Parliamentary questions
Mark Griffin
2,186 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
13 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-30994 and S5W-30996 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 August 2020, what client data fields the DWP supplies for the purposes of sending Invitation to Apply letters.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) do not supply data specific for the sole purpose of sending Invitation to Apply letters. The agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is amended as responsibility for administration of each benefit i…
13 Aug 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-30994, S5W-30995 and S5W-30996 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 August 2020, whether it was required to agree a service level agreement with the DWP for the purposes of using its data for the Invitation to Apply letters and, if so, whether it will…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: A new Service Level Agreement was not required for Invitation to Apply. The consent to use the data required is contained within the existing Generic Aspect/ Data Service agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
30 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, what financial support it is providing for wedding venues and wider wedding industry.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of marriage and civil partnership to couples and to society more widely. Whilst our priority is public health, we know that the sector has been hit hard and we do not underestimate the crisis created by the pa…
30 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the wedding industry regarding the easing of the COVID-19 lockdown to avoid a wave of cancellations.
Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government recognises the importance of marriage and civil partnership to couples and to society more widely. Whilst our priority is public health, we know that the sector has been hit hard and we do not underestimate the crisis created by the pa…
30 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on allowing more than 20 guests to attend a wedding should the venue permit safe distancing.
Answer · Ash Denham: With effect from 15 July, Scottish Ministers amended the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (Restrictions) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 to remove the restriction on the number of households allowed to be present at marriage ceremonies and civil partnership regist…
30 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to adopting the Northern Ireland Executive's guidance for venues and couples organising marriages, civil partnerships or other celebratory events during the easing of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Answer · Ash Denham: In Scotland, we are currently advising that no more than 20 people should attend a marriage ceremony or civil partnership registration, provided they can be accommodated safely with physical distancing in the chosen venue. Receptions or other celebrations rel…
30 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what formula it used to allocate the additional £22 million of COVID-19 funding for the Scottish Welfare Fund, and how much each local authority has been allocated.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-28039 on 3 April 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/2…
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times Social Security Scotland will write to the same families to inform them that they might be eligible for the Best Start Foods and/or the Best Start Grant, and how regularly the DWP and HMRC have agreed to provide new data.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland will write to families once for each Best Start Grants and Best Start Foods that they may be eligible for. As part of operating the Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods, Department for Work and Pensions provides information monthly …
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information Social Security Scotland will collect to monitor the effectiveness of letters aimed at increasing take up of all financial support that families are entitled to, and how frequently it will monitor and publish this information.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland routinely monitors applications received and this information will be used to monitor the effectiveness of letters being issued. Information on applications received is published as part of the quarterly Official Statistics publicatio…
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the data received from the DWP to actively inform families that they might be eligible for the Best Start Foods and/or the Best Start Grant includes all families that have claimed universal credit since the COVID-19 lockdown began.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland uses data from the Department of Work and Pensions to send ‘Invitation to Apply’ letters. This does not mean that the Department of Work and Pensions supplies Social Security Scotland with data on every live Universal Credit claim in …
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is monitoring the procedures undertaken at dental hubs, in light of NHS dentists being prohibited from carrying out aerosol generating procedures
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Procedures provided in the Urgent Care Dental Centres are coded and submitted to Practitioner Services Division of National Services Scotland. This is in line with the normal system of monitoring for NHS dental services.
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when NHS and mixed dentists will be permitted to resume aerosol generating procedures.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Chief Dental Officer (CDO) wrote to all dentists on 30 July confirming that from 17 August NHS dental practices will be able to re-introduce a range of aerosol generating procedures (AGPs). This move will be supported by the provision of enhanced PPE to d…
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many teeth extractions have taken place at each urgent dental care centre since the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: Across all urgent dental care centres there were 14,241 extractions from 20 March to 20 August.
29 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Chief Dental Officer's expert review of aerosol-generating procedures will be published, and by what date the dental profession will be advised of safety procedures.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-30868 on 12 August 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness…
27 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how Fair Start Scotland supports carers into work.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Fair Start Scotland aims to support those who face the greatest challenges accessing the labour market. For carers who are faced with the challenge of returning to work, it provides flexible support, taking into account personal circumstances and removing bar…
8 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the advice and guidance for Social Security Scotland benefits that is supplied to decision makers.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland will publish the advice and guidance supplied to decision makers on the benefits which it currently delivers by Summer 2020.
