Lothian MSP calls for change to Social Security

Foysol Choudhury MSP has called on the Scottish Government to be ambitious in its approach to Social Security.

During a Holyrood debate ‘’Accessing Scottish Social Security Benefits’’, he called for the rise of the Scottish Child Payment to £40 a week in 2022/23, given that over a quarter of Scottish children now live in poverty in Scotland. He also called for a raise to the 20-metre rule. Currently, if you can walk one step over 20 metres you cannot access the enhanced rate of mobility support.

MS Society Scotland has also called for the extension of the rule say that it has acted as a barrier to people with MS accessing social security benefits.

Mr Choudhury asked if the Government was prepared to change the eligibility criteria.

Commenting after the debate, Foysol Choudhury MSP said: “Scotland needs to be ambitious. The devolution of welfare powers gives us the chance to shape what kind of society do we want to be.

‘’The chance to restore dignity and respect to the heart of the social security system, yet now we know that the delay of the SNP has only halted the progress and affects the potential benefit takeup for Scotland.’’

Foysol Choudhury’s speech in full:

Thank you Presiding Officer and it gives me great pleasure to speak in today’s debate.

Presiding Officer, the devolution of welfare powers gives us the chance to shape what kind of society do we want to be. The chance to restore dignity and respect to the heart of the social security system, yet now we know that the delay of the SNP has only halted the progress and affects the potential benefit takeup for Scotland.

There can be no doubt that Covid-19 has hit low-income families and the most vulnerable disproportionately hard, deepening poverty and dragging more families into financial insecurity.  Today half of the families in poverty have a member who is a disabled person and even before the pandemic, child poverty rates were high and projected to rise further.

The over next decade, Scotland must be bold, must be willing to use the full levers of powers to transform if we are to meet our targets on child poverty and live up to our ambitions of being a nation that respects, protects and fulfils human rights and where we can all achieve our potential.

We can start of course with the Scottish Child payment, something that has continued to be on the minds of the chamber thanks to the efforts of my friend and colleague, Pam Duncan Glancy.

Just over a quarter of Scottish children live in poverty in Scotland. 260,000 children, right now in 2021.  That’s something that should shame us all. We talk a lot, but this Parliament needs to seriously get ambitious for Scotland’s children.

Let’s raise the Scottish Child Payment to £40 a week in 2022/23. Let’s ensure that every kid in Scotland have a good quality of life, without the people that love them having to worry about where the money is coming from.

Even with the full rollout, the Scottish Government is likely to miss their interim child poverty target by six percentage points – leaving an extra 50,000 children in poverty. From the end of the furlough, the cruel cut to Universal Credit thanks to the Tories, and the Scottish Government delays to rolling out and increasing the Child Payment have squeezed Scottish family incomes when they are already having to deal with the economic shocks dealt by the pandemic. We can and must do better.

Presiding Officer, for those with lifelong conditions, they look to this chamber and ask, ‘how are you going to defend me’?

Those with MS for example are looking for hope. The MS Society, Labour and many organisations are all calling for the removal of the 20-metre rule from the proposed Adult Disability Payment. The Scottish Government are replacing PIP with ADP and as part of this new benefit, the Government has largely replicated the PIP eligibility criteria, including retaining the 20-metre rule as part of the assessment criteria for ADP.

A Citizens Advice Scotland Survey in 2021 found that a majority of Bureaux advisers working to help people with disabilities navigate the social security system agree that the 20 metre rule should be extended to 50 metres. 

Presiding Officer, for those who don’t know that the 20-metre rule is, it was introduced as part of the eligibility criteria to access Personal Independence Payment. Under the rule, if you can walk one step over 20 metres you cannot access the enhanced rate of mobility support.

Fatigue, both physical and mental is one of the most debilitating symptoms of MS and other neurological conditions. The rule does not consider the severity of fatigue many will experience after walking 20 metres.

So, I would be grateful if the Government can respond to concerns raised by those who have MS. Is the Government prepared to change the eligibility criteria. Because those claiming disability payments deserve dignity and respect.

