 Ar unrhyw rydyn, mae cyfnodigururau eich cyfnodigurau rydyn. Wrth fy Ùs, neson mor cyflei fynd i'n gwybod yr unrhyw canigurau cyfrybannau, rydyn ni'n gwybod yr unrhyw canigurau, rydyn ni'n gwybod yr unrhyw canigurau. Efallai unrhyw gwybod yr ysgrifes bobl y bydd yn eu cerdd yw yn cynnigyaith o'r holl gwaith eich cyfnodigurau i gynnwys cerddoedd Cymdeithasol. Ysgrifennod y Llywodraeth Cymddiad, will noweyddau i chi i'w masgadau for the transfer of executive competence on 1 April 2020, where appropriate agency agreements are key mechanisms to support the safe and secure transition of delivery responsibilities from the DWP to our own Social Security Scotland agency. They are a cost-effective way of ensuring that Scottish residents continue to receive their right payments at the right time, whilst we undertake the work that is required to develop our new systems. Brian Whittle I thank the minister for that answer. Of the £308 million budget to be spent on Social Security by the financial year 2022-23, how much of that benefit will be spent on agency agreements with the DWP for the continued delivery of wave 2 benefits? As I said in my original answer, the agency agreements are a cost-effective way of ensuring that Scottish residents continue to receive their right payments, and they are cost-effective because they are done at the cost that is required to deliver that benefit. Of course, if we did not have agency agreements, the agency themselves would be completing those benefits administration processes themselves. Therefore, it is very important that we continue our work with the DWP to take that forward, and the details of each agency agreement will be analysed, I am sure, by Parliament in due course, as they are published. To ask the Scottish Government how many families in North Lanarkshire have received support from the best start grant pregnancy and baby payment. Since its introduction on 10 December 2018, Social Security Scotland made around 805 best start grant pregnancy and baby payments to families in North Lanarkshire by the end of February 2019. Clare Adamson, I thank the cabinet secretary for the answer. The best start grant paid out more in two months than the DWP benefit that it replaced in a whole year. The third element of the best start package, the new school age payment, is open for applications next week. Can the cabinet secretary advise what the Scottish Government is doing to encourage the uptake of the three payments under best start grant? We have indeed seen an exceptional response to the best start grant pregnancy and baby and early learning payments already. In total £3.5 million was paid to more than 9,700 families between 10 December and the end of February. As Clare Adamson rightly points out, we will be soon launching the school age payments and we expect similar good response. However, we cannot be complacent and there are co-ordinated communications plans that are implemented to get the message out on all best start grant payments. Health services, local authorities and public and third sector organisations are all working hard to raise awareness. I point out one example to my visit yesterday to the helia, where we discussed what we can do to ensure that those young mothers under 18 with no recourse to public funds who will have the ability to apply for the best start pregnancy and baby payments have specific communication channels that we encourage them to take up what they are entitled and eligible for. To ask the Scottish Government how many people in Falkirk district have received support from the carers allowance supplement. Social Security Scotland made 4,755 carers allowance supplement payments to 2,590 carers in Falkirk in 2018-19. Over 80 per cent were eligible to receive the two payments, totaling £442, with the rest receiving one payment of £221, giving a total expenditure of over £1 million. I thank the cabinet secretary for her reply. Carers in Falkirk district and throughout Scotland make an absolutely vital contribution to our society, and it is only appropriate that they are duly valued and properly supported. The Scottish Government has always been clear that carers allowance should be paid at the same rate as job seekers allowance in recognition of their vital contribution, and with our new social security powers, that can finally be made a reality. Can the cabinet secretary therefore confirm that carers allowance supplement will be the same rate as job seekers allowance? As the member is aware, people who have been receiving carers allowance in Scotland have received their carers allowance supplement since last year, and that brings their income up to the same level as job seekers allowance recipients as the Government promised to do. Given that we will uplift carers allowance supplement by inflation, I can confirm that, in 2019-20, carers will now receive more than the amount paid for job seekers allowance. We have consistently said that it is unfair that carers allowance is the lowest working age benefit, and that is exactly why we prioritised our carers by making the carers allowance supplement the first benefit to be delivered by the new agency's social security Scotland. To ask the Scottish Government for its response to the initial findings of the Client and Staff Insights research programme. Cabinet secretary. Findings published on 8 May show that of those who left ratings, 94 per cent of clients who contacted the agency by telephone were happy with their service. 