Most vulnerable can’t wait forever
WARNING OVER DELAY IN SWITCH-OVER
SCOTLAND’S social security agency quickly found out how hard it is to set up a new welfare system.
And the delays mean more claimants waiting longer to switch over from the Department for Work and Pensions.
Bill Scott, from the Poverty and Inequality Commission, has been paying close attention.
He’s frustrated at the slipped timetable because he recognises the failings of the existing DWP regime.
And the longer disabled people are left there, the more stressful it becomes.
Scott is right to remind the SNP Government how many promises it made to claimants.
He also knows it cannot be rushed, even if the delays are unfortunate. Getting it wrong now will be a disaster. You don’t have to look further than the awful way Universal Credit was foisted on people by the UK Government.
Scott has high praise for social security minister Shirley Anne Somerville, who he says has a good grasp of the details.
Ultimately, he’d like all benefits in the control of Holyrood – a position his commission has not yet discussed, but one that is worthy of close scrutiny.
If the Scottish agency has any chance of living up to its hype, officials will have to get this right first time.
But some of the country’s most vulnerable claimants don’t want to wait forever.
DISABLED welfare claimants are suffering stress because of delays at Scotland’s new social security agency, an anti-poverty leader has warned. Bill Scott, head of the Poverty and Inequality Commission, said he was personally disappointed