I congratulate my colleague Evelyn Tweed on securing today’s debate. With the on-going cost of living crisis, it is more important than ever that people receive all the support that they are entitled to.

Recent analysis by Policy in Practice found that, across Great Britain, the value of unclaimed income-related benefits, disability benefits, discretionary support and social tariffs exceeds £30 billion a year. That is a staggering amount of money that could and should be in the pockets of the people in our society who need it most. It shows that too many people are unaware of the support that is available to them or are facing barriers in accessing it.

It is crucial that we tackle these issues, and many services out there are doing just that. For people in East Kilbride, that includes the brilliant East Kilbride Citizens Advice Bureau, as well as local Christians Against Poverty representatives and advocates from VoiceAbility. In addition, my office is always there to help people in East Kilbride who do not know where to turn.

There are national services that offer benefits advice and entitlement checks, including through health charities for people with disabilities and Age UK for older people. Advice Direct Scotland’s benefits calculator allows people to check their entitlement to both devolved and reserved benefits. It has already been used by 56,000 people to identify more than £43 million in unclaimed money. There is no doubt that that has been a lifeline for people.

As Evelyn Tweed pointed out, 25 per cent of the people who are eligible for the young carer grant do not claim it. Furthermore, Policy in Practice’s data shows that more than £2 billion per year of carers allowance goes unclaimed in Great Britain. Part of that is perhaps due to people not identifying themselves as carers, but I encourage those who are out of work or on a low income to find out more about the benefit if they help to look after someone, whether that be with emotional support, giving medication, doing food shopping or assisting with personal care or grooming.

The Scottish National Party Scottish Government has already delivered a supplement to increase the income of unpaid carers, and it is now rolling out a replacement for the carers allowance: the new carer support payment, which will be open to people in East Kilbride from 24 June. Crucially, the Scottish benefit has wider eligibility that includes many full-time students. With that extra eligibility, it is crucial that people know about the payment, and I welcome the Scottish Government’s strategy to publicise it, as well as its work to increase benefits uptake in general. I hope that today’s debate helps to raise more awareness.

I said earlier that part of the £30 billion figure relates to unclaimed social tariffs. Currently, such schemes are few and far between. However, as our First Minister, John Swinney, set out yesterday, electing Scottish National Party candidates such as Grant Costello, who is standing to be the MP for East Kilbride and Strathaven, will mean that we will have MPs who will press the next UK Government to deliver social tariffs for energy—