THE Scottish Government has said it wants to share the UK's welfare system for a transitional period if Scots vote for independence in next year's referendum.
In a bid to reassure pensioners and those on benefits, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon backed an expert report which warned of "serious risks" to payments if an independent Scotland created a stand-alone system immediately.
She promised to draw-up plans for long term reform of the welfare system, although full details will not be published until early next year.
Ms Sturgeon said sharing the UK's welfare system until 2018 – the proposed transition period – would ensure payments totalling £20 billion in Scotland continued "seamlessly".
However Alistair Darling, the head of the pro-UK Better Together campaign, claimed the policy showed "separation makes no sense".
The plan to share the UK's welfare system was the key recommendation of the Scottish Government's expert working group on welfare, set up in January, and headed by Darra Singh, a former chief executive of Jobcentre Plus.
It described a highly integrated system in which Department for Work and Pension centres in Scotland administered some benefits for UK recipients and offices in England dealt with some Scots' claims.
Bringing services under the control of the Scottish Government or other Scottish bodies immediately after independence was possible but carried a "high risk," it concluded.
It said a shared system was in the best interests of an independent Scotland and the UK and would be the most cost-effective plan.
The panel concluded: "Immediately separating these services would present serious risks to the continuity of payments to people in both Scotland and England and so a challenge for both an independent Scottish Government and a UK Government."
But it warned: "In adopting this approach, the Scottish Government would need to ensure any early priorities for change could be accommodated by the UK Government. A downside of continuing to share services might be that an independent Scottish Government finds itself unable to implement some of its early priorities for change to the benefit system."
The Scottish Government will seek the UK Government's view of the plan, Ms Sturgeon said.
Although extensive welfare infrastructure exists in Scotland, including the UK's biggest working age benefits centre in Glasgow, the report did not consider the cost of creating a new Scottish welfare system, a move the SNP has promised after 2018.
The expert panel offered only limited proposals for short-term welfare changes, including paying the new Universal Credit more frequently to help claimants manage their finances, and paying housing benefits direct to landlords.
Backing the plan yesterday, Ms Sturgeon insisted it would give an independent Scottish Government enough flexibility to abolish the so-called bedroom tax (housing benefit cuts for those deemed to have more rooms than they need).
Mr Darling said: "What would a separate Scottish welfare system look like? We are none the wiser after today's report.
"Slowly but surely the nationalists appear to be coming to the view that we are, in fact, better together."
Scotland's charity sector, which is sympathetic to the idea of devolving welfare from Westminster, gave the report a lukewarm welcome.
Martin Sime, chief executive of the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, said it was a "useful starting point" but added: "While the report hints at potential priorities for change, it fails to make any recommendations on what any actual changes might look like."
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