Smith Commission: Submission from Quarriers, Friday 31st October 2014
1. Introduction
Quarriers is one of Scotland’s largest social care charities supporting thousands
of disadvantaged people each year. We support children, families, young
homeless people and adults with learning disabilities from birth through to older
age. We have been campaigning to improve the lives of people we support for
over 140 years. Many of the people Quarriers supports people often feel
disengaged from the democratic process due to inequalities of power and
participation. The referendum debate generated increased public engagement in
Scottish political affairs and public policy. This engagement was characterized
overwhelmingly by a language of aspiration and inclusion and centred on a
desire to create a more ‘socially just Scotland’. We believe that it is crucial that
the post referendum constitutional conversation ensures the voices of all citizens
and groups, including disabled and vulnerable people are heard both in terms of
discussions around further devolution and how we best use existing powers.
Quarriers welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Smith Commission and
comment on the devolution of powers to strengthen the Scottish Parliament
within the UK. Our response is focussed on creating a fairer, more equal and
inclusive Scotland to improve the lives of the people we support. We propose
that the Smith Commission’s considerations should focus on four basic
principles: a human rights perspective; holistic transfer of powers, tackling
poverty and inequality; and an assets-based approach. We believe greater
control over matters currently reserved by Westminster e.g. welfare, taxation,
employability, transport, housing and equality will offer Scotland substantial
levers to promote social justice and ensure policy more closely reflects the
Scottish context.
2. A human rights perspective
Quarriers firmly believes that a human rights perspective is key to protecting
individuals’ rights to independent living; inclusion in the community, equal
access to services; employment; an adequate standard of living; and good
physical and mental health. The Scottish Parliament has consistently expressed
its support for the Human Rights Act and European Convention on Human
Rights. We are concerned, however, that threats in Westminster to repeal the
Human Rights Act 1998 pose a real risk to the level of protection for human
rights that currently exists in Scotland. Devolution of powers over human rights
and equality legislation would enable the Scottish Parliament to protect these
principles reflecting the high status they enjoy in Scotland. Scotland’s National
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Action Plan for Human Rights (SNAP)1 has widespread support and provides a
robust framework for enabling better, fairer outcomes for and with people. We
believe the devolution of further powers to the Scottish Parliament should be
considered within this context.
3. Holistic Transfer of Power
Further devolution of powers to the Scottish Parliament should take a holistic
approach focusing on improving outcomes for people but without adding to the
complexity of the system. Research commissioned by Quarriers in 20142 found
that disadvantaged families frequently complained that the welfare system was
disjointed and complex. Support for people with disabilities also comes from a
range of sources and this can make the system stressful and confusing to
navigate. We note that three main UK parties have all made various proposals
to devolve certain benefits and not others. We would caution, however, that the
interconnected nature of many benefits and the introduction of Universal Credit
means that such an approach would make the system more complex and
inaccessible.
We are concerned that under the present arrangement the Scottish Parliament is
able to set health and social care policy, for example, which can often be
undermined by social security and employability policies at Westminster. In
2011, the Christie Commission3 concluded that the interface between reserved
and devolved policies on employability had compromised the achievement of
positive outcomes and the extent to which job search and support has been
coordinated at a local level.
Indeed, many aspects of welfare and the social
security system are inextricably linked with a range of matters which are already
devolved including health, social care, housing and transport. Additionally,
where interventions through devolved policy result in people moving out of the
welfare benefit system, this has the perverse benefit of saving money for the UK
Government rather than Scottish Government. We, therefore, think there is a
strong argument for devolving all powers relating to welfare, excluding pensions,
to develop a coherent system linking welfare and social security to already
interdependent policy areas.
It is essential, however, that the transfer of welfare powers includes meaningful
power over policy not just responsibility over administration and process i.e. the
Scottish Parliament must be free to take an approach to social policy that differs
from that of the UK Parliament. Northern Ireland, for example, has devolved
powers over the whole of the benefits system but those powers are constrained
1
Scotland’s National Action Plan for Human Rights 2013 – 2017:
http://www.scottishhumanrights.com/application/resources/documents/SNAP/SNAPpdfWeb.pdf
2
O’Leary, D (2014), Ties That Bind: Demos
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Christie Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services, 2011
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/352649/0118638.pdf
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in practice by the ‘principle of parity’, which leads to benefits being delivered in
conformity with rules that apply to the rest of the UK.
4. Tackle poverty and inequality
The Smith Commission’s should seek to create a fairer, more equal and inclusive
society through greater alignment between social security and other areas of
devolved policy, as already discussed, and through devolution of powers which
offer Scotland substantial levers to promote social justice.
The effect of unequal life chances and poorer outcomes due to multiple
disadvantage and inequality is one of the biggest challenges facing Scotland
today. Research commissioned by Quarriers in 20124 indicated that there are
approximately 24,000 families with children in Scotland who experience multiple
disadvantage. The current welfare reform agenda being implemented by the UK
Government is compounding this disadvantage - impacting disproportionally on
the most vulnerable groups in Scotland and increasing the risk of homelessness5.