Presiding Officer, the social security system we shape in this Parliament must ensure no one is held back by poverty and inequality.  Scottish Labour would use all the powers we have here in Scotland to make sure that people have the support they need to participate fully in society.

The social security system Labour would build to secure the wellbeing and human rights of everyone and seek to guarantee a Minimum Income Standard that no one would fall below. Having a strong, adequate and automated SSS will lead to higher levels of takeup.

Scottish Labour will build a social security system based on the principles of Adequacy, Respect and Simplicity. Those are the principles that will guide me as we come together to shape our Social security for Scotland to ensure it works for all.

Young people lead climate discussion at Holyrood

Pupils from Edinburgh’s Holy Rood RC High School met with the Presiding Officer and the Children and Young People’s Commissioner yesterday to discuss their views on how to tackle the climate emergency ahead of the COP26 summit taking place in Glasgow.  

Ten S3 pupils led the roundtable discussion, which is taking place as part of an initiative called The Moment, which is being organised in partnership with the Children’s Parliament, the Scottish Youth Parliament and GLOBE International.

This meeting was one of many taking place across the country, with The Moment bringing together hundreds of children and young people with their elected representatives to make their voices heard on one of the most important issues for their future.

Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone MSP said: “There has rightly been a lot of focus on how we tackle the climate emergency in the run up to COP26. As part of this, it’s essential that children and young people can explore the issues and develop their own thoughts and ideas to articulate their hopes for their future.

“It was inspiring to hear the solutions proposed by young people and to learn more from their perspective about what needs to be done to tackle the climate emergency.”

Bruce Adamson, Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland said: “It was significant to be with children today, sharing their views on climate justice and challenging power.

“The Scottish Parliament’s commitment to hear from, and listen to children and young people on such issues is an important part of its role as human rights guarantor. Children have shown incredible leadership on the issue of climate justice, acting as human rights defenders for everyone’s rights across Scotland and internationally, and we should be thanking them.”

The outcomes of The Moment will be presented by children and young people to MSPs and international parliamentarians at a Summit being organised by GLOBE International and hosted by the Scottish Parliament on Friday 5 and Saturday 6 November.

GMB leader backs strikes to support care workers’ ‘Fight for £15’ campaign

If the Government fails to value care workers we will start organising for industrial action across the care sector, says GMB Union

Three years on from the historic Glasgow Equal Pay strike, GMB General Secretary Gary Smith backed care workers to organise for strikes in their fight for a £15 an hour social care minimum wage.

Addressing rallying social care staff outside the Scottish Parliament this afternoon, the GMB leader pledged the union would, “summon the spirit of the Glasgow Women’s Strike” in the fight for fifteen.

Workers from across the social care sector also detailed their experiences and struggles of care delivery before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, making the case for substantial pay increases as the Scottish Government consultation over a National Care Service continues.

Gary Smith, GMB General Secretary, said: “Pay is the priority in tackling the growing understaffing crisis and lifting the unsustainable pressures not just in social care, but in our NHS too – that’s why we are ‘fighting for fifteen’.

“We know the prospect of wages just above £10 an hour won’t cut it, and if you want to retain and recruit the people we need then we must value this essential work properly.

“After the awful events of this pandemic and with a bleak winter ahead, the consequences of continuing to neglect these key workers should be crystal clear to everyone.

“But if government fails to recognise this then we will summon the spirit of the Glasgow Women’s Strike and start organising for industrial action across the care sector.”

Fight for Fifteen: Care workers to rally at Scottish Parliament

Care workers will rally at the Scottish Parliament this weekend (Saturday 23 October) as they step-up their fight for £15 an hour social care minimum wage.

GMB is inviting the media, public and politicians to come and listen to the testimonies of members from across the care industry, detailing their experiences and struggles of care delivery before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for substantial pay increases.

Pre-pandemic the Fair Work Convention’s Social Care Report established that over 200,000 staff were employed in the social care sector, four-fifths of which were women, but revealed a billion-pound industry mired in precarious work, excessive hours, and chronic low pay – facts reinforced by testimonies of GMB members in social care in our ‘Show You Care’ Report.

The Scottish Government consultation on the future of a National Care Service will close on Tuesday 2 November.

Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland Secretary, said: “We can make work better for hundreds of thousands of care workers now and in future if we substantially improve their pay, and that should be all the motivation needed to deliver a £15 an hour social care minimum as the centrepiece of a National Care Service.

“COVID-19 has exposed all the underlying problems facing workers care, problems that were well understood by employers and political leaders pre-pandemic but left unchallenged, and contributed towards care becoming the ‘crisis within a crisis’.

“Let’s learn the lessons. If we want to tackle the current understaffing crisis, end exploitative employment practices, and ultimately improve standards for everyone, then we must start paying people properly for the essential work they do.

“That’s why the prospect of wages amounting to little more than £10 an hour in the years to come simply won’t stand, and it’s why GMB members across Scotland’s social care sector are ‘fighting for fifteen’.

Keep the Lifeline: Holyrood votes to oppose Universal Credit cut

Yesterday, Lothian MSP, and Scottish Greens Co-leader, Lorna Slater joined the overwhelming majority of MSPs in voting to oppose the cruel Tory £20 cut to universal credit that is being inflicted by Westminster.

The cut will impact tens of thousands of families in Lothian, cutting their income by £1,040 per year.

Lothian MSP and Scottish Greens Co-leader Lorna Slater said: “The Tories have shown their true colours. This is one of the biggest social security cuts ever seen in this country and could plunge tens of thousands of families in Lothian into despair.

“It is particularly unwelcome at a time when so many people are still struggling with the impact of the pandemic.

“£20 a week may not be a lot to the Prime Minister and his colleagues, but for far too many families it is crucial to their budgeting and their wellbeing. For many people across this city, it could be the difference between a warm home and a cold one this winter

“Many people claiming universal credit are in fact in work. The so-called uplift was not an act of generosity, but an admission of failure – an admission that the system had been so damaged by cuts that it was no longer able to provide adequate support for people needing help with their incomes for reasons beyond their control.

“The cut is symbolic of a UK government that knows the price of some things but the value of nothing. It shows why Scotland needs the powers to chart a different path that prioritises human need and builds a fairer, greener recovery for all.”

Holyrood Social Security Minister, Edinburgh Northern & Leith MSP Ben Macpherson, closed yesterday’s debate:

#KeepTheLifeline

Holyrood Parliament Opening Ceremony programme announced

The programme for Holyrood’s Opening Ceremony, taking place on Saturday (2nd October), has been announced.

The event will formally mark the beginning of the sixth session of the Parliament, with Her Majesty The Queen addressing the Debating Chamber, accompanied by Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay.

The Royal Conservatoire Brass will perform Fanfare for the Opening of Parliament 2021 composed by John Wallace CBE and conducted by John Logan as The Queen enters the Chamber. 

The Scottish Parliament’s Mace, followed by the Officers of Arms, The Crown of Scotland borne by the Duke of Hamilton and Brandon, escorted by the Lord Lyon King of Arms and the Captain-General will process into the Chamber.

The event, which will be broadcast live, will begin with opening remarks from the Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone MSP, followed by an address by Her Majesty The Queen. 

Music will then be performed from Orin Simpson on the flute and Seoras Chlad on the guitar from the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music. Followed by a song from Musicians in Exile, Always on the Move. 

The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, will then have an opportunity to address the Chamber. 

Following this Ae Fond Kiss by Robert Burns and Kirn Street by Michael Biggins will be performed by Michael Biggins, BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year 2021. 

The newly appointed Scots Makar Kathleen Jamie will then perform a specially commissioned piece. 

The song, We Hold The Future will be performed by the National Youth Choir of Scotland. 

For the departure of The Queen, Farewell to the Creeks will be performed by the Scottish Parliament’s Piper Stuart McMillan MSP from the Members’ Garden.

The event will be streamed live on the Scottish Parliament’s Facebook channel and on our SPTV channel.

The live broadcast will begin from 10.30am on Saturday 2 October.

Lorna Slater: Greens £1.8 Billion pledge crucial as gas prices surge

Vital plans to invest at least £1.8 billion to make buildings in Scotland net zero were endorsed by parliament this week, just as gas prices surge, threatening to push many more families across the country into fuel poverty. 

