Parliamentary questions
Mark Griffin
2,186 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
19 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has asked the UK Government lay commencement regulations under section 23 of the Scotland Act 2016 for for the purposes of having executive competence for the delivery of (a) cold-spell heating assistance and (b) winter heating assistance by Social Security Scotland and, if so…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We have not yet asked the UK government to lay commencement regulations in respect of Cold Spell Heating Assistance or Winter Heating Assistance. The timing of the introduction of these new benefits will depend upon implementation and successful testing of th…
18 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-13172, S5W-13171 and S5W-13158 by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2017, when direct engagement with the experience panels regarding (a) extending Winter Fuel Payments to families with disabled children on the higher rate of Disability Living Allowanc…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19465 on 14 November 2018 and S5W-19503 on 5 November 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.pa…
18 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13171 by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2017, whether the commitment to extend Winter Fuel Payments to families with disabled children on the higher rate of Disability Living Allowance will be dependent on the higher rate of the care component, mobili…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19465 on 14 November 2018 and S5W-19503 on 5 November 2018. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.par…
18 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13171 by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2017, for what reason the experience panels are required to consider precise eligibility of extending winter fuel payments to families with disabled children on the higher rate of Disability Living Allowance, in…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The purpose of the experience panels is to understand the direct personal experience and views of people with experience of the benefits being devolved, including families with disabled children. Experience panels research will inform policy development and h…
18 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13172 by Jeane Freeman on 21 December 2017, at what rate Winter Fuel Payments will be made to families with disabled children on the higher rate of Disability Living Allowance, and, in light of its commitment to consult the experience panels, and ac…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The rate of Winter Fuel payments is currently the responsibility of the Department for Work and Pensions. I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-13172 on 21 December 2017 and S5W-19465 on 14 November 2018. All answers to written parliamentary quest…
17 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19090 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 October 2018, what the expected cost of delivery is of the carer's allowance supplement in future years, and whether the cost for 2018-19 includes one-off costs of delivery in the first year of payments being m…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The costs for Social Security Scotland to administer the Carer’s Allowance Supplement in 2019-20 are estimated to be in the region of £151,000. This does not include Social Security Scotland staffing costs. As per response to PQ S5W-19090, the £193,000 costs …
17 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-19091 and S5W-19090 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 October 2018, what the individual cost is per payment of (a) carer's allowance delivered by the DWP and (b) carer's allowance supplement delivered by Social Security Scotland, and which of these…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: It is not appropriate to compare cost per payment for delivery of Carer’s Allowance and Carer’s Allowance Supplement to eligible carers in Scotland, as these are not like for like. DWP administer Carer’s Allowance on behalf of Scottish Ministers under an Age…
17 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Cold Weather Payments Ten Minute Rule Bill, which is due to have its second reading in the UK Parliament on 23 November 2018 and which re-examines the way that weather data that triggers cold weather payments is gathered.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government is aware of the proposal and the representations being made to the UK government on this issue. The case for more localised forecasts and weather stations has also been made to Scottish Ministers. We will continue to listen to views an…
16 Oct 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it provides to NHS boards to reinstate community health services.
15 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that recipients of carer's allowance may be prosecuted or fined where the DWP's Verify Earnings and Pensions system finds that the earnings threshold has been breached.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Carers play a vital role in our communities and I have contacted the UK Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to highlight my concerns about the impact of this action by DWP. I have sought reassurance that in the event of any debt recovery action, individu…
15 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Fairer for Carers campaign by Carers UK.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government would welcome an increase of Carer’s Allowance to the same rate as Job Seeker’s Allowance for all carers across the UK, as has already been implemented in Scotland.
15 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct the DWP, under its agency agreement, to increase the carer's allowance earnings threshold to match the (a) national living wage at 16 hours per week or (b) real living wage at 16 hours per week while the agreement remains in place.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In order to raise the level of Carer’s Allowance to Job Seeker’s Allowance, we introduced Carer's Allowance Supplement as a temporary measure until Carer’s Assistance is being fully delivered by the Scottish Government. This required us to take Executive Comp…
15 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has instructed the DWP, under its agency agreement, not to recover, fine or prosecute a recipient of carer's allowance whose earnings have breached the earnings threshold.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-19402 on 7 November 2018. 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/parliamentarybusines…
15 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the carer's allowance earnings threshold will increase in 2019-20.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As set out in the Carer’s Allowance Agency Agreement, “the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will, on behalf of the Scottish Ministers, continue to deliver an operational service for people resident in Scotland, consistent with the delivery of Carer’s Al…
15 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it will receive from the DWP in cases where the earnings of a recipient of carer's allowance have breached the earnings threshold, and how Social Security Scotland will use this information for the purposes of recovering carer's allowance supplement.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government receives data from the Department for Work and Pensions about who is receiving Carer's Allowance and living in Scotland on the qualifying dates for Carer’s Allowance Supplement. We do not receive information about clients’ earnings.
