Mark Griffin

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the rate of the Scottish Child Payment will be for (a) each eligible child under six years of age, (b) each eligible child over six years of age but under 16, and (c) all eligible children under the age of 16 in (i) 2020-21, (ii) 2021-22, (iii) 2022-23 and (iv) 2023-24.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The initial rate of the Scottish Child Payment, when the first payments are made in 2020-21, will be £10 per week, per eligible child. Its rate in future years will be informed by the approach we take to the uprating of the devolved benefits which we are curr…

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) nominal and (b) real value of the Scottish Child Payment will be at 2019-20 prices when it is delivered (i) in 2021 and (ii) fully in 2022.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-25155 on 18 September 2019. 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/parliamentarybusin…

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment in its Scottish Child Payment position paper, that “having to build interfaces with the suite of legacy benefits in mitigation of this risk was deemed to be too technically complex, time-consuming and not cost-effective, given that UC [Universal Credit] is design…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Such a model was considered. It was rejected for a number of reasons, including the technical complexity of designing it, the resulting risks to delivery of the other devolved benefits, and the ongoing uncertainty around delays to Universal Credit migration, …

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the Scottish Child Payment will be made in respect of children in a household who have reached (a) the age of 16 and (b) the age of 16 and their 16th birthday was less than a year ago, and (i) are still in and (b) have left secondary education.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As set out in the policy position paper, by the end of 2022 the Scottish Child Payment will be paid to all eligible children under the age of 16.

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding of the Analysis of Options for the Income Supplement that Council Tax Reduction reaches a relatively small share of children living in poverty.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Nearly half a million households were receiving some level of Council Tax Reduction (CTR) in June 2019, and on average recipients saved over £700 per year. 58% of CTR recipients live in one of the 30% most deprived areas in Scotland. At the end of this financ…

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers there to be any legal impediment to Social Security Scotland paying the Scottish Child Payment automatically.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: While there is no legal impediment to automatic social security payments, in introducing the Scottish Child Payment the Scottish Government prioritised the delivery route which would deliver the benefit to the quickest timescales and with the least impact on …

4 Sep 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a full breakdown of its costing of the Scottish Child Payment set out in its position paper, and for what reason those costs are not detailed under a specific option in its Analysis of Options for the Income Supplement paper.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In the first full year of payments to under 6’s (2021-22) policy costs are expected to be around £70 million, rising to £180 million in the first full year of full roll-out to under 16’s (2023-24). The total establishment cost of the new payment to the end of…

28 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what data it gathers on the number of people who are deaf, deafblind, deafened and hard of hearing, and what methods it uses to gather accurate data.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Scotland’s Census, last conducted in 2011 and next due to run in 2021, gathers population-wide data on self-reported long term conditions, including hearing loss and sight loss. A variety of reports and data are available to download including from https://w…

28 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it expects to gather from the question in the 2021 Census on deafness, and whether it considers that this will provide accurate data on the demography of people and their levels of hearing loss.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As in 2011, the 2021 Census intends to collect information about the number of people who have “Deafness or partial hearing loss”, as well as demographic information that will provide age and location. A new question on BSL use is proposed for the 2021 Census…

28 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what provision it has in place to reduce the barriers faced on a daily basis by people who are deaf, deafened, deafblind or hard of hearing.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Since 2014, Scottish Ministers have provided almost £4m to establish and support the See Hear Strategy, which is available to view on the Scottish Government website. I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-22380 on 17 April 2019. All answers to wri…

28 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what methods it uses to gather accurate data on the ages of people in Scotland who have a hearing loss and the levels of hearing loss that they have.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24990 on 12 September 2019. 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/parliamentarybusine…

28 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what methods it uses to gather accurate data on where people who have hearing loss live, and the levels of hearing loss that they have.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24990 on 12 September 2019. 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/parliamentarybusine…

26 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the discussion between the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at the June 2019 meeting of the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare regarding the suspension of the managed migration from DLA to PIP for…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Information on what the (a) annual and (b) total cumulative loss of benefit is for people who have already been migrated from DLA to PIP is held by the Department for Work and Pensions, not the Scottish Government. Information on how many people on PIP have …

26 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the discussion between the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions at the June 2019 meeting of the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare regarding the suspension of the managed migration from DLA to PIP for…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: DWP will cease the managed migration of working age people receiving DLA to PIP from 1 April 2020, when Scottish Ministers take executive competence for the remaining devolved benefits. The date when working age DLA clients will be transferred to Social Secu…

14 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the provision of social security advocacy services will extend to (a) parents or carers applying for disability assistance for children and young people in their care and (b) adults applying for disability assistance for looked after children for whom they are responsible.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 provides for advocacy to be available to support people with a disability to engage effectively with the Scottish social security system. If a young person has a disability and is applying for Scottish disability assis…

14 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the letter of 11 July 2019 from the Cabinet Secretary for Social Security and Older People to the Social Security Committee, which states that “we are working towards having social security advocacy services in place around summer 2020, when the Scottish Government will star…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As explained in my letter to the Social Security Committee, we expect advocacy services to be in place for Summer 2020, when we commence delivery of Disability Assistance for Children and Young People.

