Parliamentary questions
Mark Griffin
2,186 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
11 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26062 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 November 2019, whether it has used or plans to use personal independence payment (PIP) caseload data to estimate the cost of introducing a mobility component for older people.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scottish Government analysis of the inclusion of a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People (DAOP) used Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 65+ client group as the best comparison to DAOP. The DLA 65+ client group was used for this analysis…
11 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26062 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 November 2019, what the date was of the disability living allowance (DLA) caseload data that informed the analysis, and when this analysis was (a) conducted and (b) last updated.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scottish Government analysis of the inclusion of a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People (DAOP) used the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 65+ client group from February 2013 as the best comparison to DAOP. This is because it is the mos…
11 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many cases of fraud interest it has (a) received from and (b) communicated to the DWP under paragraph 9.2 of the Best Start Grant service level agreement.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Between the agency launch on 1 September 2018 and 13 November 2019, Social Security Scotland passed 627 fraud interest referrals to DWP. In that same period, Social Security Scotland have received no fraud interest referrals from DWP.
6 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Money Talk Team service budget has been spent, and whether this is in line with the grant funding schedule.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Citizens Advice Scotland’s nine month progress report (November 18 to July 19) for the Money Talk Team shows budget spend of £1,770,978. This is in line with the grant funding schedule for year one which shows two instalments of £900,000.
6 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have used the Money Talk Team service to date.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Citizens Advice Scotland’s nine month progress report (November 18 to July 19) shows 7,777 clients have been supported by the Money Talk Team service.
6 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the verified financial gain of the Money Talk Team service is (a) in total and (b) per client.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: Citizens Advice Scotland’s nine month progress report (November 18 to July 19) shows verified financial gains of £6,005,338.69 for 3,198 Money Talk Team clients. We do not hold information on the verified financial gains for each client.
6 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being taken to manage demand for the Money Talk Team service, and whether funding will be extended if this is exhausted ahead of schedule.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: We recently undertook a six week national marketing campaign in partnership with Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) to help promote the service and generate demand. We are content that this funding will match demand and continue to meet regularly with CAS to moni…
4 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24058 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 31 July 2019, how many (a) children under the age of six and (b) families in each (i) local authority area and Scottish Parliamentary (ii) constituency and (iii) region will receive support (A) from the Scottish C…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In response to part (a)(i) of the question, the following table presents our current illustrative estimates of the number of children under 6 eligible for the Scottish Child Payment, by local authority, as a proportion of all children under 6 in each local au…
4 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-24058 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 31 July 2019, how many (a) children under the age of six and (b) families in each (i) local authority area and Scottish Parliamentary (ii) constituency and (iii) region will receive support from the Scottish Child…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The following tables present our current illustrative estimates of the number of children under 6 and families eligible for the Scottish Child Payment in 2020-21. We expect the caseload to be relatively constant until the increase in age limit to 16, so the f…
1 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated additional cost will be of increasing the qualifying age of disability assistance for working-age people in line with the state pension age, as proposed in its paper, A Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland, Scottish Government response, and what the estima…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: There is no additional cost associated with increasing the qualifying age of Disability Assistance for Working Age People in line with the state pension age as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will also increase the qualifying age for equivalent res…
1 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what response it has received from the social security experience panels to its decision not to proceed with a mobility component in disability assistance for older people.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government sought views on the eligibility criteria for Disability Assistance for Older People as part of our recent Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland. We will continue to engage with stakeholders, including Experience Panels, as …
1 Nov 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the analysis in its paper, A Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland, Scottish Government response, how much it calculated the cost would have been of introducing a mobility component for disability allowance to people aged (a) 65, (b) 66, (c) 67, (d) 68, (e) 69, (…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scottish Government analysis of the inclusion of a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People (DAOP) estimated the annual cost of mobility payments in five year age bands for ages 65-69 to 80-84, and the cost for all people aged 85 and over.…
29 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated additional cost will be of increasing the qualifying age in line with the state pension age, as proposed in its paper, A Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland, Scottish Government response.
