Parliamentary questions

Jackie Baillie

9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people will be eligible for the council tax benefit successor scheme in 2013-14 and how many it estimates will be eligible in 2014-15.

Answer · John Swinney: The entitlement criteria for the council tax reduction (CTR) scheme replicate, as far as possible, entitlement to the previous council tax benefit and will depend upon the demography, the employment rate, levels of council tax, wage levels and hours worked. C…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what average level of grant it anticipates for (a) community care and (b) crisis grants.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We have not estimated the average award for Community Care Grants, or Crisis Grants. Informal monitoring information from local authorities shows that, for the period April to August inclusive, the average award for a Community Care Grant was £550 and the ave…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has replicated the functions of the Social Security Commissioners.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We have not replicated the functions of the Social Security Commissioners.

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the first and second review tiers are for applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17591 on 29 October 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentar…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is an independent review mechanism for the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Second tier reviews for the Scottish Welfare Fund are carried out by an impartial panel in each local authority. We have published details of the second tier review in our guidance. The guidance is available on our website: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-17281 by Margaret Burgess on 27 September 2013, when it commissioned the study, who is carrying it out and when the findings will be published.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: A scoping study of the food aid landscape in Scotland was commissioned by the Scottish Government in mid-August 2013. The study is being conducted by the Institute for Housing, Urban and Real Estate Research Centre in the School of the Built Environment at H…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funds local authorities have set aside to top up discretionary housing payments and how many people this will help.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The information is not held centrally. However, the £20 million allocated by the Scottish Government will enable local authorities to top up their discretionary housing payment budgets to the legal maximum permitted by the UK Government.

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government from what budget the £20 million to mitigate the impact of the so-called bedroom tax in 2013-14 was taken and how many people it will help.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The £20 million is comprised of £10 million from underspend within the fuel poverty budget (available due to delays with UK energy schemes) together with £10 million which is being made available from a combination of further savings from enterprise bodies an…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the £20 million to mitigate the impact of the so-called bedroom tax in 2013-14 will be allocated, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Margaret Burgess: The breakdown of the £20 million is contained in the following table: Local Authority Amount (£) Aberdeen 444,174 Aberdeenshire 883,262 Angus 614,019 Argyll and Bute 550,390 Clackmannanshire 264,794 Dumfries and Galloway 977,596 Dundee 501,166…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with learning disabilities have been employed (a) full-time and (b) part-time in each year since 2007-08.

Answer · John Swinney: The Annual Population Survey (APS) provides estimates of employment across Scotland; however the only data available for those specific conditions requested covers those who have any learning difficulties or disabilities. The latest APS data covers the period…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people with learning disabilities have been enrolled at a college in each year since 2007-08.

Answer · Michael Russell: The Scottish Funding Council produces statistics for students in colleges. The latest data is for the academic year 2011-12. The disability categories used by SFC do not allow us to separately identify students with learning disabilities. The following table…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the supplementary to question S4F-01561 by Alex Salmond on 19 September 2013 (Official Report, c. 22684), what estimate it has made of how much (a) first and (b) second class stamps would cost if an independent Scotland renationalised the Royal Mail.

Answer · John Swinney: We will ensure that postal service provision meets the needs of the people of Scotland in terms of a fair price and quality of service. This could be supported by the regulation of stamp prices by an independent regulator. Currently the regulator only influen…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-17155 by Shona Robison on 26 September 2013, what the reason is for the preference for a statement rather than a strategy for individual protected equality characteristics.

Answer · Shona Robison: Although the Scottish Government does not currently have any strategies for individual protected equality characteristics, there are a number of strategic approaches under development around various specific characteristics, e.g. Violence Against Women Strate…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-17158 by Shona Robison on 26 September 2013, to what projects and initiatives the £5.3 million is allocated.

Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government is providing significant funding (nearly £21 million per annum) over the period 2012–15 to help tackle inequality and discrimination. The £5.3 million is the amount of money provided by Scottish Government’s Equality Fund for specific work…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-17158 by Shona Robison on 26 September 2013, how much it has provided for each year from 2007-08 to 2014-15 for work on race equality, also broken down by organisation.

Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government has provided significant funding over the period 2007–15 to promote equality and help tackle inequality and discrimination. The Equality budget supports funding to address issues of race equality through its Equality Fund, through strategi…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-17153 by Shona Robison on 26 September 2013, how it will consult communities and stakeholders to inform the statement to be published in Spring 2014.

Answer · Shona Robison: Officials will shortly be conducting one-to-one meetings with their intermediary bodies (Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland (BEMIS), Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations (CEMVO), Scottish Interfaith Council (SIFC) and th…

1 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-17153 by Shona Robison on 26 September 2013, who was consulted prior to the publication of the statement in April.

Answer · Shona Robison: In April the Scottish Government published its thinking on how race equality should look over the next three years. The approach states “that towards the end of 2013 we will commence work with stakeholders to develop the approach to be taken and we will publi…

30 Sep 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the decision taken at the COSLA leaders meeting to back the petition from the No2Bedroom Tax campaign calling for £50 million to mitigate the impact of the so-called bedroom tax.