Mark Griffin

26 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what formal relationship Social Security Scotland has with Fair Start Scotland (FSS), and how many staff it has recruited via FSS. 

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland has formed a close working relationship with Remploy who are the Delivery Partner for Fair Start Scotland for the Tayside area. We are working in partnership with Remploy to ensure potential candidates for roles within Social Security…

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the full commencement schedule for the provisions in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018, and which provisions it expects to commence in the next (a) three, (b) six, (c) nine and (d) 12 months.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Sections 95 to 100 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 came into force on 2 June 2018 and sections 81 to 85 (and 76 in part) came into force on 3 September 2018. A second set of commencement regulations will be laid before the Scottish Parliament short…

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding from its Consultation on Social Security in Scotland that the most mentioned terms that respondents disliked were, welfare, claimant, benefit, customer or client, sanction and scrounger, and whether (a) its Social Security Directorate and (b) Social Se…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We are carrying out ongoing user research and we have also conducted research through our Experience Panel of people with lived experience of social security. A report on this research will be published in November 2018. Both the Social Security Directorate …

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the reported comments by the former Minister for Social Security in July 2016 and the outcome of its consultation, what progress it has made in phasing out the word "benefit" in relation to social security.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Our new social security system is being designed with people, not for them. We are carrying out ongoing user research and we have also conducted research through our Experience Panel of people with lived experience of social security. A report on this resear…

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) its Social Security Directorate and (b) Social Security Scotland has spent on goods and services from the private sector, and from which suppliers.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Social Security Directorate spent £5.2 million in 2017-18 and has spent £9.6 million to date in 2018-19 on goods and services from the private sector. Social Security Scotland was formally established as an executive agency of the Scottish Government on …

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment Social Security Scotland has made of the accessibility and mobility access of (a) the leased buildings and (b) immediate environment of its operational site in (i) Dundee and (ii) Glasgow.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Accessibility and mobility access both to the interim buildings was a key criteria in arriving at the interim headquarters in Dundee and the office in Glasgow. A crucial component of this analysis was the accessibility of these buildings. The accessibility co…

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what public transport access there is to Social Security Scotland offices in (a) Dundee and (b) Glasgow, and whether these are accessible to disabled people.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland’s interim headquarters at Dundee House in Dundee and the Glasgow office at 220 High Street are both situated close to main bus routes and mainline rail stations. Proximity to public transport links, frequency and volume of services a…

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Prior Information Notice, Provision of Agile Service Design to deliver Social Security Assessments Function, and Supplier Awareness Event are subject to a non-disclosure agreement.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The documents cited are subject to a non-disclosure agreement as they contain sensitive information that is not yet in the public domain.

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the outcome was of the Supplier Awareness Event on 11 September 2018 for the notice, Provision of Agile Service Design to deliver Social Security Assessments Function, and what the next stage in the procurement process will be.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The intended outcome is that the event will generate competition for the tender process and that any feedback received will be considered when refining the requirements prior to commencing a tender exercise.

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what feedback was received at the Supplier Awareness Event on 11 September 2018 in relation to its notice, Provision of Agile Service Design to deliver Social Security Assessments Function.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: At the event held on 11 September, we had the opportunity to engage with a range of interested suppliers in order to help inform the service design procurement going forward.

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role experience panels have had in developing the Provision of Agile Service Design to deliver Social Security Assessments Function contract, and when they were consulted on the information included in the associated Prior Information Notice and at the Supplier Awareness Event.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Social Security Experience Panels provided extensive input into the Disability Benefits Discovery work, particularly in relation to their experiences of the current system of assessments. This work has influenced the development of the contract, although …

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the materials detailing the outline service requirement, the procurement process and the support available to potential tenderers that were provided or displayed at the Supplier Awareness Event on 11 September 2018 for its notice, Provision of Agile Service Design…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We intend to publish this as supplementary information with the Invitation to Tender (ITT) which, as it stands, will be issued to suppliers registered on the Scottish Governments Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) Lot 1 – Digital Outcomes.

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many potential suppliers (a) registered and (b) attended the Supplier Awareness Event on 11 September 2018 for its notice, Provision of Agile Service Design to deliver Social Security Assessments Function, and who these potential suppliers are.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The register of those attending the event is attached below. Company No. of attendees AA & B Consulting Limited 1 BJSS 2 Capgemini UK 2 Chess Digital 1 Deloitte 2 Diona 1 Edge Testing 1 Ernst & Young LLP 1 Exception 2 FutureGov 0 IBM 2…

20 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Public Contracts Scotland tender notices it has issued in each year since 2015-16, including the current year to date, that were subject to a non-disclosure agreement, and what proportion this was of the total number of notices it issued.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Scottish Government has published 2161 notices since 2015-16. The breakdown for each calendar year is as follows: 2015: 477; 2016: 511; 2017: 615; 2018: 558. Of this number we are aware of 3 notices being subject to NDA. We are also aware of a further 6 procu…

17 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the use of the definition of "disability", within the meaning of section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 in the Scottish Tribunals (Eligibility for Appointment) Amendment Regulations 2018, is to be considered as the definition of "disability" for the purposes of the Social Security (S…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Where words are used without further definition in legislation, they take their natural meaning in each context in which they are used. It is for the courts to interpret them if necessary, not the Scottish Government.