29 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its analysis in its paper, A Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland, Scottish Government response, how many older people would receive the (a) standard and (b) enhanced component of a mobility component, according to its calculations of the cost introducing a mobi…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scottish Government analysis of the inclusion of a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People (DAOP) suggests that around 10,000 people could receive the standard rate and around 180,000 people could receive the enhanced rate in 2020-21. Th…
29 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the Equality Impact Assessment that it carried out to inform its decision not to include a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: A partial equality impact assessment was carried out as part of the Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland held earlier this year. This can be found on the Scottish Government’s website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/social-security-consultati…
29 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the full calculations and analysis that it used to inform its decision not to include a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The calculations and analysis that were used to inform the Scottish Government’s decision not to include a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People can be found in A Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland, Scottish Government re…
16 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether disability assistance regulations will provide for a right of appeal where a new determination is made as a result of an individual notifying a change of circumstances.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As set out in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (‘the Act’) and stated in the Disability Assistance in Scotland consultation, an individual will have the right to request a redetermination of any entitlement decision made by Social Security Scotland rel…
16 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether disability assistance regulations will provide a right for an individual to request a review of their award, and, if so, whether (a) the outcome of that review will and (b) the decision whether or not to review an award will attract a right of appeal.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As indicated in the Disability Assistance in Scotland consultation, Disability Assistance regulations will include provision to review awards where individuals notify of a change of circumstances that may affect the level of assistance they receive. Where th…
10 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23228 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 May 2019, how many hours overtime have been worked by permanent staff in the social security programme since April 2019.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Table 1. Overtime hours and minutes worked in each month for programme management and delivery division permanent staff. Month overtime refers to Number of hours and minutes Monday to Saturday Sunday Public and Privilege May-19 19.06 32.30 6.36 Jun-…
10 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many permanent staff in the social security programme have submitted overtime claims in (a) each month and (b) total since May 2018.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: (a) each month Table 1. Number of permanent staff who made an overtime claim for programme management and delivery division. Month claim refers to Number of staff who made an overtime claim Monday to Saturday Sunday Public and Privilege May-18 3 1 0…
10 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23228 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 28 May 2019, how much it has spent on overtime for permanent staff in the social security programme in each month since May 2018.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Table 1. Cost of overtime claims for permanent staff in programme management and delivery division. Month claim refers to Cost of overtime claims Monday to Saturday Sunday Public and Privilege May-18 £335 £210 £0 Jun-18 £852 £289 £0 Jul-18 £997…
8 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much its Social Security Directorate budgeted to spend on salaries for contingent workers in each quarter since 2016-17, and how this compared with actual spend.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The budgets for the Scottish Government, including Social Security Directorate, are set out in the Scottish Budget each year, and links are provided below to each year’s Budget. These include budget lines for Social Security, which include the cost for direct…
7 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many interim and contingent workers are filled (a) directly and have a Scottish Government payroll record and (b) by a supplier, for the purposes of paying tax and national insurance in accordance with IR35 requirements.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Contingent workers are not employed directly by Scottish Government and do not have records on an SG payroll. Information on contingent workers employed by agencies and engaged in Scottish Government Core is published in our Official Statistics publication wh…
7 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many interim and contingent workers it has conducted an IR35 assessment for in each month since April 2017, and of those how many were (a) in and (b) out of scope.
Answer · Derek Mackay: We do not hold a central record of the number of IR35 assessments undertaken. Assessments are conducted on a case by case basis by individual business areas.
7 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it collects regarding the day-rates of the interim and contingent workers that it hires.
Answer · Derek Mackay: All suppliers contracted to provide interim and contingent labour are required to provide monthly reports detailing the workers assigned and the associated rates charged.
7 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it collects regarding the (a) tax-domicile and (b) residency status of the interim and contingent workers that it hires where the role is filled by (i) a supplier and (ii) the worker directly.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Information on tax-domicile and residency status of interim and contingent workers provided through third parties would be more appropriately collected by the supplier. We have no information on this. For those hired directly we collect the information requi…
7 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21923 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 March 2019, at what stage discussions are with the DWP, and when these discussions (a) began and (b) are scheduled to conclude.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Further to my response to S5W-21923, discussions with DWP have been ongoing since the devolved benefits programme began and are expected to continue while Agency Agreements are in use.
7 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21923 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 March 2019, whether it is in a position to provide more information regarding the estimated costs of the agency agreements for disability and winter heating assistance.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Further to my response to S5W-21923, negotiations with DWP in relation to these costs are still ongoing.
7 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21923 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 March 2019, and in light of the Audit Scotland report, The 2018/19 Audit of Social Security Scotland, whether forthcoming agreements for disability and winter heating assistance will resolve the reported issue …
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We are learning from our experience of operating the first Agency Agreement with DWP. Following Social Security Scotland’s first annual audit, officials are holding discussions with their counterparts in DWP, on various matters pertaining to audit and assuran…
7 Oct 2019 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the mean salary is for staff in the (a) Programme Management and Delivery and (b) Chief Digital Officer division of the Social Security Directorate, broken down by grade, and how this compares with that of contingent staff.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We publish the following information on staff salaries in the Scottish Government, which includes the Social Security Directorate:https://www.gov.scot/publications/public-sector-pay-policy-staff-pay-remits-2019-20-technical-guide/pages/9/ https://www.gov.sc…