I will give one example to explain why the cost of the IT budget has increased. If members compare it with our initial estimates, they will see that we were not, at that time, planning to deliver the Scottish child payment. The IT system has now been delivered to ensure that that payment is gaining traction across the country and making a difference to people’s lives.

I have been in the chamber on a number of occasions recently, talking through some of the points of change that are already being undertaken by the agency. There is an end-to-end process review being undertaken, and some procedures have already been put in place. Again, I have spoken in the chamber about changes that have already been made to the application process. I have talked about the fact that the agency is drawing more on the expertise of in-house health and social care practitioners to support case discussions earlier, allowing people to have their decisions made earlier. In addition, a number of changes have been made to the way in which the agency handles calls, including through staff who can be deployed from elsewhere in the organisation to help to reduce processing times.

I believe that the chief executive of Social Security Scotland is due to appear before the Parliament to go into further detail on that. I have already discussed with him that it might be useful for him to provide an update to all members in the Scottish Parliament to reassure them of the work that is being undertaken and to ensure that we are open to suggestions about how this can be improved.