Why is it fair that Scottish carers get more carers allowance than English carers?

Yet in England a significant proportion of the money you pay goes to profit and shareholders, whereas in Scotland it is re-invested in better water. So our bills are lower, we have a lot less sh*t in the rivers, and Scottish Water costs less to run by not having more complex systems like individual bills.

Did you know the free prescriptions is to save the money administering the scheme? It costs more overall to charge or even worse have means tested.
So the Scottish decision is cheaper, not a benefit to the wealthy, as motivation.

It’s about 51% of pip awards post appeal compared to 57% of ADP.

51% is the number of pip awards that stay the same after review is it not? Not the number who appeal. The PIP appeal success rate is nearer 70%

I said this to my next door neighbour who is a student going to a Scottish university for free, while I was getting my free prescriptions at the chemist.
Scotland is a different country. We pay different taxes.
Even the water is nationalised, fewer fat cats here.

Obviously the law that you have to eat a Tunnock's product every day and the only crisps you can eat are Golden Wonder, may or may not be true,

Because the Scottish government is responsible for it, although many of us pay towards it! That said the Scottish also pay more income tax than we do

It’s about 51% of pip awards post appeal compared to 57% of ADP.

Oh dear there are lots of strong opinions here about Scotland’s spending. Please note that the cost of providing public services in Scotland is significantly higher across the country due to the difficult geography and sparse population density anywhere north of Fife. At a local level, spending per head is not much different than English counties if you are looking at the Central Belt. Much more will be spent providing healthcare to elderly people living in the Hebrides, for example. That’s just unavoidable.
Usually Scotland contributes around 8% of UK total GDP, and is home to around 8% of the population.

Some public policy in Scotland is a devolved responsibility, so the Scottish government is in charge of making the decisions. If you think people living in England need more carer’s allowance, this is an issue decided by English policies and doesn’t have much to do with Scotland.

@Computersaysdontwantto How does the cost of ADP compare to the cost of PIP when you include the vast cost of the number of successful PIP appeals?

From everything I've read it's not that ADP has a more "lax" process, it's that more weight is given to specialists reports, Drs reports etc so there are far fewer appeals as correct decisions are made at the first point.

I’m not sure that the rate of ADP is more but it is a much more expensive benefit due to the lax application process. There are no face to face interviews - it’s done on the phone - and the rates of award are significantly higher. Scotland has said it’s not going to do the cuts proposed in England.

All of this raises the question of where the money is coming from. So many people are avoiding the higher rates of tax in Scotland now that it cannot be assumed this money can come from ‘taxing the wealthy’. The latest top rate rise (from 47% to 48%) ought to have raised £53m but only raised £8m. What services are they going to cut or taxes are they going to raise in order to pay for this? The basic rate of tax to rise from 21%?

That’s not the same reason it’s the opposite reason. Scotland has higher rate of carer allowance due to higher taxation. England can’t provide your son’s equipment because of its LOWER taxation

We’re not one country when it comes to most fiscal matters.

Separate income tax and benefit arrangements. Scottish income tax is noticeably higher for a lot of people. Higher tax and higher benefits.

I love how you've come back to answer all the questions and make a really robust argument for your case.

To be honest I don’t know if it’s higher or not !
Ive just had to fill in her blue badge application, it asks for her Pip points, even though we’re in Scotland and it’s not called that any more ! We’ve changed councils do I’ve had to re apply, who knows if I’ve done it right! They don’t make life easy ….

Why is it fair that we have a welfare state and many other third world countries do not?

Have you heard any hoo ha about the difference in free childcare?

Didn't think so.

England can’t be at the bottom of the barrel for its own policies.
Scotland make decisions for Scotland. England makes decisions for England. It’s only England’s fault for its laws, you can’t blame anyone else.

Not always.

In Scotland no free childcare hours until 3 (limited at 2) whereas in England it will be 30 hours from 9 months

I might have missed it @KindleAndCake but do you think it’s fair that people living in Scotland pay higher rates of income tax?

It’s not higher, exact same amount.

Scotland gets a lot for free that England doesn’t.

Home care
Prescriptions
Tuition fees
etc

England is always bottom of the barrel for this kind of thing.

Yes but you do realise that you get plenty of things that we don't get? I'm having to pay nursery fees until the age of 3 (3 and a half actually as it only kicks in in the Aug after their 3rd birthday? While friends of mine down south get their free hours at the age of 2. So that's £18k I'm paying out that I wouldn't be if I was in England.

You are free to put pressure on your politicians if it’s a policy your country has the political appetite for. Nothing stopping England from putting its own policy in place. It’s done it with lots of things.
Scotland pay for several things that people living in England don’t, they must not moan about it non stop or you would know that

Oh yeah I'm up in Scotland as well, I just wasn't aware that the Adult Disability Payment was higher than PIP? And yes it does get confusing....DLA, PIP, now ADP....gets confusing!

No idea how it's fair.
Can you imagine the hoo ha if uni tuition and prescriptions were free in England but they had to pay in Scotland?! We'd never hear the end of it.

It’s really not a better system! Pay for what you use on meters is a much fairer system and encourages people not to waste water.