I apologise for coughing throughout the debate. I thank my colleague Evelyn Tweed for the opportunity to discuss this vital issue in the chamber. As she highlighted, the current economic climate means that it has never been more important to encourage and support people to access all the assistance that they are entitled to.

In total, our investment in social security benefits and payments in 2023-24 amounted to an estimated £5.3 billion, despite the on-going pressures on public finances, the spending cuts, the cost of living crisis and the inflationary pressures that we have had to wrestle with.

Since the devolution of Scotland’s social security powers in 2016, we have been clear that maximising the take-up of Scottish benefits is a fundamental priority for the Scottish Government. Our benefit take-up strategy sets out the principles by which we do that. I will touch on that later.

Those principles are applied through a number of specific take-up initiatives, including access to independent advocacy, which has been mentioned by a few members, continued investment in accessible advice, including welfare advice and health partnerships, and the targeted marketing of devolved payments. However, and what is perhaps more important, the principles form the fundamental basis for all social security policy development and delivery, ensuring that we prioritise person-centred approaches and put the needs of the people of Scotland at the heart of everything that we do.

I will touch on take-up rates, which have been mentioned. Our most recently published annual take-up rates give us much to be proud of. I am particularly heartened by the high and stable take-up of our five family payments, including the Scottish child payment. Given that the First Minister is crystal clear that his single most important objective is the eradication of child poverty, it is reassuring to note that the figures suggest that the vast majority of eligible, low-income families who are in or at risk of being in poverty are taking up those entitlements. However, we know that we cannot be complacent. We can and will do better in some of those areas, as today’s motion, rightly, highlights.

Right across the chamber, there has been mention of partnership working, which is incredibly important. I commend the work of Evelyn Tweed in Stirling, as has been mentioned by Mark Ruskell. I know that a lot of other members, across parties, have done something very similar.

We sometimes take for granted the work of our third party agencies; again, I am grateful to them. They tirelessly campaign and advocate on behalf of—and provide essential front-line support to—people up and down the country. Through our benefit take-up stakeholder reference group, we bring together third sector support organisations, public sector delivery partners and social innovation enterprises, whose experience, expertise and extensive networks are essential in informing our benefit take-up approach and driving continuous improvement.

Furthermore, just last year, we launched a dedicated engagement forum specifically for benefit calculator providers—a sector that I was glad to see was mentioned in the motion. Often, their tools offer a crucial first step in people’s journey to accessing their entitlements and can help to cut through the complex landscape of online information and interacting systems.

Although it is clear that online tools can offer great value in simplifying access to eligibility information across devolved and reserved systems, there is no substitute for accredited welfare rights advice. In recognition of that, the Scottish Government has allocated in 2024-25 more than £12 million to support the provision of free income maximisation, welfare and debt advice services. That includes funding to a range of advice providers, including Citizens Advice Scotland and its network of bureaux, StepChange Debt Charity, Advice Direct Scotland and One Parent Families Scotland. My responsibilities include debt and welfare advice, and I have visited all those organisations and seen their fantastic work.

The funding also includes investment in the aforementioned welfare advice and health partnerships, which will see welfare rights advisers being placed in more than 160 practices across Scotland, including four in Stirling, which is in Mark Ruskell’s region. That approach will make advice available in accessible and non-stigmatising settings where people already go. It will also have the dual advantage of reaching people who have not yet engaged with traditional advice services and reducing the time spent by general practitioners and other clinical staff on non-clinical matters.

It is important to mention the situation in relation to reserved benefits. It is clear that benefits delivered in Scotland, especially the Scottish Government’s seven payments that are available only here, are changing people’s lives. In 2024-25, we are committing a record £6.3 billion to benefits expenditure—that is, £1.1 billion more than the UK Government gives to the Scottish Government for social security. That investment supports disabled people to live full and independent lives, helps older people to heat their homes in winter and aids low-income families with their living costs. However, we continue to operate with one hand tied behind our back due to the cruel policies and devastating austerity that have been imposed by Westminster Governments. Immoral policies such as the two-child cap, which Mark Ruskell mentioned, continue to be supported by Conservative and Labour leaders at Westminster, which will ultimately put more pressure on the financial support that the Scottish Government is able to deliver.

A number of members have mentioned stigma, which occurs right across the age groups. As Christine Grahame mentioned, the right to social security is a human right and an entitlement. People should not feel stigma about it, but many do. That is still an issue. Discriminatory and stigmatising narratives have no place in the modern progressive society that we should all be striving for.

I will now touch on other members’ contributions. Evelyn Tweed spoke about visiting various food banks. I remember going to visit my local food bank after the universal credit uplift was cancelled. In the first month afterwards, there was an 80 per cent increase in the number of applications, and the figure is still at that high level. Some months ago, I visited One Parent Families Scotland and spoke to young women who were involved with that organisation. Many of them did not know about their entitlement.

Christine Grahame mentioned pension credit, which is a subject that we have had to deal with for decades. I know that Ms Grahame has mentioned it in the chamber on a number of occasions.

Jeremy Balfour touched on take-up of benefits and what we could do to improve it. The benefits take-up strategy was published in 2021, and it is important to say that an update is due in 2026.

Mr Balfour raised another key issue, which was about comparing rates of uptake and the processing times involved. Those times have improved over the past year or so, and they will continue to improve. I know that Mr Balfour has raised the matter with the cabinet secretary and that there is much work still to do on that.

We know that claimant satisfaction rates for Social Security Scotland are substantially higher than those for the DWP. For example, they are 92 per cent for disability payments, 93 per cent for the applications process, and 92 per cent for decisions in Scotland, compared with about 77 per cent for disability payments and 79 per cent for decisions under the UK system.

Mr Balfour mentioned a number of other aspects, such as interactions with some of the organisations and charities that are involved in the sector. We discussed those when we were both members of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee. Work still needs to be done on them.

Marie McNair talked about the advocacy support that is provided by organisations such as VoiceAbility. The essentials guarantee is another issue that several members covered.

Carol Mochan touched on moving away from stigma, which is an incredibly important issue. I hope that her colleagues in the Labour Party will work on that if they take power at Westminster in a couple of weeks, which it looks as though they will do. A key thing would be to consider the rate of universal credit and re-examining local housing allowance, both of which are incredibly important.

Collette Stevenson also mentioned VoiceAbility. I commend its work and that of Advice Direct Scotland, which I have worked with on a number of occasions.

Another key issue that Mark Ruskell mentioned is the importance of the role of MSPs, including the work that Evelyn Tweed has been doing. A number of members have arranged round-table meetings, for example

I return to the topic of stigma. The Scottish Government commissioned the Poverty Alliance to run a citizens panel to explore the impact of stigma on benefit take-up. The recommendations from that work, as well as the findings from a separate commissioned evidence review on seldom-heard groups, will form the basis for the action plan that I mentioned, which will be published later this year.

I note that Evelyn Tweed’s motion has achieved cross-party support. We hope that the principle underlying the motion enjoys popular support from members across the chamber. It should, after all, be uncontroversial to want to ensure that the people whom we represent are able to afford the basic cost of living, particularly at a time of such economic uncertainty. With that in mind, I thank Evelyn Tweed for bringing this vital subject to the chamber, and I implore members of all parties to join me in commending her motion.