Indeed, it is worth remembering that despite over half of spending on benefits
expenditure going to people aged 60 or over6 pensions have been exempt from
the welfare reform agenda. Furthermore, it is estimated that up to £268 million
will be lost in benefits for disabled people in Scotland as a result of welfare
reform7. People who are disabled and/or living with long term conditions are
already far more likely than others to be living in poverty, experiencing debt and
be unemployed or in low paid, less secure employment. Quarriers is concerned,
therefore, that the current reform is unfairly punitive on families, young people
who are out of work and those with disabilities. We would like to see a more
progressive approach to welfare which protects basic human rights and
recognises the importance of an effective social security system in promoting the
health, wellbeing and life chances for all of Scotland’s population.
A blueprint for a new welfare system in Scotland Rethinking Welfare8 was
produced prior to the referendum and includes a number of recommendations
worthy of consideration including:
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Detailed proposals for a system which treats people supported through
the welfare benefits system with dignity and respect.
Abolition of the current system of sanctions with a system that is more
proportionate, personal and positive.
A review of current arrangements for the administration of Disability
Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment.
Abolition of the so called ‘Bedroom Tax’.
4
Bazalgette, L (2012), A Wider Lens: Demos
White, G (2014), The impact of welfare reform on the third sector care and support services in Scotland: IRISS
6
Rethinking Welfare, 2014: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0045/00451915.pdf
7
White, G (2014), The impact of welfare reform on the third sector care and support services in Scotland: IRISS
8
Rethinking Welfare, 2014: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0045/00451915.pdf
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Increasing Carer’s Allowance.
Re-establishing the link between benefit levels and the Consumer Price
Index of inflation.
We also believe that greater control over tax raising powers would give the
Scottish Parliament the ability to make decisions around income generation and
public spending that more closely reflect the Scottish context. The Smith
Commission should consider tax raising powers beyond income tax to include,
for example, capital gains tax, inheritance tax and VAT which could lead to the
development of a more progressive taxation system. This power to set a range
of taxes would allow the Scottish Parliament to deliver a fairer distribution of
wealth throughout society. This is an essential lever in enabling effective
responses to poverty and inequality.
5. An asset-based approach
The Smith Commission should consider ways to devolve power that supports
people to access their rights as active citizens and utilises the strength of
citizens and communities. The Christie Commission9 set out a vision for an
approach to public policy in Scotland in which the ‘needs aspirations, capacities
and skills of individuals and communities are central and the imperative is to
build the role, autonomy and resilience of Scotland’s citizen’s.’
Quarriers
strongly believes that people are Scotland’s biggest asset. We support an assetbased approach to public services underpinned by the idea that people who use
services have resources to contribute e.g. knowledge, skills, strengths and
experience. This is crucial in shifting the balance of power to ensure that rather
than being passive recipients of support people become active participants in it.
In this way, people can be empowered gain more control their own lives by
becoming actively engaged in decision which affect them.
Research commissioned by Quarriers in 201410 observed that families facing
multiple disadvantages are often in conflictual relationships with services that
support them. The research identified that the power of sanction which job
centres, housing authorities and social services hold can mean that relationships
are often based on suspicion and compliance rather than trust and cooperation.
Recent Scottish Government research11 found that those most at risk of being
sanctioned are people that lack work experience, those with health problems,
lone parents, those who are homeless and care leavers. Young people tend to
receive a higher proportion of sanctions compared to older age groups. The
research found people often failed to comply due to poor communication or
limited awareness of sanction rules not because they were deliberately unwilling.
9
Christie Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services, 2011
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/352649/0118638.pdf
10
O’Leary, D (2014), Ties That Bind: Demos
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Scottish Government, The potential impacts of benefit sanctions on individuals and households, December
2013. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/0044/00440885.pdf
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We believe, therefore, that the sanctions regime is punitive and counterproductive – placing people into hardship and more widely destroying trust and
the relationship between people and the services that support them.
Further devolution should be underpinned by a new understanding of the
relationship between citizens, state and communities in Scotland. We propose
an asset-based approach which is collaborative and focuses on developing
services with people not for them. Such an approach will help ensure that efforts
are targeted at supporting and empowering disadvantaged people rather than
stigmatizing and penalising them.
6. Key Points:
 We urge the Smith Commission to consider further devolution of powers
from a human rights perspective focussed on better and fairer outcomes
for and with people; and to ensure that the Scottish Parliament has the
power to protect human rights legislation.
 We urge the Smith Commission to take a holistic look at further
devolution of powers, in particular creating a more coherent system which
links social security to other devolved but interdependent policy areas.
 We urge the Smith Commission to consider devolution of powers to create
a fairer, more equal and inclusive society through offering Scotland
substantial levers to promote social justice.
 We urge the Smith Commission to promote an asset-based approach to
further devolution underpinned by the idea that people have valuable
resources with which to contribute and that services must be developed
with people not for them.
For more information contact:
Lorne Berkley
Policy Manager
Lorne.Berkley@quarriers.org.uk
Phone: 01505 616047
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