The Social Security (Miscellaneous Amendment and Transitional Provision) (Scotland) Regulations 2022: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

8. How will the impact of the policy/measure be monitored?

The Scottish Government has established SCoSS who have provided independent scrutiny of these regulations. In their report,^[35] SCoSS highlighted that the regulations would need to clearly provide Social Security Scotland with the discretion to defer or waive making an auto award of BSG Early Learning Payment or School Age Payment to ensure that the payment is made to the right person when families are in crisis or transition, for example, through domestic abuse or moving in and out of kinship care. We have therefore ensured that our regulations make clear that where an individual has indicated they do not want to receive payment via an auto award, an auto award will not be made. Furthermore, where an individual is no longer actually responsible for the child but continues to be in receipt of Scottish Child Payment due to receiving a reserved, qualifying benefit when they are no longer actually responsible for the child and they then receive an auto-award of Best Start Grant Early Learning Payment or School Age Payment, the person who is actually responsible for the child will still be able to apply and receive Best Start Grant due to the ability for a second payment to be made in certain circumstances where responsibility for the child has changed.

SCoSS also raised a concern that the rule to allow a higher Pregnancy and Baby Payment to be awarded where someone arrives in the UK with a child having been granted refugee status, humanitarian protection, or leave under the Afghanistan resettlement schemes or the Ukraine resettlement schemes would not just apply when an older child was born outside the UK or came to the UK with the refugee claimant, it would also apply when an older child was born in the UK e.g. to a new partner.

SCoSS are correct that this rule could apply to a child who was born in the UK, provided that the child was born in the UK to an individual who was living in the UK, who then later left the UK and returned to the UK seeking refugee status. This is because the child was born before the individual arrived in the UK as a refugee, i.e., before the individual claims BSG in respect of another child. This is within the policy intent as regardless of where the older child was born, the individual has arrived in the UK as a refugee and is therefore not likely to have retained the items that the BSG Pregnancy and Baby Payment is intended to provide.

A refugee will not normally be entitled to be given the higher payment on multiple occasions. To be eligible for the higher payment, all individuals under 16 who are not the child the application relates to must be able to be disregarded because they fall within one of the categories specified in our regulations. An older sibling who was born in the UK after the refugee came to this country in most circumstances would not be disregarded under this rule.

SCoSS also highlighted that the definition of domestic abuse within our regulations needed to be widened to include abuse by an individual's ex-partner, in line with the definition used within the Domestic Abuse (Protection) (Scotland) Act 2021. We have consulted further with stakeholders regarding this matter and have widened our definition to include abuse by the ex-partner.

SCoSS also recommended that the Scottish Government's review of Scottish Child Payment must take into account the lived experience of people, and any disproportionate impact there may be on particular groups such as lone parents or disabled people, in relation to how they understand and manage the loss of income from Scottish Child Payment when entitlement ends as they move into work or increase hours or earnings and thus lose entitlement to Universal Credit. The Scottish Government is currently undertaking a formal public consultation on proposed changes to the Scottish social security system and, amongst other topics, seeks views on the advantages and disadvantages around making changes to the legislative basis for Scottish Child Payment. That consultation is open to everyone. Alternative formats, events and surveys are being developed to facilitate participation from the widest possible range of people, including from people with lived experience of the social security system.

SCoSS also asked that in its review of Scottish Child Payment, the Scottish Government should look for ways to make eligibility rules fairer by offering the same amount of support to all families whose child dies. In the sad event that a child to whom a claim of Scottish Child Payment relates dies we are providing payment equivalent to the value of payments made in the 12 weeks prior to the child's death. This approach was considered the fairest way we can support families in this situation through SCP using the powers available to us.

SCP is paid as a top-up of reserved benefits using the powers available to us under section 79(1) of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 which means we are only able to make a payment for a period where there is a qualifying benefit in payment.

We will consider this again at any review of the Scottish Child Payment legislative footing.

We intend to commission a further evaluation report on BSG to report in 2025 as although BSG is fully rolled-out, its impacts can only be fully assessed after at least 5 years from the roll-out by which time eligible families will have had a chance to receive multiple payments for the same child. We will also conduct a full evaluation of Scottish Child Payment after the rollout of the payment for children aged under 16.

We will continue to engage with members of the FFP reference group to monitor their impact. Social Security Scotland also carry out regular surveys to understand the experience of clients who have applied for the FFP.

The Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018^[36] places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to report annually to the Scottish Parliament on the performance of the Scottish Social Security System during the previous financial year. The report is to describe what the Scottish Ministers have done in that year to meet the expectations on them set out in the Charter.

Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People also has a role to play. The Commissioner has a duty to review law, policy and practice to examine their effectiveness in respecting the rights of children and young people. The Commissioner can investigate on behalf of groups of children and young people. As of April 2016, the Commissioner has also been able to investigate on behalf of an individual.

We have established a stakeholder take-up reference group. This group is a partnership of Scottish Government officials and organisations representing third-sector and local authority interests who have knowledge of issues surrounding benefit take-up. It is designed so that members will bring their experience, expertise, and extensive networks to bear, ensuring that our approach draws on the experience of, and best supports, third sector and local authority partners.

Since the publication of the first Benefit Take Up Strategy,^[37] the Group has met twelve times and collaborated on a number of key activities with the goal of increasing take-up of Scottish Benefits. In late 2019 and early 2020 the Group played a central role in shaping the Benefit Take-up and Income Maximisation Funds to ensure that this funding was targeted to enable the maximum benefit to individuals and highest quality in learning.

We have also committed to reviewing the FFP during the course of the current TCPDP^[38] (2022-2026) and continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that support is targeted on those families that need it most

Wellbeing indicators

With regard to section 96(2) of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014,^[39] these provisions are considered to measure positively against the following wellbeing indicators:

• Healthy – SCP and BSG can fund activities that promote both physical and mental health. BSF can support access to healthy foods and milk for a child or young pregnant woman.
• Achieving – SCP and BSG can fund activities to build up a child's skills, confidence and self-esteem. It could be used to pay for extra-curricular activities or study materials.
• Nurtured – SCP and BSG will provide assistance to families to nurture their children in various ways such as costs of care and family time together.
• Active – SCP and BSG can fund extra-curricular activities involving sport and recreation.
• Included – The FFP will help families to overcome social, educational, physical and economic inequalities, allowing the fuller participation of children within their community.