7 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what consultation with advocacy providers it has had regarding the Independent Advocacy Service that it has set up to help disabled people access social security benefits, and how this differed from the Provision of Social Security Advocacy Services tender DEC375404, which sought a servi…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The rescheduling of the introduction of disability benefits as a result of Coronavirus meant that it was necessary to end the tendering exercise which was being undertaken for the provision of a comprehensive advocacy service before it had been concluded. Ho…
7 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many advocacy providers and/or advocates are being retained to inform the Independent Advocacy Service that it has set up to help disabled people access social security benefits, and what their fee structure is.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: No providers are being retained for this service as the provision will be client focused, with each client being individually referred to a suitable provider. Engagement has commenced with advocacy providers throughout Scotland to discuss this interim servic…
7 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what usage statistics it will publish for the Independent Advocacy Service that it has set up to help disabled people access social security benefits.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The rescheduling of the introduction of disability benefits as a result of Coronavirus meant that it was necessary to end the tendering exercise which was being undertaken for the provision of a comprehensive advocacy service before it had been concluded. The…
7 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the outcome was of the Provision of Social Security Advocacy Services tender DEC375404, which sought a service provider to coordinate and manage a new demand-led service for advocacy support for disabled people requiring an advocate’s help to interact with the social security system…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Coronavirus crisis necessitated a change in timing for the introduction of disability benefits being delivered by Social Security Scotland. A decision was made not to proceed with an award of contract for advocacy services as the demand is anticipated to …
6 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many positions it had forecast to recruit but has not filled as a consequence of its freeze on recruitment.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government did not have a forecast of the numbers expected to be recruited prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. Under normal circumstances, the level of recruitment activities can vary significantly, with the range of monthly recruitment before the…
6 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its staff have ended their employment with it since lockdown, and how many of those positions remain unfilled.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: 73 directly employed staff have ended their employment with the Scottish Government since the start of the lockdown. We do not record vacant posts within our central HR system, nor is every post retained after being vacated. We therefore do not have informati…
6 Jul 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when its freeze on recruitment commenced, and when it expects it to end.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: A pause in routine recruitment commenced on Friday 27th March 2020. The pause in routine external recruitment was lifted on Monday 20 July. There is no date at this time for ending the pause in routine internal recruitment. Covid and other critical recruitmen…
22 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average cost is of it recruiting a member of staff externally.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Due to the range and complexity of post specific and larger scale external recruitment rounds, we do not have an average cost to recruit externally across all recruitments. The average cost to recruit a candidate calculated for a large scale external campaign…
22 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many staffing appointments it has made under the Framework Agreement for Interim Professional Staff Services - National since the start of lockdown restrictions being introduced, and what the cost was of using this framework.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Since the start of lockdown restrictions to date (23 March 2020 to 26 June 2020), 17 interim workers have been assigned to the Scottish Government under the Framework Agreement for Interim Professional Staff Services - National. The cost of using the framewor…
22 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what universal credit household characteristic management information it has received from DWP since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and how frequently this information has been updated.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have provided the Scottish Government with management information that shows Universal Credit declarations to 4 April 2020 broken down by the following household characteristics: (a) restricted ability to work, (b) f…
19 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many Momentum Scotland staff are being consulted for redundancy in each Fair Start Scotland lot.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Under the terms of the contract novation from Momentum, Start Scotland have agreed that TUPE regulations apply and have taken action to transfer all relevant staff over, where staff choose to do so. The undertaking of this process is a matter between Momentu…
19 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it (a) has undertaken and (b) is preparing to undertake to assess the long-term health impacts of COVID-19.
Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: We recognise that rehabilitation is critical to ensuring people are appropriately supported during their recovery from the impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19). The Chief Scientist Office has commissioned a number of rapid research studies on coronavirus (COVID…
19 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that personal independence payment appeals during the COVID-19 crisis are conducted by HM Courts and Tribunal Service in a manner that promotes inclusive communication, including offering an option to use videoconferencing, and whether it will continue …
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Personal independence payment appeals are currently conducted by HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) and are subject to their equality and diversity policies. The Scottish Government welcomes any operational steps taken by HMCTS to promote inclusive commun…
19 Jun 2020 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use by HM Courts and Tribunal Service of (a) paper-based and (b) telephone hearings for personal independence payment appeals during the COVID-19 crisis, and whether it has raised with that department any concerns that it has regarding this process.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-30113 on 15 July 2020. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/2…