100 per cent of online applicants and 98 per cent of telephony applicants for best start grant rated the service as good or very good. The staff survey engagement score of 85 per cent positive reveals that staff are motivated and have a strong attachment to the organisation. There is a long way to go, but these findings show that at this early stage we are delivering a system that lives up to our values and principles of fairness, dignity and respect. I thank the cabinet secretary for that answer. We should all be proud of the initial findings that mark a welcome departure from the callous DWP system. Can the cabinet secretary advise what further work is being done to ensure that we continue to deliver a service that is welcoming and inclusive and reflects the diversity of the people that it serves? In due respect for the dignity of individuals, it is at the heart of the social security system and it is great to hear that the people of Scotland have found the system easy, helpful and straightforward. That is welcome news. Everyone involved in the delivery within the Social Security Scotland Agency should take great pride from those early findings. I want to place on record once again my thanks to all the staff for their exceptional hard work. The staff survey data also shows that agency staff are representative of the Scottish working population. For example, 22 per cent of those who completed the survey reported having a long-standing physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability versus 19 per cent in the working population. As I say, the results are encouraging and give an indication of progress towards the commitment that we have within our social security charter. On the whole, it was a very positive report. One of the findings revealed that only 51 per cent of staff believe that poor performance is dealt with effectively by Social Security Scotland. Can I just ask the cabinet secretary what steps she will take to ensure that poor performance is identified and dealt with effectively and does she have a target for the next staff and clients in science research report? Welcome for the work of Social Security Scotland's agency from Michelle Ballantyne. It is important that we pay tribute to the staff who have developed such a key service under very busy circumstances. We will look carefully at all the findings within the staff survey to ensure that we are continuously learning and improving. That is the commitment that this Government has—it is the commitment that this agency has—if only the DWP could do the same. To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the impact on older people of intergenerational projects. The National Centre for Intergenerational Practice in Scotland Generations Working Together, funded by the Scottish Government, promotes intergenerational approaches to enhancing and improving the lives of older people and younger people. Evaluation carried out by Generations Working Together, including feedback from older and younger people, tells us that intergenerational practice contributes to giving people of all ages a more positive attitude to ageing, countering and reducing negative attitudes towards older and younger people and helping older and younger workers to support each other and see the shared benefits of a vibrant community and supporting people's educational development. I thank the minister for that very helpful answer. In 2011, YouthLink Scotland recommended in its report, Bridging the Gap, that the profile of intergenerational practice should be raised. Can the minister tell us what the Government has done to that end and what we can hope to see in the future? There are many aspects of the work that we are doing, whether it is in social care or housing or social isolation and loneliness, the older people's strategy action strategy that I launched just a few weeks ago. There are many aspects of that work and how important intergenerational work is. However, just to give my big name something a wee flavour of the work, I get to do loads of those events, and we visited a place in Midlothian not that long ago. However, just tomorrow, I am off to Perth Grammer, who will be working with Eden projects on their intergenerational projects to provide a big lunch event. There are loads of these things going on all over the place. There is lots of strategy behind the work that they are doing. Please go and visit, and we can have a chat at a later date about what is happening in your local area. However, there is so much going on that it is hard to tell you all in one answer, but we will have a look and then we can have a chat and maybe do some joint visits locally. To ask the Scottish Government what measures are in place to ensure that older people are engaged in participating in policy making. The Scottish Government's older people's strategic action forum, chaired by myself, brings together older people's representative groups under their organisations who helped to develop a fairer Scotland for older people, a framework for action, which was published just on 3 April this year. Older people's representative groups are also involved in similar groups in health, the older people's development group and also in housing with age. The home and community monitoring and advisory group, which oversees Scotland's housing strategy for older people. Again, there are many examples of the work that is being done. I thank the minister for that response and highlight Muirhead and District Seniors forum, which is a fantastic organisation in my constituency that I have the pleasure of visiting. Can I ask what support is available to such groups to promote the engagement level of activities among members and reduce social isolation in our older population, and not to be outdone by my colleague Graham Simpson? I would ask the minister if he would consider visiting the Muirhead and District Seniors forum at some point in the future. That is another date request, minister. My calendar is getting very busy indeed, but it is all absolutely worthwhile