Figures show that a quarter of households in Scotland are already considered to be in fuel poverty. Scottish Greens Lothian MSP Lorna Slater has said that as well as the need to tackle the immediate problem, the issue shows that the requirement to lower Scotland’s climate emissions goes hand in hand with tackling fuel poverty.

Scottish Greens co-leader and Lothian MSP Lorna Slater said: “The surge in gas prices is a real concern to so many people who rely on fossil fuels to heat their homes, and, yet again, demonstrates why we must end our dependency on volatile, unreliable and climate-destroying fossil fuels. 

“That’s why we are accelerating plans to make homes across Scotland more efficient and to switch from fossil fuels to renewable alternatives. To support this, we will invest at least £1.8bn over the next five years. 

“It has been galling to see Boris Johnson preach climate responsibility on the world stage while his government is forcing families into poverty in Lothian and beyond. All the while he is doing nothing to decarbonise heating and transport.  

“We don’t have time for this kind of reckless approach, which is why, with Greens in government, Scotland will take a different path.”

Review of Autism Strategy criticises lack of progress

An independent review of the Scottish Government and COSLAs 10-year Autism Strategy has been published today.   

The strategy, which comes to an end this year, set out with the vision that by 2021 autistic people would be “respected, accepted and valued by their communities and have confidence in services to treat them fairly so that they are able to have meaningful and satisfying lives’.  

The review concludes: “After ten years, valuable resources have been created and new and additional services delivered. However, real change for many autistic people, both in how they engage with services and in how they are supported to live productive lives, is not as evident. To have a greater impact, the services and support need to have greater reach, become embedded and be sustained.”  

This echoes the findings from the Cross-Party Group on Autism’s own 2020 review the ‘Accountability Gap’ which found (from a survey of 900) that 72% of autistic people and families did not have enough support to meet their needs across a number of areas including education, care and employment.   

In the lead up to the May Holyrood Election National Autistic Society Scotland together with partners Scottish Autism and ENABLE Scotland campaigned under the banner of ‘Our Voice Our Rights’ for a Commissioner to promote and protect the rights of individuals and their families.   

This resulted in a commitment in the SNP Manifesto to introduce a Commissioner as part of a Learning Disability, Autism and Neurodiversity Bill. Scoping work on this is due to begin shortly.  

Nick Ward, Director of National Autistic Society Scotland, (above) said: What is clear from today’s review of the Scottish Strategy for Autism is that autistic people and their families are still, after ten years, not getting the vital support that they need to live meaningful and fulfilled lives.

“The review echoes findings from last year’s ‘Accountability Gap’ report produced by the Cross-Party Group on Autism which found that while progress had been made, 72% of individuals and their families did not get enough support to meet their needs.      

“Today’s review sets out some positive ways forward and we are delighted that Scottish Government has committed to establishing a Commissioner. We believe a Commissioner with robust powers to uphold rights, challenge bad practice and promote good will lever real change.”  

Suzanne from Dunfermline was part of the ‘Our Voice Our Rights’ campaign and has an autistic son called Callum. She said: “Callum has a lot of challenges, he is constantly having to deal with sensory issues and sounds and he needs someone supporting him most of the time.

“It’s difficult for people to understand what he is saying and so we need to be with him when he is out to help as well as explain his compulsion to touch people.   

“When Covid hit a lot of the services withdrew leaving us to deal with health education and social work issues. Over time that has got better but we’re still not receiving the level of support we had before the pandemic.  

Suzanne (with Callum, above) added: “I think there needs to be a lot more joined up thinking, sometimes we end up going from service to service – there needs to be someone holding the system together, someone at a national level I can go to if there is an issue.   

“My hope is that when Callum leaves school he doesn’t end up sitting in a day centre all the time and that there are opportunities for him. He loves buses and would love to be a bus driver. That may not be possible but working or volunteering in and around buses would be amazing for him.”  

MSP welcomes digital initiative

Gordon MacDonald SNP MSP for Edinburgh Pentlands has welcomed the recent launch of Vodafone’s charities.connected, an initiative to tackle digital exclusion and connect one million people by the end of 2022.

