Pressure grows on John Swinney to reveal when he knew of Sally Donald benefits probe
Sally Donald was forced to stand down as an SNP candidate after The Scotsman revealed she was subject to a benefits fraud probe
Pressure is growing on John Swinney to explain when he knew of the investigation into a former SNP candidate’s benefit claims.
As revealed in The Scotsman on Wednesday, Sally Donald was under investigation by Social Security Scotland for wrongfully claiming Adult Disability Payment (ADP).
Just hours later she stepped down as an SNP candidate for Edinburgh Southern and we then revealed she had been told to pay back £19,000 in ADP.
Mr Swinney was quizzed on the matter at Thursday’s First Minister’s Questions.
Afterward he refused to respond to questions from journalists in Holyrood.
Now Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay has written to the SNP leader to demand answers.
In his letter, Mr Findlay says: “At FMQs, you told me that you first learned about SNP candidate Sally Donald being investigated for benefits fraud ‘in recent days’ after being alerted by the media.
“However, you have since refused to answer legitimate questions from the media.
“Therefore, can you explain whether you were aware that your candidate was in receipt of ADP benefits and whether you had any concerns about the legitimacy of her claims?”
It is understood that multiple figures in the SNP had concerns about Ms Donald’s ADP claim before a report was made to Social Security Scotland last year.
Ms Donald has talked widely about being diagnosed with autism as an adult and living with anxiety. She was questioned by the SNP’s benefits agency in September last year as part of an investigation.
She has strenuously denied any wrongdoing but stepped down from her Holyrood bid this week.
Mr Findlay’s letter adds: “Ms Donald says that she has been open with your party about this investigation.
“If so, is it really credible for you to claim that you were not told anything about this by anyone in your party?
“This case confirms what my party has been saying for months, the SNP’s ‘light-touch’ benefits system is wide open to abuse.”
ADP is the Scottish version of the DWP’s PIP (Personal Independence Payment) and was devolved to Social Security Scotland in 2022.
The Scottish system is designed to focus on “dignity and respect”.
Its debt recovery process is “limited to voluntary repayment arrangements” and the DWP carries out debt recovery on behalf of the Scottish government.
Last year The Scotsman told how social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville had decided to part ways with Westminster over concerns about the punitive nature of the DWP system.
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However, she was unable to say how Social Security Scotland would then recover debt with concerns £36 million in error and debt would have to be written off.
The SNP was contacted for comment.
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