17 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much Council Tax Reduction Scheme support has gone unclaimed each year, and what information it has regarding how many people who were eligible for this failed to claim.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The administration of CTR is the responsibility of local authorities we do not collect data on how many households who were eligible under the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme applied to their local authority for a reduction, so do not hold this information.

14 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a range of application forms for disability assistance to correspond with an individual's primary condition.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We are engaging closely with people who have a lived experience of accessing disability assistance to co-design an application process that is straightforward, accessible, and enables individuals to put across the information they think best describes their d…

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16813 by Jeane Freeman on 5 June 2018, whether the provisions at chapter 5 will be commenced for each benefit at the point at which executive competence for the respective benefit transfers.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Part 2 Chapter 5 of the 2018 Act relates to the liability of individuals to repay assistance that is given in error under the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018. The Scottish Government intends to commence most of that chapter of the Act shortly, and will la…

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the eligibility criteria for the Best Start Grant (Pregnancy and Baby Grant) do not align with the eligibility criteria for free school meals.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The eligibility criteria for Best Start Grant (BSG) ensure that low income families in Scotland who would have received a Sure Start Maternity Grant continue to receive support where they would not if eligibility was narrowed to match that for free school mea…

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of each (a) public information and (b) advertising campaign it (i) ran in 2017-18 and (ii) has run or plans to run in 2018-19, also broken down by length of campaign.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The information requested has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 60057).

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will modify the backdate period of the Early Years Assistance (Best Start Grants) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 to 1 November 2018 to mitigate the risk that the DWP does not put in place the systems required to begin making payments.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Early Years Assistance (Best Start Grants) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 do not have a backdate period. They will come in to force the day after the date on which they are made. This date will be aligned with the start date for applications.

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of Table 5: Indicative BSG expenditure and caseload in Scotland for 2018-19, in the Scottish Fiscal Commission report, Supplementary Costings:  Social Security Best Start Grant  (Pregnancy and Baby Grant) September 2018, and whether it will commit to delivery …

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government will deliver Pregnancy and Baby Grant payments before Christmas 2018. We will publicise the start date in due course. The Scottish Fiscal Commission have chosen to present indicative forecasts for costs in 2018-19 based on potential d…

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether expenditure on the Best Start Grant (Pregnancy and Baby Grant) will be demand-led.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Yes, expenditure on the Best Start Pregnancy and Baby Grant will be demand led.

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Fiscal Commission's forecast regarding (a) the uptake of and (b) expenditure on the Best Start Grant in 2018-19.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: We welcome the first forecasts for the Best Start Pregnancy and Baby Grant from the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC). The SFC report highlights the uncertainties around take-up rates and expenditure. There are particular uncertainties with these estimates gi…

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the First Minister on 4 September 2018 (Official Report, c. 22), what systems it has asked the DWP to put in place to deliver the Best Start Grant; on what date it requested these, and for what reason they were not in place prior to this announcement.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government have been engaging with DWP over re-use of key systems over the last 2 years which culminated in a formal request over the Summer of 2017 to utilise DWP’s Central Information System (CIS) and Central Payment System (CPS). The implement…

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it and (b) the UK Government will provide to fund the Best Start Grant (Pregnancy and Baby Grant) in 2018-19.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The funding transfer which will accompany the transfer of executive competence for Sure Start Maternity Grant has not yet been agreed with the UK Government. However, it is expected that this will be equivalent to the level of planned expenditure in Scotland …

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether entitlement to Best Start Grant (Early Learning and School Age Payments) will apply to children who meet early learning and school age once payments of the Best Start Grant (Pregnancy and Baby Grant) begin in 2018-19, and, if so, whether these payments will be made retrospectivel…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Best Start Grant is made up of 3 separate grants and an application is required for each grant. Implementation will be in 2 phases. Social Security Scotland will accept applications from those eligible for the Pregnancy and Baby Grant before Christmas 20…

13 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Early Years Assistance (Best Start Grants) (Scotland) Regulations 2018 will be amended to include (a) early learning and (b) school age payments.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland will make payments for both the early learning and school age grants by Summer 2019. Regulations to provide for that assistance will be laid in draft for the Scottish Parliament’s approval in the usual way in advance of the first paym…

12 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Carer's Allowance claimants have an outstanding (a) overpayment and (b) fraud debt, broken down by the value of the debt.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The following table provides current data obtained from DWP on approximately how many claimants in Scotland have an outstanding overpayment of Carer’s Allowance and how many of these overpayments have been classified as fraud. The table also breaks down the f…

12 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assumed executive competence for handling pre-existing Carer's Allowance overpayment and fraud debt, and whether these debts are subject to (a) DWP recovery rules under agency arrangements or (b) Social Security Scotland procedures.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government assumed executive competence for Carer's Allowance, and associated debt, on 3 September 2018. As Carers Allowance will continued to be delivered by DWP under an agency agreement, the recovery of this debt is subject to existing rules.