8 Aug 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the annual accounts timetable set out in exhibit 4 in the Social Security Scotland Annual Audit Plan 2018/19, on what date the (a) third, (b) fourth, (c) fifth, (d) sixth and (e) seventh key stage was completed.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We are working closely with Audit Scotland on the Annual Report and Accounts audit process. That process remains on schedule to table the first set of Accounts for Social Security Scotland in line with our legislative requirements.

29 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Support for Carers position paper stating that it would take place between June and August 2019, for what reason the consultation on the Carers Strategic Policy Statement has not begun, and whether this will lead to a delay in the final statement being published in early…

Answer · Joe FitzPatrick: The Carers Strategic Policy Statement will be a high-level document setting out the Scottish Government’s approach and policies for carer support across a range of Ministerial portfolios. As such, it is not intended to announce or form the basis for new polic…

29 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update its social security position papers to take account of the revised delivery dates for devolved benefits.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I will update Parliament on our position on social security in due course. In the meantime, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-24018 on 26 June 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the s…

26 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what restructuring of Social Security Scotland (a) is planned and (b) has taken place, and what the reasons are for this.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland has grown in scale since its launch in September 2018. It currently employs around 400 staff - mainly across its Dundee head office and second Glasgow site. Once fully operational, that will grow further to in excess of 1,900 people. …

25 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the reason is for the delay in providing an answer to (a) S5W-23863, (b) S5W-23864, (c) S5W-23865, (d) S5W-23866, (e) S5W-23867 and (f) S5W-23868.

23 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23273 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 29 May 2019, on what date the draft unaudited annual accounts with complete working papers will be submitted.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We are working closely with Audit Scotland on the Annual Report and Accounts audit process. That process remains on schedule to table the first set of Accounts for Social Security Scotland in line with our legislative requirements.

17 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has asked the Scottish Fiscal Commission to consider its plans for the Scottish Child Payment and, if not, whether these plans will be submitted as part of the 2020-21 budget and forecasting.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Fiscal Commission provides independent and official forecasts of all devolved social security expenditure, to inform the Scottish Budget. This will include the Scottish Child Payment. We have made the Commission aware of the Scottish Child Paymen…

16 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-23739 by Jamie Hepburn on 26 June 2019, whether it will provide the information that was requested for disabled staff who have given permission to have their status recorded on HR systems.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Table 1 shows the number of individuals who have self-selected the disability category as of 31 December 2018. It is necessary to take caution when interpreting these figures, as this question is not mandatory. Therefore, it may not give an accurate picture o…

12 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations tendered for the service design of the Social Security Scotland (a) desk-based and (b) face-to-face healthcare professional assessment function.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The service design of the Social Security Scotland (a) desk-based and (b) face-to-face healthcare professional assessment function was tendered as one contract. A total of four tenders were received by the tender return date of 11 March 2019 from the followi…

1 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the estimated cost of £180 million for the Scottish Child Payment for 2023-2024 includes delivery costs.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The estimated cost of £180 million refers to the demand-led costs of the Scottish Child Payment – the total amount of payments which are expected to be made to recipients in 2023-24. The total establishment cost of the new payment to the end of this parliamen…

1 Jul 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the calculation that 30,000 children will be lifted out of poverty by the Scottish Child Payment is based on 100% take-up.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The modelling undertaken to assess the expected impacts of the Scottish Child Payment was based on an assumed take-up rate of 83% to allow us to make a more realistic assumption on take-up for the payment when an application is required. This is the take-up r…

20 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-21923 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 March 2019, in light of the progress with the discussions with the DWP, how much it estimates the transition will cost each year, broken down by benefit, and what methodology it uses to calculate this.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Further to the response to question S5W-21923 on 13 March 2019, I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-23936 on 3 July 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can …

19 Jun 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 the discussions with DWP in relation to these costs have been completed and, if (a) so, on what date and (b) not, when it expects them to do so.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Further to the response to question S5W-21923, Agency Agreements will be put in place on a case-by-case basis with DWP. Detailed costs will be scoped as each Agency Agreement is prepared. The Agency Agreements will commence with transfer of executive competen…

18 Jun 2019 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration (a) the Just Transition Commission and (b) Scottish Enterprise has made of the economic impact of the Ardochrig super-battery project near Whitelee Windfarm.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Just Transition Commission has not made any assessment of the economic impact of this project. The Commission works independently from Government and is tasked with providing practical advice to Ministers on how to make the transition to a net-zero econom…