is one of the first steps towards putting dignity and respect at the very heart of social security in Scotland. We have made a clear commitment to do all that we can to maximise family income, a key method of tackling poverty. As part of this commitment and over the course of this parliamentary term, we will deliver a programme of activity to increase uptake of social security by encouraging people to exercise their rights and claim the benefits that they are due. Adam Topkin. The Government made of the effectiveness of the— Thank you, pardon. I am whizzing on quite right. You look frowning at me. Alison Johnson. You see him out of practice at this one. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank the cabinet secretary for her response. Today, the Scottish Parliament becomes responsible for a range of benefits, including DLA and carers allowance. Many of those benefits have complicated interactions with one another and making it even more difficult for people to understand their entitlement. When someone does not— No, no, let's have a question. What I would like to understand is what work is under way to review how the benefits being devolved interact with one another and what steps are being taken to make this complicated system easier to navigate. Yes, indeed, Presiding Officer. We know that the current system is currently complex and therefore a very important point for the Scottish Government to help people to navigate their way through that complexity is indeed to ensure that our new social security agency has that duty to maximise incomes. Also, the role of the Scottish Government experience panels is very important here. That will help us to know and evaluate what works in terms of encouraging people to take up the benefits that they are entitled to, whether those are reserved benefits or devolved benefits. As I said in my closing remarks in yesterday's debate, we will indeed have a round table with our partners in the local government, ensuring that the work that we do over the peace of this parliamentary term is consistent and that it is both broad brush and targeted to people who need advice. Adam Tomkins, now please. Thank you. Yesterday I was confused with Jeremy Balfour now with Alison Johnstone. I think that that is probably progress. My question is what assessment has the Government made of the effect and of the campaign that ran in March of a week-long series of radio and press adverts to highlight the range of support available to claimants? It is a fair point, Presiding Officer. As the member will know, the campaign in March was just phase 1. It was a broad brush campaign to support the general take-up of benefits. The press activity had the potential to reach over a million people. The radio activity had the potential to reach 1.3 million people. We know from the Citizens Advice Bureau that it has had an increase in case work inquiries and website activity. In terms of that more detailed nuance analysis of impact, that work is still going on. Can the cabinet secretary tell us what the value of the unclaimed devolved benefits is that the UK Government has failed to encourage the take-up of? It is quite difficult to get accurate information in relation to benefits that will be devolved. What we know over the peace in terms of income replacement benefits and child tax benefits in particular is that there are more than half a million individuals and families who are not claiming what they are entitled to. That gives anonies in the Scottish Government to do more, but it begs big questions about what the UK Government is doing to increase uptake of benefits that it oversees but also the tax system as well. To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the impact that an increased carers allowance would have on disability poverty? The aim of the increased carers allowance, as the member knows, is to recognise the vital contributions that carers make to society. We are currently assessing the impact of that policy on other groups, along with other policies, including disabled people, through our equality impact assessments. Claudia Beamish, I thank the minister for that answer. Now that both the powers of top-up and powers to make changes to disability benefits have been devolved and commenced in the chamber, we have the powers to legislate and improve the lives of carers across Scotland. I take a keen interest in that as a co-convenier of the cross-party group for carers. Before we get to carers— No, before you go on, I want a question. Right. Before we get to carers week 2— No, I want a question. Can the minister give carers in Scotland greater clarity on the payment of the increased carers allowance as to when and how that will be paid and whether she has considered the possibility of backdating to September to reflect when the powers of top-up were devolved? Minister. I thank the member for that additional question. As she rightly says, we now have to bring the legislation to this Parliament in order to give us that legal framework on which to make those additional payments in this area and in others. We will do so before the summer recess. We are considering how we will make those additional top-up payments in a way that we can do that if possible sooner than we might take full responsibility for the whole carers allowance. In that, we will use the views and experience panels and our expert group. Of course, if the cross-party group has additional comments that it wants to draw to my attention, I would be very happy to receive those. Question 5, Anas Sarwar. To the Scottish Government, by what date the next phase of its benefit update campaign will begin, how long the phase will run and who the target audience will be. We will have a rolling programme of activity over the course of the parliamentary term. The next phase will be focused on young carers. During carers week, which runs from 12 to 18 of June, we will be taking action to ensure that young carers are aware of the benefits available to them and to encourage take-up. We are also working in partnership with Young Scott, Carers Trust Scotland and a wide