1. To ask the Scottish Government what the current average processing time is for adult disability payment applications. (S6O-02696)

Adult disability payment statistics are published quarterly. The latest release, covering the period to 31 July 2023, shows that the improvement actions that Social Security Scotland has put in place have reduced the median average processing time for normal rules applications by eight working days. The median average processing time overall, since the benefit was introduced, is 83 working days.

Processing times for cases eligible under the special rules for terminal illness, for some of Scotland’s most vulnerable people, have also been included in that publication for the first time; that shows a median average processing time of two working days.

For more than 3,500 people, it took more than 141 days to process their adult disability payment. The average that the Cabinet secretary has just set out is way above what was promised in what was set out by the Government. The Department for Work and Pensions, which processes personal independent payments, is doing so faster. How has it got so bad that even the DWP is better than the Scottish Government?

I am sure that Mr Rennie is well aware that, under the DWP system, a customer—as the DWP calls people—is required to collate their own supporting information. People who have been involved in the DWP process describe that as one of its most stressful aspects. Under the adult disability payment, the collection of supporting information is carried out by Social Security Scotland on behalf of the client. That will take time, for example if information is requested from a health practitioner. That is one of the reasons why it is not appropriate to make a direct comparison between PIP and ADP.

As I said in my first answer, Social Security Scotland has taken a number of actions to improve processing times. I am happy to provide Mr Rennie with the full detail of that in writing.

What reassurance can the Cabinet secretary give that the adult disability payment application process remains fixed to the core founding principles, with fairness, dignity and respect at its heart?

That is an important aspect of everything that Social Security Scotland does. One of the aspects of that is demonstrated by the example that I gave to Mr Rennie. It is important that the system was co-designed with people for whom there had been very poor aspects of their care under the DWP—if we can call it care.

However, in the client survey reports from Social Security Scotland, we have seen a high level of satisfaction with the way in which clients’ cases have been dealt with. Clients feel that they have been treated with dignity, fairness and respect.

I remind members that I am in receipt of PIP.

A number of individuals have been in touch to say that they are being denied their exemption from road tax as a disabled person because they are waiting months to be issued with a certificate of entitlement from Social Security Scotland. Can the Cabinet secretary advise whether those delays were anticipated and why nothing has been done to rectify them?

Forgive me, Presiding Officer, but I did not pick up part of Mr Balfour’s question at the start, so I am happy to provide further details in writing if I have not correctly heard his question.

As I said to Mr Rennie, I appreciate that there have been delays in the adult disability payment. I can assure everyone, including Mr Balfour, that any payments that are due are backdated to the time of application. However, as I said, I may not have picked up Mr Balfour’s question correctly. If further details are needed, I am happy to supply those in writing.

As well as noting the adult disability payment figures, I see that the figures for child disability payment show that, in the first six months of the year—January to June—only 20.3 per cent of cases were processed within the four-month target, and the median processing time has worsened, rising from 91 working days in December 2022 to 102 working days in June 2023. Is it not clear from those statistics, coupled with the figures for adult disability payment, that the situation is getting worse, and that both people in receipt of ADP and families in receipt of CDP are waiting in limbo for decisions? What will the Cabinet secretary do to deal with both those issues?

I am happy to provide the same information as I would provide to Mr Rennie on all the actions that Social Security Scotland has undertaken. As I said to the Social Justice and Social Security Committee at a recent appearance, the agency has invited the committee and its members to come up to Dundee to hear detailed information about exactly what has been put in place. It is unfortunate that the committee has not been able to take up that invitation, which has been outstanding for some time, but Mr O’Kane and others would certainly gain a lot of reassurance from such a visit. That would allow us to have a more in-depth and detailed conversation than we can have in these questions and answers. I am happy to say once again on behalf of the agency that it is more than happy to welcome the committee and other members to its headquarters if that would assist in providing much more detailed information about what is taking place to ensure that swift action improves processing times.