Quangozilla!

Bloated, monster benef its agency pays £1 in civil servants’ wages for every £4 it gives to claimants

THE spiralling cost of staffing Scotland’s benefits agency is set to hit £100 million a year, new figures show.

That means that for every £4 paid out in welfare, around £1 will go to pay for civil servants’ salaries.

That is far more than the quango Social Security Scotland (SSS) has previously forecast – and also far more than the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Last night, Scottish Tories warned that the rising cost of the bloated quango risks taking money away from the most vulnerable.

Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative social justice spokesman, said: ‘The SNP have talked a good game on delivering benefits for years, but the reality is far different.

‘Not only have they handed back control over many benefits to the UK Government, the wage bill for their own agency is now threatening to spiral out of control.

‘SNP Ministers have clearly failed to recognise the large number of staff that will ultimately be required in Scotland.

‘The more money they are having to shell out on their wage bill means less money getting to our most vulnerable people.

‘It is time for the SNP to be upfront about the true costs of Social Security Scotland over the coming years and if a burgeoning wage bill will have a detrimental effect on claimants.’

Despite recent devolution of welfare powers to the Scottish Parliament, the vast majority of spending, including on pensions, is still done at a UK level.

Of £3.6 billion spent in Scotland, £3.3 billion comes from the DWP.

Just £158 million is administered by SSS, although this will rise to £386 million with the launch of the Child Disability Payment. The rest is paid out by councils.

While the rise in new powers and spending has been gradual, staff numbers are set to soar.

The Scottish Government initially forecast an army of 1,900 workers would run its benefits agency. In 2019, just 317 were employed at a cost of £8.8 million.

However, last week Nicola Sturgeon’s Programme for Government stated: ‘Social Security Scotland expects to recruit more than 2,000 permanent employees over the next year.

‘This will provide new opportunities for secure, long-term employment, while boosting our investment on the waterfront in Dundee and in the centre of Glasgow.

‘As a result of this recruitment, by autumn 2022, our new social security agency will directly employ more than 3,500 people around Scotland.’

Scottish Tories estimate this would take total spending on staffing to around £100 million a year, the equivalent of £28,571 per worker. SSS did not dispute the figures, which would put staffing costs alone at more than 25 per cent of benefits expenditure.

But it insisted that in time it would be similar to the DWP, which has all operating costs – not just staffing, but also spending on buildings, transport and other expenses – at around 6 per cent of total benefits expenditure.

Shona Robison, SNP Social Justice Secretary, said: ‘Social Security Scotland’s operating costs, once fully operational, are expected to remain in line with what it costs the DWP to administer the same level of benefit spend.

‘This investment goes beyond benefit spend – these 2,000 jobs provide secure, long-term employment, while boosting investment in Dundee and Glasgow.

‘They come at a critical time as we work hard to recover from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.’

Ms Robison added: ‘This recruitment is required to make sure Social Security Scotland is ready to deliver further larger and more complex benefits, the rollout of the Scottish Child Payment, and transfer clients from the DWP to our new Scottish system.

‘Having the right number and mix of staff will help to provide the best service possible.

‘It will make sure people can access the support they are entitled to in a straightforward and timely way and that they are treated with dignity, fairness and respect when they do.’

‘Staffing costs will be around £100m a year’