range of stakeholders who will support the activity. We all know that carers and young people play a crucial role in our society, and it is vitally important that we support them in looking after the people they care for, which can often be in very challenging circumstances. Anas Sarwar. I thank the minister for that answer and welcome the comment that she has made about young carers. Indeed, she will be aware of my disappointment at the level of investment of the last campaign that I raised with the Minister for Social Security recently. Across Scotland, up to £2 billion in benefits are going unclaimed, and that includes half a billion of tax credits to over 100,000 Scots. Has she considered the options available around co-location of benefit services? For example, for every pound spent advising, it is estimated that £39 is delivered in additional benefits. Can she look to use the GP contract process to look at general practice as being a possible location for co-location of benefit advice services? I thank Mr Sarwar for his question. He is aware that, in terms of the phase 1 of the campaign, we have made a modest value for money investment. Our investment in benefit take-up campaigns will increase over the lifetime of this Parliament and will indeed amount to hundreds of thousands of pounds. I think that the issue about co-location is very important. That could be something that we could pick up in terms of our round table discussions with our partners, local government and elsewhere, in terms of how we work together to increase take-up. He raises some issues that we could indeed ask health ministers to discuss with those who engage with GPs, but certainly that issue of co-location of people being able to get advice where they currently access public services—I think that it is a point that is well made—features in the work that we are doing in and around social security, but also in our advice services review. Can the cabinet secretary confirm how much benefit uptake campaigns have cost thus far and what the Scottish Government has done to ensure value for money in their delivery? We are working very hard to ensure delivery and value for money. The broad brush phase 1 of the campaign was a modest investment of £6,000. As I said in my answer to Mr Sarwar, that investment will increase to hundreds of thousands of pounds. Of course, it begs the question that, while we in the Scottish Government are prepared to invest in benefit take-ups campaigns, given that we have half a million households and half a million families who are not getting what they are entitled to, it begs the question why we have no activity from the UK Government. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Further to the previous questions and answers, can the cabinet secretary tell the chamber of what work it is aware of the UK Government actually carrying out to increase uptake of benefits that people are entitled to and are not currently claiming? Presiding Officer, I am not aware of any recent work undertaken by the UK Government to increase benefit uptake, which is both disappointing but perhaps not unsurprising. To ask the Scottish Government how many planning appeals determined under ministerial direction in the last year have been contrary to local development plans. Nine planning appeals were determined under ministerial direction in the last year. Seven of the appeals determined were for development contrary to the relevant development plan, and of those two were approved. I hope that the minister acknowledges that public confidence in the planning system will be low, where communities have spent years working on local development plans only to have decisions that were in line with those local development plans overturned. Can I ask the minister why it has taken so long to determine the controversial appeal on the park of care development, given that it has been nine months since a public inquiry concluded and nearly five months since a report landed on his desk? Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. This is a complex planning application, and ministers are currently giving full and proper consideration to it. Every effort is being made to issue the decision as soon as possible. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Church census 2016, which estimates that the number of churchgoes will have more than halved between 2000 and 2025. Freedom of religion and of the choice to worship is an important right in our society, and the Scottish Church census paints a useful picture of how that right is being exercised. Although it is not for the Scottish Government to express a view on how individuals choose to exercise their faith, we will continue to engage with Scotland's different faith communities to understand their issues and listen to their concerns. In relation to that, we would be very happy to meet with the Church and Society Council and others to discuss the particular issues raised by the Scottish Church census. She will be aware that the report suggests that Christian denominations are seeing falling church attendances. Given the importance of all faiths to the wellbeing of people and society, what support can the Scottish Government offer to all faith groups at this time? Scotland is indeed a country with a strong sense of social justice, and faith communities, including Christian communities, but all faith communities in Scotland, are a key part to that. In terms of the support that we give to faith communities, we support interfaith work. Actually, Scotland is a world leader in interfaith work, and that interfaith dialogue and relations are crucially important to community cohesion and ensuring that we continue to have good community cohesion. It is imperative that, given the challenges that we face collectively in our society, there is that mutual understanding and respect, and that, as we know, has become more important in recent times. Our promoting equalities and community cohesion fund supports interfaith work, but our broader third sector work also supports some of the issues that our faith communities are very active