This initiative gives charities the opportunity to apply for free connectivity to help individuals and families they support get online or to improve its own digital capability.

The connectivity, in the form of SIM cards offering 20GB of data plus free calls and texts every month for six months, will work in any SIM-enabled device.

Registered charities of any size can apply by completing a simple online application form with applications closing on 1 November 2022.

Gordon MacDonald said: “The pandemic has highlighted the scale of digital exclusion and in particular its impact on the most vulnerable in society.

“Digital connectivity is increasingly essential to access work, education, healthcare and to keep in touch with family and friends.

“The Scottish Government is already providing support in tackling digital exclusion through their Connecting Scotland programme and this initiative from Vodafone contributes in those efforts to close the digital divide.

“I would encourage third sector organisations providing support to families and individuals that would benefit from this initiative to apply.” 

Criminal Justice budget in the spotlight at Holyrood

MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s Criminal Justice Committee are to examine all areas of the Scottish Government’s criminal justice budget in the coming weeks, and consider whether the current funding patterns are sustainable, effective and achieving good outcomes.

Ahead of making recommendations to the Scottish Government on how it spends money on justice services, the Committee is looking to hear opinions on funding for bodies such as prisons, courts, police, fire and rescue, victim support and community justice initiatives.

It will also consider whether funding is in place to support the sector to recover from Covid, and whether any of the changes brought in to help cope with the pandemic may lead to longer term savings, if those were desirable and made permanent.

Speaking as the call for views was launched, Criminal Justice Committee Convener, Audrey Nicoll MSP, said: “Criminal Justice services play a crucial role in keeping Scotland safe, supporting complainers and victims of crime, working to rehabilitate offenders, and diverting people who are at risk of doing wrong.

“Our Committee wants to take a wide look at the funding for these services – public and voluntary – and examine whether what we have in place supports the justice system to do what we ask of it.

“It goes without saying that we will need to consider the impact of Covid-19 on the justice sector’s budgets.

“We asked a great deal of those working on the frontline and administering justice throughout the pandemic.

“And while there may be savings from some of the new ways of working, overall, the sector will need a lot of help to recover from the pandemic – for instance, to deal with the huge backlog of trials.”

The call for views can be found at this link.

Specifically, the Committee is seeking views on:

The impact of COVID

• Whether the Scottish Government is providing enough budget for the criminal justice sector to recover from COVID-19?

• What the cost will be of making permanent some of the temporary changes  brought in because of the pandemic (if these are to become permanent)?

• Whether organisations in the criminal justice sector have enough budget and staff to be able to cope with a return to pre-pandemic levels of working (e.g. expected growth in the number of court trials)?

• Whether there have been any savings and efficiencies because of the different way of working during the pandemic, what these savings have been used for elsewhere, and could they be kept once the pandemic is over?

• Where are the opportunities for future reform and savings?

The budget provided for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS)

• Whether the Scottish Government is providing enough budget for the work expected of the COPFS?

• What is the expected impact of the budget of the COPFS from the recent cases of malicious prosecution?

Prisons, prison reform and secure care

• Whether the Scottish Government is providing enough budget for the work expected of the Scottish Prison Service?

• Whether enough money has been allocated for the future modernisation of the prison estate beyond the work currently underway at HMP Glasgow and HMP Cornton Vale?

• Whether the current funding model for secure care in Scotland needs reformed?

Police and fire and rescue

• Whether the Scottish Government is providing enough budget for Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service?

• In particular, is there enough budget to modernise the services, their buildings, vehicles and equipment etc?

The support for victims of crime

• Whether the Scottish Government is providing enough budget to enable organisations to support victims of crime?

Legal aid

• Whether the Scottish Government is providing enough budget to enable people to access justice through the support provided by legal aid in criminal cases?

• Whether further budget and reforms are necessary to tackle the problem of accessing legal aid in remote and rural areas of Scotland?

• Whether the Scottish Government is providing enough budget to attract people to work for organisations providing services funded by legal aid (e.g. defence solicitors)?

The Scottish Government’s Programme for Government

• What money will be required to finance the different criminal justice policies set out in the new Programme for Government and whether any new and extra finance has been allocated for the various initiatives?