Scottish Government in dispute with Whitehall over spiralling £251m bill of new benefits system

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A damaging row has broken out between the Scottish and UK governments over soaring IT costs for a new benefits system.Nicola Sturgeon ’s administration is in dispute with Whitehall over who pays for the digital side of delivering lifeline payments.

Scottish Labour MSP Pam Duncan-Glancy said: “The last thing we need is more bickering between our two governments. “The Tories and the SNP keep choosing to pass the buck and escalate conflict instead of working together – and it is holding our social security system back. “Both governments need to stop playing the blame game and focus on cooperating to deliver a system that works for the people of Scotland.”Holyrood was given partial control of social security after the 2014 referendum, including payments for disabled people and the elderly.The complex project involves the transfer of data from the UK Government’s DWP and setting up IT.As revealed by the Record, the IT costs for the new benefits system have climbed from £212m to £251m, with the end date “tbc”.The DWP’s latest annual report has now revealed a spat over which government should foot the bill.Buried on page 313, the document states: “Scottish Government have raised a dispute over their liability to fund certain digital investment activity that DWP believes is essential to deliver devolution.“The digital investment activity spans a number of years with detailed requirements and costs for future years yet to be defined therefore a reliable estimate of the contingent liability is not available.”It added that resolution of the dispute will be through an agreed process.Scottish and UK Government insiders have previously said that cooperation on social security devolution had been good, but the row signals simmering