in terms of social justice, whether that is around food justice would be a very good example in terms of the work that all faiths have been doing in that area. I remind everyone that I quite like shorter answers and shorter questions. To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding the impact of its welfare reforms on communities in North Ayrshire. The Scottish Government has repeatedly called on the UK Government to halt its welfare reform programme. Specifically, we have called for an immediate stop to the roll-out of both personal independence payments and universal credit, as well as an end to the sanctions regime until the issues of hardship and stress caused by those policies are dealt with. Kenneth Gibson Thank you. It would have been good to have more specifics on North Ayrshire, but does the minister agree with evidence given to this Parliament by Professor Steve Fothergill of Sheffield-Hallam University that Tory social security cuts had, and I quote, no relationship with employment growth, and that the evidence provides little support for the view that welfare reform is having important and positive impacts on the labour market in Scotland? Does she acknowledge that, in fact, £540 per working age adult is being taken strong in the North Ayrshire economy as a result of those reforms? The figures that I have seen range from between £380 to £540 per person in North Ayrshire, removed as a result of the welfare reforms, all of which are part of the £1 billion removed by the UK Government from people in Scotland in the welfare reforms that were introduced between 2015 and 2020, on top of the £1.4 billion that had already been taken up until that point. I absolutely agree with the member that there is no sustainable evidence that any of those welfare reforms are either reducing the national debt, which is itself increasing, or assisting more people into employment. I draw members' attention to my register of interests as a member of the Royal Town Planning Institute and a former South Lanarkshire councillor. To ask the Scottish Government whether it will withdraw the planning consent that it issued in August 2015 for an incinerator facility at Whitehill in Hamilton. Scottish ministers do not propose to use their revocation powers in this case. Monica Lennon. I thank the minister for his short answer. It will be no surprise to him that I am disappointed, and my constituents will also be disappointed and very angry. The Deputy Presiding Officer wants short questions, so I simply ask why. I met Ms Lennon last year, and at that meeting I pointed out to her that any revocation of planning permission would be for South Lanarkshire Council in the first instance. Ms Lennon has already pointed out that she was a member of South Lanarkshire council at that point. I wonder if, during her tenure there, she actually moved for revocation of this planning application. Maurice Golden. Incinerator capacity is projected to increase 12 times in the next five years, so that will mean that councils might be contracted to both burn and recycle the same waste, which clearly cannot happen. Will the Scottish Government consider a moratorium on new incinerator construction? As the member is well aware, it would be ill-considered of me, as planning minister, to talk about any applications that might be forthcoming. In terms of the general policy regarding energy from waste, his question would be best directed to the cabinet secretary for the environment and rural environment. Question 11, Colin Beattie. To ask the Scottish Government whether there are plans for the access to elected office funds Scotland to be open to disabled people wishing to be nominated for the 2017 general election. Thank you. Because all aspects of election to the House of Commons are reserved, the 2016 Scotland Act prohibits us from using our fund to provide assistance to disabled candidates in the general election. The UK equivalent of the fund ended in 2015, when the Conservative party came to power and repeated calls to reopen it have gone unheeded. Colin Beattie. Given the success of the fund at the most recent local elections, helping 39 disabled candidates to take part and for 12 to ultimately be elected, does the minister not agree that this type of funding levels the playing field between a disabled and non-disabled candidate and which he joined me in calling on the UK Government to reopen the UK equivalent fund? I thank the member for that follow-up. More importantly than either Mr Beattie or myself, the candidates, those individuals who used our fund to stand in the most recent local council elections, themselves say, and the organisations, including Inclusion Scotland, who monitor and deliver that fund on our behalf, all say that the fund acts significantly to level the playing field. I think that it is proving itself to be successful. We will continue it for the Holyrood elections. As we said yesterday, we are now looking at how we might use that fund and that approach in terms of other areas of public life. I am very happy to continue our calls to the UK Government to follow our example. To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards are in place to protect communities that are in close proximity to extensive building works. A range of safeguards are in place to protect communities from the impact of extensive building works in their vicinity, including planning, environmental health, building standards and environmental protection regulations. I thank the minister for that answer. I have been contacted by a constituent living in close proximity to Donaldson School in Edinburgh, which is currently undergoing extensive building works. There are concerns about levels of dust pollution, adverse effects on people's health in the surrounding area. Will the minister commit to looking into that issue alongside the cabinet secretary for health and other government departments in order to find a solution to that problem? I would suggest that Mr Lindhurst contacts Edinburgh City Council to get them to check what is going on at that site. I would imagine that that would be helpful to his constituent. The council itself has the ability to take action if there is anything improper going on at that site. To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the availability of affordable housing in the north-east of Scotland. Minister, you continue to make significant increases to our investment in building more affordable housing in the north-east. Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire councils were allocated £12 million and £19 million respectively for their affordable housing programmes in 2017-18, which in itself equates to approximately double the resources allocated in 2015-16. The Aberdeen City deal also includes £20 million of infrastructure funding commitment from the Scottish Government to unlock housing sites and a five-year certainty on £130 million of affordable housing grant. As the minister knows, high house prices in the north-east have an impact on filling vacant posts in the public sector. Can the minister advise me of any schemes that are on-going to prioritise availability of affordable homes for those working in the public sector? The Scottish Government has provided an additional £8 million to support a 124-unit key worker housing project on surplus public sector land at the former Craig Inches prison in Aberdeen, which is due for completion in March 2018. Public sector workers who provide an essential service, including NHS staff and teachers in particular, will benefit from that offer. Also on the pipeline is the Scottish Government-funded 100-unit housing project at Burnside in Aberdeen, where NHS staff will also be prioritised. I am sure that Miss Martin will be heartened, as I was, to go to Inverurie last week and to see some of the new housing, social housing development there by the Grampian Housing Association, which I think was welcomed by all of the new tenants. To ask the Scottish Government what response it has received from the third sector to the comment by the Minister for Social Security that the private sector should not be involved in assessment for Scotland's benefits. We have received a very positive response from across the third sector, including poverty aligns, child poverty action group Inclusion Scotland and the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations. We have also received a number of positive responses directly from individuals with disabilities, and our statement was additionally welcomed by the Public Service Union. I thank the minister for that answer. Does the minister believe that the model of assessment that the Scottish Government will set up will be better able to deal with mental health conditions and fluctuating conditions of claimants than is currently the case under the reserved UK system? It is certainly our intention that that will be the case. We are working with the disability and carers benefits expert advisory group, and in particular with the assistance of Dr Alan McDivitt, who chairs the BMA's GP group, to work with other health professionals and those in the social care sector to devise for us a much quicker and fairer assessment process that will allow better decisions to be made first time and will allow us to use those with the relevant clinical, medical or social care experience to conduct any assessments that might be required, relevant to the condition of the individual concerned. That should, and it is our intention that it will, address the particular deficiencies in the current system, particularly around mental health, fluctuating conditions and other matters, where people from the expert panels, from the experienced panels and from our consultation made very clear to us that they wanted to see improvements. Question 15, Linda Fabiani. To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent figures that suggest that the Scottish welfare fund has supported more than 241,000 households with awards totalling £124 million. It is correct to say that since 2013-14, we have invested £190 million in the Scottish welfare fund, helping over 241,000 individual households, a third of which include children. Providing that vital lifeline for people of Scotland is, of course, the right thing to do for any caring and compassionate Government, but it is wrong that Scottish people in Scotland and this Government have to continue to use our resources to paper over the increasing levels of hardship and crisis faced by people in Scotland as a result of the UK Government's ideologically driven welfare agenda. Can I thank the minister for that answer and ask if the minister does share my concern that this number and money will in fact rise due to the six-week minimum built-in delay in first payment under the UK Government's universal credit system? There is indeed growing evidence that the six-week delay, the built-in six-week delay of a minimum in terms of universal credit's first payment, is producing additional hardship. I know that my colleague Mary Todd from the Highlands has raised this matter on a number of occasions and indeed on Monday I myself will be talking to folks in Inverness about precisely that problem. That then does produce additional pressures on our welfare fund and we have made specific additional resource allocations there to try and assist that, but the bottom line always remains that the problem lies at the source, which is the UK Government's welfare agenda, their cuts, which they tell us are there to help to manage the sound management of public finances in a situation where the public debt continues to rise and is now, I believe, somewhere around £1.8 trillion. To ask the Scottish Government how many households in Scotland will be affected by the changes to child tax credits that were introduced on 6 April. The Scottish Government remains deeply opposed to the UK Government's two child tax credits cap by 2020-21. Around 50,000 Scottish households will be negatively affected, impacting on those who can least afford it and pushing more and more families into poverty. