The Expert Working Group on Welfare was established to review the Scottish Government's work on the cost of the current benefits system, their plans for delivery of benefit payments in an independent Scotland, and provide views on transitional issues that would be relevant to the continued delivery of benefit payments in the event of independence.
This report presents a preliminary forecast of benefit spending in Scotland through to 2017-18 that covers the actual costs of the payments to individuals, and the costs to government of administering these payments.