4 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18928 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 October 2018, when the (a) supplementary information will be published and (b) invitation to tender will be issued, and whether it will make the information detailing the outline service requirement, the procure…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The current procurement timetable aims to have the invitation to tender along with the supplementary information issued under non-disclosure agreement before the end of the year. This information will not be published outwith the Dynamic Purchasing System.
4 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18935 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 October 2018, who the suppliers are, and whether they are (a) disability confident, (b) carer positive and (c) living wage accredited.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The suppliers referred to are listed in the following table with their current status in the following categories: (a) disability confident, (b) carer positive and (c) living wage accredited. Suppliers disability confident carer positive living wage accre…
4 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18930 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 October 2018, when this information will be in the public domain, and whether the withholding of the information is consistent with the co-design approach agreed by the Parliament on 2 October 2018.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The information referred to will be announced in due course. As noted previously, in line with the principles of co-design, the Social Security Experience Panels have provided extensive input into the Disability Benefits Discovery work, particularly in relati…
4 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18843 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 4 October 2018, whether experience panels have (a) been asked whether or (b) proposed that Social Security Scotland should provide a range of application forms for disability assistance that correspond with an ind…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We have asked the Experience Panels how the application process can be made more accessible and can best enable people to explain how their illness or disability affects them. The findings from these projects are currently being analysed and will be published…
3 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18932 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 October 2018, whether its shortlisting of the buildings included consideration of ScotRail's designation of High Street Station as not having (a) accessible ticket machines, (b) a ramp for train access, (c) step…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The criteria used when shortlisting interim buildings for Social Security Scotland included proximity to mainline railway stations as well as access to other forms of transport. It also considered accessibility to the buildings themselves, facilities availab…
3 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many carer's allowance supplement payments it has made in each week since 3 September 2018.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland has made 76,996 Carer's Allowance Supplement payments to date. The number of payments issued by Social Security Scotland per week were: Week Commencing Payments Issued 10 September 2018 1,026 17 September 2018 15,109 24 Septemb…
3 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) enquiries and (b) complaints Social Security Scotland has received regarding payment of the carer's allowance supplement, and whether the DWP has reported any misdirected enquiries to the Scottish Government.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: With regard to Carer’s Allowance Supplement, Social Security Scotland has received (a) 10266 enquiries and (b) 33 complaints. Furthermore, DWP has not reported any misdirected enquiries to the Scottish Government.
3 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many carer's allowance supplement payments have been returned or were not successful.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Of the 76,996 carer's allowance supplement payments made to date, 127 payments have were returned or were unsuccessful. This represents 0.16% of the total number of payments made. Of the returned or unsuccessful payments, 75 have been successfully reissued to…
3 Oct 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many carer's allowance supplement payments it is still to make.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: There are 152 payments of carer's allowance supplement which remain to be made. In order for payment to be made, we require clients to provide information to Social Security Scotland. Social Security Scotland is in the process of contacting these individuals.…
27 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates the administration of the Carer's Allowance Supplement by Social Security Scotland will cost in 2018-19.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The costs for Social Security Scotland to administer the Carer’s Allowance Supplement in 2018-19 are estimated to be in the region of £193,000. This does not include Social Security Scotland staffing costs. Social Security Scotland staff are multi-disciplinar…
27 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates the DWP's delivery of Carer's Allowance under agency arrangements will cost it in 2018-19.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: DWP administer Carer's Allowance on behalf of Scottish Ministers under an Agency Agreement and these costs will be recharged to Social Security Scotland. DWP has provided an indicative full year cost of £5.8 million for 2017-18. DWP will recharge Social Secur…
27 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-18813 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 September 2018, what the expected equivalent level of planned expenditure in Scotland is from the date of transfer to the end of the financial year, and what the anticipated gap is between the amount of funding…
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In its publication of 11 September, the Scottish Fiscal Commission provided figures for the indicative expenditure for Best Start Grant - Pregnancy and Baby Grant in Scotland - for 2018-19 based on two potential dates of implementation: £2.2 million from 1 No…
26 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many performance-related fees have been paid to Fair Start Scotland providers based on the (a) 13- and (b) 26-week employment milestones, and what the value of these fees is.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government will publish national level spend detail on Fair Start Scotland in due course. The first release of statistics, reporting on the first six months of Fair Start Scotland, will be published on 28 November 2018.
26 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid in service fees to Fair Start Scotland.
Answer · Jamie Hepburn: The Scottish Government will publish national level spend detail on Fair Start Scotland in due course. The first release of statistics, reporting on the first six months of Fair Start Scotland, will be published on 28 November 2018. The Scottish Fiscal Commis…
26 Sep 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government to what extent Social Security Scotland engages with the Scottish Union of Supported Employment to assist with its recruitment.
Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland have a positive and ongoing engagement with the Scottish Union of Supported Employment. We are working in partnership with the Scottish Union of Supported Employment to ensure potential candidates for roles within Social Security Scot…