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. Can I ask what response, if any, they have had from the UK Government in relation to the Scottish Parliament's decisive vote opposing the two child cap and the rape clause? Well, Presiding Officer, I have to advise the chamber that we have had no response from the UK Government at all. As we all know, the rape clause is a fundamental violation of human rights. It is disgraceful that, despite serious concerns raised in this chamber and a wide range of organisations including Rape Crisis Scotland and Scottish Women's Aid, as well as the Royal College of Nursing, the UK Government refuses to reverse the shameful policy. To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received a response from the UK Government to its late request to halt the roll-out of universal credit in Scotland, following reports that the new system is pushing more people into hardship and debt. Regrettably, the Secretary of State did not respond directly to the cabinet secretary's request to halt the roll-out of universal credit. He has sent a five-page report selling extolling the virtues of universal credit, which itself confirmed that the UK Government has no intention of halting the roll-out. The minister is aware that universal credit is causing real hardship to individuals in the Highlands. In addition, areas are causing real hardship to the local council and the housing associations find themselves in the unenviable position of pursuing tenants through the courts for debt that is not of their own making. Does the minister agree with me that the situation is completely unacceptable and must be halted? Minister? Yes, I do. I think that the evidence is stacking up by the day that the roll-out of universal credit, in particular the built-in six-week delay, for which I can not yet find any reasonable or credible explanation, is in particular causing additional hardship for individuals. We will, ourselves, aim with the support of the DWP to apply our particular flexibilities, which will allow direct payment of rent to landlords and the choice of twice-weekly payments, but even that does not get us over the six-week delay. Again, we would ask the UK Government to seriously consider halting the roll-out of universal credit until the serious issues of hardship that it is imposing and bringing on families in Scotland are considered properly. To ask the Scottish Government when its officials last met with ATOS healthcare. Minister? Scottish Government social security officials met with ATOS healthcare on 5 April this year to obtain an understanding of how their ATOS views the PIP assessment process currently operating in Scotland. There are no plans to meet again. Richard Leonard. Thank the minister for that answer. Will the Scottish Government at this stage rule out any involvement with ATOS in the design and delivery of the new Scottish social security system? I believe that I have already done so in the statement that I gave to Parliament on the new social security agency. We made very clear there that we see no place in the assessment of benefits for private sector companies. I come to question 19. The member is not here, but no doubt there will be a hope, a good reason to be given to the Presiding Officers for her not being present. Question 20, John Mason. I congratulate you on getting to question 20, which I was not particularly anticipating. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the outcome of the local government elections. Scottish ministers congratulate all councillors elected and welcome the role that they fulfil for their communities. We are delighted that the local government elections were conducted successfully and that the election turnout at 46.9 per cent was higher than the 39.6 per cent in 2012. We look forward to working with Scotland's democratically elected councils to take forward our priorities for the people of Scotland. John Mason. I thank the minister for that answer. There was considerable effort put into encouraging people to mark their ballot papers 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. However, on looking at a number of the papers that were apparently spoiled, it appeared that a lot of them had either two or three Xs on them for the parties that had put up multiple candidates, thus those were spoiled. Has the minister any suggestions how we can tackle this problem either by way of education or some other way? The Electoral Commission already runs information campaigns to inform voters about how to cast their vote. In particular, a leaflet is delivered to every household before any election, which gives detailed guidance on how to cast your vote at that particular poll. In addition, an explanation on how to vote is sent out with every postal ballot pack and large print explanatory notices are exhibited in every polling station. Information on how to vote is available wherever a ballot paper is being completed, whether it is in the home or at the polling station. Anyone who is unsure about how to vote can contact the returning officer's office to ask for advice, and polling station staff are also available to help if necessary. Graham Simpson The SNP got 32 per cent of the vote, the same as in 2012. It has flatlined. Labour was down in vote share and numbers of seats. I would like a question rather than a party political broadcast. With an extra 161 seats up 12 per cent, would the minister agree with me that the real winners were the Scottish Conservatives? The First Minister I think that I can guess his answer, but go ahead. No, I would not agree. There was only one winner in last week's Scottish elections, Scottish Council elections, and that was the SNP. We had the largest amount of votes cast, the largest amount of councillors and, of course, the largest party on 16 councils and the joint largest in three others. We won in the four main cities. Let's be honest with you. There can only be one winner in elections. It was not the Scottish Conservative Party. It certainly was not the Scottish Labour Party. Those that polled the most were the SNP. That concludes portfolio questions. I am moving on to the next item of business, and I will let the front benches get themselves organised.