SNP benefits boss grilled over failed pledge to thousands of 'vulnerable' Scots

The Scotsman reported last month that Social Security Scotland (SSS) had reneged on a law compelling them to carry out face-to-face checks on people with appointees.

Benefits clients who are deemed unable to manage their own finances can be granted an appointee to take care of their affairs for them.

However, figures published under Freedom of Information show that of 33,000 appointeeships in Scotland, just 8,600 have had this face-to-face check. It means thousands of disabled Scots have had control of their finances removed without any further oversight.

The law was changed following the death of vulnerable Inverclyde teenager Margaret Fleming, whose appointee carer killed her and hid her body.

Scottish Conservative shadow Cabinet social security secretary Alexander Stewart said Social Security Scotland bosses “must come clean about how they are tackling this issue”.

Join the thousands of Scots who receive The Scotsman’s daily newsletter

He said: “Vulnerable people rightly have serious concerns about how the appointee system is failing many of them and leaving them open to be exploited. SNP ministers cannot brush these issues under the carpet.

“They must urgently work with Social Security Scotland to guarantee these in-person checks are being carried out and vital safeguards are being upheld.”

Of those who have been checked, nearly one in four were found to be capable of managing their own benefits. A total of 138 were found to have unsuitable appointees.

Social Justice Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville was questioned about the failure to implement the requirement by MSPs in front of a Holyrood committee this week.

David Wallace, chief executive of SSS, was asked whether the figures published by The Scotsman were correct.

“I think that’s fair,” he replied. He added: “A number of those will have occurred as a result of case transfer.

“So there will have been already an appointee through the DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] system who have been part of the previous assessment, a part of a previous element of having gone through a check.

“So our focus, or our resource, at the moment goes on those where there is any payment awaiting. But it's a fair reflection.”

Mr Wallace said staffing resources were being moved around the organisation.

Scottish Labour MSP Michael Marra said: “We've talked about operating costs and we recognise that is a challenge for you, given the scale of things you have to do. But the promise was individual interviews with each of these 33,000 people.

“I wonder whether Social Security Scotland are over-promising and under-delivering. These are some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland, many of whom, identified by the work you've done so far, are being abused as a result of the abuse of their appointeeships and the lack of pace that's been provided.

“You've said you're going to do this work. Time is running on and actually you're decreasing the resource against it.”

Mr Marra told the Cabinet secretary the committee expected a written update “in terms of what has been done, the promise that you made, and when you anticipate that that work is going to be concluded, and the number of staff who are being applied to the task, given that you have just acknowledged”.

He said: “These are some incredibly vulnerable people, some of the most disabled people in society, and I think they deserve this as the promise that's been made.”