and I am really looking forward to it. Last year, I launched a Connected Scotland strategy to tackle social isolation and loneliness in build social connections. We are very proud that we are one of the first countries in the world to publish such a strategy. Older people can be particularly at risk, and that strategy is a step forward, but communities must be able to play their part. That is why we have committed to look across our investment into communities and consider how that can be aligned with the ambitions in the report. Our £500,000 social isolation and loneliness fund for 2016-17 supported a wide variety of all the local initiatives in the groups that I have been speaking about, ranging from basic life skills to creative activities, friendship groups and support for vulnerable communities, and to ensure a successful implementation of the strategy. We have committed an additional £1 million over the next two years to continue that work and ensure that we can back up those commitments with pilot innovative approaches. I would be absolutely delighted to visit Fulton MacGregor's constituency, too. Can I welcome the minister's comments and answers? Will she agree with me that social prescribing is a way forward? What work is she doing with her colleagues in NHS Scotland to make sure that GPs in particular are aware that this is open to them? Will she commit to some further trial projects to see how they work across the whole of Scotland? I can say yes to all those questions. The Royal College of General Practitioners has been key partners in creating the social isolation and loneliness strategy, where, at this point, setting up the new implementation group—the implementation group—has a real focus on care and wellbeing, which is a huge part of that. A big part of that will be social prescribing. We have been speaking about that for the very beginning of this process, and no doubt it will be a pivotal part of the success of the project. Question 7 is withdrawn. Question 8, James Kelly. To ask the Scottish Government how its social security policies take into account the recommendations of the Poverty and Inequality Commission. Both the commission and the Scottish Government want to tackle poverty and inequality, and social security policies are doing just that. Through our new carers allowance supplement and the new best start grant, we are already delivering significant financial support to those on low incomes. In later this year, we will also introduce the funeral support payment and young carers grant. That will be an investment of nearly £340 million this year. In addition, we are spending more than £125 million mitigating the worst impacts of the UK Government's welfare cuts, including through the Scottish welfare fund and discretionary housing payments. James Kelly. I thank the minister for that answer. The recent report from the Poverty and Inequality Commission highlighted the fact that the Government's rhetoric did not link up with its actions, with only £172 million being directed out of a £40 billion budget that is directed at low-income households. That is particularly acute in areas in Rutherglen such as Farram Cross and Burnhill. What specific action will you take to tackle the disgraceful levels of child poverty in this country? I say to some of the measures that we are undertaking in my original answer, but there are many others, including, of course, the aspects that my colleague Eileen Campbell has taken forward in the tackling child poverty delivery plan and also other areas within other cabinet secretary's portfolio, whether it is council tax reduction schemes, whether it is the availability of free childcare on the aspects of income supplement, in particular, as the First Minister said in her questions today. There is a significant amount of work going forward at this time to be able to take forward this work. The update on that will be provided by Eileen Campbell by the end of June, as she is required to do for the tackling child poverty delivery plan update. It is a significant commitment that the Government has made through the income supplement, and it shows our scale of ambition. However, designing and delivering a new benefit is a complex task, and that is exactly why we are carrying out the formal placeal work of the policy and delivery options to ensure that we get the right model and target our support to as many children as possible. We heard earlier today that the best payment will be made available to those with no recourse to public funds. The cabinet secretary talked about the young carer grant, and our answer is there too. Will the young carer grant similarly be available to those with no recourse to public funds? That is certainly something that I am endeavouring to do. Unfortunately, it is not within the Scottish Government's gift to make that decision ourselves. Discussions are on-going with the DWP to ensure that it would not put the young carers grant on to the list of benefits that I ensure that a person with no recourse to public funds would not be able to obtain one of them. It is certainly something that I am already taking forward. It is something that the Government has of course got great concerns about in general about the situation with no recourse to public funds. I hope that the DWP will listen again to a very reasoned argument that we are putting together on that. I hope that the whole chamber will be able to unite on to encourage the DWP to look at the advantages of supporting particularly vulnerable young people at times when the Government could be helping them through social security. That concludes portfolio questions. I will move shortly on to the next item of business. I see that everyone is here. I will let them get to their seats.