A Holyrood Committee has concluded that reform to the way Scotland manages and delivers benefits related to industrial injuries and ill health at work is needed, but, has agreed by majority that the Scottish Employment Injuries Advisory Council Bill will not deliver this.
The Bill, introduced by Mark Griffin MSP, proposes that a Scottish Employment Injuries Advisory Council be established to provide expertise about support for people living with a workplace injury or disease.
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit is currently delivered by the UK Government’s Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of the Scottish Government. The delivery of this benefit is expected to become the responsibility of the Scottish Government in March 2026.
Witnesses characterised the current Industrial Injuries Scheme as failing to deliver for women and people from ethnic minority backgrounds. They also said that the current system is slow to effect change and does not consider modern occupations and diseases. The Committee understood and agreed with these concerns.
However, the Cabinet Secretary, Shirley-Anne Somerville, told the Committee that, even if the Bill was given Parliamentary approval, the Scottish Government would not be able to act on any recommendations the Council made regarding the benefit as it is constrained by its current agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions.
Furthermore, the Committee’s report raises concerns that the creation of a new, statutory body (which would work alongside other public bodies, like the Scottish Commission on Social Security), would add to an already cluttered public body landscape, making the social security system more complex to administrate.
The Committee did, however, share the frustration of witnesses and Mr Griffin regarding delays to the promised Scottish Government consultation on its approach to replacing the Industrial Injuries Scheme in Scotland.
The Committee urges the Scottish Government to provide detailed timings for this consultation.
Collette Stevenson MSP, Convener of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, said: “The current Industrial Injuries Scheme, at over 70 years old, is inadequate. It fails to take account of modern work practices and diseases and does not deliver for women or people from ethnic minority backgrounds.
“However, a majority of the Committee believe that this Bill would not provide the reform that stakeholders want to see and recommend that it should not be agreed to.
“Instead, we call on the Scottish Government to urgently provide detailed timings for the consultation on its approach to replacing the Industrial Injuries Scheme in Scotland, so that workers who are injured, or suffer from ill health, because of their employment, can access the compensation they deserve.”