Ministers are ‘in the dark’ over Scottish benefit agency costs

THE final cost of Scotland’s new benefits agency remains unknown, a spending watchdog has warned.

The SNP Government is setting up a quango to take responsibility for around £3billion of social security payments which are being devolved to Holyrood.

But the Auditor General for Scotland said ministers are in the dark about what the total cost of the agency will be.

Her report, published today, also warns it will be challenging to recruit enough staff with the required skills, and it will be ‘difficult’ to get the systems set up in time to deliver the first wave of benefits by the summer of next year.

It also says the Government has had to offer wage ‘supplements’ for roles in areas such as digital technology to speed up recruitment.

Adam Tomkins, Scottish Tory social security spokesman, said: ‘The Nationalists are about to learn not only how difficult it is to achieve a fair welfare system that’s affordable and sustainable, but how complex it is to get it up and running.

‘It’s incredible the SNP hasn’t at least attempted to work out how much this is going to cost.

‘If ministers are caught out by these costs, the excess cash will have to come from the budget, and that will mean schools, hospitals and other public services being short-changed.

‘Time is running out, and the people of Scotland will not forgive the SNP Government if it makes a mess of the processing of this.’

The UK Government is providing £200million towards delivering the devolved powers.

But auditors warn it will cost ‘much more’ than this to implement’ – and additional funding will have to come from the ‘wider Scottish budget’.

Auditor General Caroline Gardner said: ‘Putting the Scottish parliament’s new financial powers and social security responsibilities into action is a huge and highly complex piece of work.

‘More detailed workforce analysis and a more transparent picture around overall costs are needed to ensure the right people and infrastructure are in place in time.’

Social Security Minister Jeane Freeman said: ‘We recognise the significant amount of work still to be done as we continue to transfer powers. We are confident we have robust plans in place.’