WELFARE REFORM COMMITTEE TG.

01 The Scottish Parliament Edinburgh EH99 1SP Direct Tel: 0131 348 5228 Fax: 0131 348 5184 WelfareReformCommittee@scottish.parliament.uk 15 August 2012 Dear Member, As I am sure you are aware, the Scottish Parliament agreed in early 2012 to the establishment of a Welfare Reform Committee which would review the effects in Scotland of the UK Welfare Reform Act being introduced. The Committees main focus up to this point was consideration of the Welfare Reform (Further Provision) (Scotland) Bill. The introduction of this Bill followed the Parliaments decision to partially withhold consent for the UK Welfare Reform Act and was to allow the Scottish Government to introduce its own legislation to mitigate the potentially negative impacts of the UK Act on some of the most vulnerable people in Scottish society. Now that the Bill has been passed, the Committee is looking to explore its wider remit on how implementation of the Act will affect welfare provision in Scotland. The Committee is keen to hear from people about the impact the UK Act will have on them. We have received correspondence from people who are worried about changes to the welfare system. I am sure that you will more than likely have received correspondence from constituents raising similar matters. I therefore wanted to take the opportunity to remind you that the Committee will continue to operate throughout the duration of Session 4 of the Scottish Parliament and would be happy to receive any correspondence received by yourself from constituents. I do, of course, understand that you would only be able to pass such correspondence on after gaining the constituents approval and can assure you that any correspondence passed to the Committee will be treated with the appropriate sensitivity and confidentiality.

If you feel that you would like to make use of the Committee then we would be happy to receive any correspondence from you or to answer any queries that you may have about our work. The contact details for the Committee are set out at the top of this letter.

MICHAEL MCMAHON MSP CONVENER