Written question asked by Roseanna Cunningham (Scottish National Party) on Friday, 25 June 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 6 July 1999. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Tuesday, 6 July 1999 on behalf of the Department of Social Security.

Dept of Social Security

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, what assessment he has made of the costs of creating a separate social security administration in Scotland; and if he will publish the assumptions made in these calculations. - Inc figure.

Answer: Ms Roseanna Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the costs of creating a separate social security administration in Scotland; and if he will publish the assumptions made in these calculations. [89077] Mr. Timms: Social security is reserved to Parliament and remains a Great Britain-wide scheme. Social security administration is integrated across GB and no detailed assessment has therefore been made of the annual costs of administering the present system separately in Scotland. We estimate that the costs of administering social security, child support and pensions in Scotland to be in the region of £600 million. The estimate assumes that the Department's fixed costs and the fixed costs of its agencies, including the cost of investing in new computer systems, have to be reproduced separately in Scotland without the benefits of GB-wide economies of scale. It also includes the costs of operating the branch network.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 334 c506-7W; 89077
Session: 1998-99
Subjects: Administration Costs Devolution Scotland Social security Social security benefits
Contains statistics: Yes