Cost of Social Security Scotland: FOI release

Information requested

1. What budget the Scottish Government were given from the UK Parliament devolved budget to cover the costs of the social security benefits now being undertaken by SG.

2. Whether that figure is now being exceeded by SG and hence what is the difference now having to be met from the existing SG budget. In short .. what amount of money have the UK Govt given to SG for Social Security Benefits and does this meet the need or if so what is the difference and being met from the remaining SG budget.

3. Has there been any correspondence with the Scottish Fiscal Commission on this role out and the costs.

4. What data is being gathered from claimants to ensure a robust comparison can take place between before and after the creation of Social Security Scotland i.e. is Social Security Scotland gathering comparative data similar to that held by DWP so it can be understood fully where the benefits paid are going and whether there are gaps or otherwise in who receives it and hence the outcomes.

Response

1. What budget the Scottish Government were given from the UK Parliament devolved budget to cover the costs of the social security benefits now being undertaken by SG.

The Scottish Government receives funding from the UK Government through the Social Security Block Grant Adjustments (BGAs). These BGAs estimates are updated at each UK fiscal event, with the most recent estimates for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 budget years being based on the Office for Budget Responsibility’s November 2023 Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
These are shown in the table below.

£ million	2023-24	2024-25
Social Security Block Grant Adjustments funding forecasts	4,405	5,191

1. Whether that figure is now being exceeded by SG and hence what is the difference now having to be met from the existing SG budget. In short .. what amount of money have the UK Govt given to SG for Social Security Benefits and does this meet the need or if so what is the difference
and being met from the remaining SG budget.

The UK Government will provide the funding for the Social Security Block Grant Adjustments (BGAs) as shown in the response to Question 1.

The latest forecast of social security benefits expenditure above the level of funding provided from the Social Security BGAs is shown in Figure 5.8 on page 112 of the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s December 2023 publication (Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – December 2023 – Scottish Fiscal Commission).

The table shown below is an extract of Figure 5.8. This is comprised of three elements:

The table shown below is an extract of Figure 5.8. This is comprised of three elements:

• The social security net position is the difference between the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s forecast expenditure for the benefits with BGAs, and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s estimate of BGA funding;
• New social security payments are the benefits which are unique to Scotland, for which there are no UK equivalents and no BGA funding; and
• Other social security payments are the new benefits that have replaced a corresponding UK Government payment, but do not receive BGA funding.

£ million	2023-24	2024-25
Social security net position	225	368
Spending on payments without BGAs, of which:
New social security payments	566	614
Other social security payments	103	110
Social security spending above BGAs	894	1,092

The totals shown in bold represent the additional investment that the Scottish Government is making in social security benefits, over and above the amounts provided for through the Social Security BGAs. Funding is provided for in the Scottish Budget to fully cover the difference.

1. Has there been any correspondence with the Scottish Fiscal Commission on this role out and the costs.

Yes, the Scottish Government provides the Scottish Fiscal Commission with information to support its production of forecasts.

1. What data is being gathered from claimants to ensure a robust comparison can take place between before and after the creation of Social Security Scotland i.e. is Social Security Scotland gathering comparative data similar to that held by DWP so it can be understood fully where the
benefits paid are going and whether there are gaps or otherwise in who receives it and hence the outcomes.

The Scottish Government published its approach to evaluating the first wave of devolved social security benefits in November 2019 (Devolved benefits: evaluating the policy impact - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)). This was followed by a second evaluation strategy focussing specifically on the policy impact of the devolution of disability benefits, published in October 2021 (Devolution of disability benefits: evaluation strategy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)). The impact devolved benefits make to recipients continues to be monitored through research and analytical activity conducted in line with the evaluation strategies. In line with these strategies, there are a number of published reports on the implementation and impact on recipients.

Prior to the launch of a new benefit which is being devolved from UK Government to Scottish Government, we consult with statisticians in DWP to ensure we are gathering the necessary data to enable us to produce and publish comparable statistics. This includes identifying which data should be shared by DWP for any cases which are transferring from the DWP benefit to the equivalent Social Security Scotland benefit. Our published statistics can be found on our website: www.socialsecurity.gov.scot. Comparable data for some of these statistics can be found in DWP’s StatXplore tool: https://statxplore. dwp.gov.uk/.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.