IT costs for Scotland’s devolved benefits agency are projected to soar by another £26m.
The latest “technology” forecast is nearly £280m - a huge rise compared to earlier estimates. Scottish Labour MSP Paul O’Kane said “These spiralling costs are draining money that should be going into people’s pockets.
“The chaos surrounding the cost and delivery of this IT programme typifies the Scottish Government’s botched handling of social security.
“We need a fairer and more humane social security system – and the SNP must sort out the IT infrastructure to deliver it.”
A deal struck after the independence referendum led to a suite of benefits getting devolved to Holyrood. These included lifeline payments for disabled people, carers, parents and the elderly.
But the cost of setting up separate systems has proved complex and Whitehall continues to deliver some benefits under the control of Social Security Scotland. Official figures from 2020 showed that £212m was forecasted to be spent on implementing new technology.
The Record revealed in July the updated figure had increased to £251m, leading to criticism of the SNP-led Government. The latest figure, contained in February’s business case, now gives an estimate of £277.4m.
Scottish Liberal Democrat social security spokesperson Caron Lindsay said: "This IT system is in real danger of becoming an expensive disaster. The devolution of social security powers to Scotland was supposed to allow for a more humane system that would deliver support to people in a smooth and efficient manner.
"Unfortunately, people in need are being let down by unnecessary delays and the government’s mismanagement of costs, which completely undermines that key goal."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The costs reflect the increased number of Scottish Government benefits that Social Security Scotland is delivering. There are now 13 benefits going to one million people. Seven of those benefits are only available in Scotland including the game changing Scottish Child Payment which we extended to under 16s last year.
"The Agency also recently introduced the Winter Heating Payment which provides a reliable annual payment of £55 to around 400,000 people every winter. When you look at the total spent on Social Security, both the running costs for Social Security Scotland and the one off investment in implementation, the forecasted costs for 2018-2026 have actually fallen by 0.5%.
“This investment being made by the Scottish Government to deliver Social Security benefits is an investment in the people of Scotland and is key to our national mission to tackle child poverty, help low-income families with their living costs and help disabled people live full and independent lives.”
It comes as take up rates for the flagship SCP have caused concern among opposition MSPs. The SCP, a targeted benefit for low incomes families introduced by Holyrood, is worth £25 a week for every eligible child or £1,300 a year.
The biggest gap is 6-15 year olds, where only 80 per cent of 257,000 children in this age cohort will take it up. The take up rate for under 6s is estimated to be 92 per cent this year.
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