Parliamentary questions
Mark Griffin
2,186 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
4 May 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the (a) Airdrie and (b) Hamilton primary care out-of-hours service was closed or unavailable in each instance since 2015.
Answer · Shona Robison: This is an operational matter for NHS Lanarkshire.
4 May 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the reported calls from residents to restore the primary care out-of-hours service in the Cumbernauld and Kilsyth constituency.
Answer · Shona Robison: This is an operational matter for NHS Lanarkshire.
4 May 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Airdrie primary care out-of-hours service was closed on 21-22 April 2018.
Answer · Shona Robison: This is an operational matter for NHS Lanarkshire.
4 May 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether there have been any concerns reported to the National Out-of-Hours Operations Group regarding (a) staffing challenges and (b) suspension or unavailability of service at the Airdrie primary care out-of-hours service and, if so, whether it will provide details of these.
Answer · Shona Robison: This is a matter for the National Out of Hours Operations Group.
4 May 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it plans with NHS Lanarkshire regarding the availability of the Airdrie primary care out-of-hours service.
Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-16452 on 22 May 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/parliamentarybusiness/28…
4 May 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many times the (a) Airdrie and (b) Hamilton primary care out-of-hours service has been closed, suspended or unavailable in each year since 2015.
Answer · Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally.
4 May 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the implications are for the (a) Airdrie and (b) Hamilton primary care out-of-hours service of the report of the National Review of Primary Care Out-of-Hours Services.
Answer · Shona Robison: The independent review Pulling together: transforming urgent care for the people of Scotland published in 2015 made a number of recommendations for NHS Boards and their local delivery partners and I expect Boards across Scotland to be working towards delivery…
4 May 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the performance of the Airdrie and Hamilton out-of-hours services compares with the Health Improvement Scotland quality indicators.
Answer · Shona Robison: The latest official data for Out of Hours Primary Care Services in Scotland was published by ISD on 27 February 2018. Whilst the Healthcare Improvement Scotland Quality Indicators for primary care out-of-hours services do not permit this level of detail to be…
2 May 2018 · Portfolio Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to ensure that all eligible men receive an mpMRI scan before a prostate biopsy.
2 May 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15282 by Jeanne Freeman on 27 March 2018, for what reason its position statement on the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was not published by 30 April 2018, and by what date it will now be published.
25 Apr 2018 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have applied for assistance through the Neonatal Expenses Fund.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Neonatal Expenses Fund was launched on 1 st April. We will monitor implementation and uptake of the scheme at key points through the first year to ensure parents of babies in neonatal care are aware of the fund and claiming from it, and will adjust the sc…
13 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been employed at its Social Security (a) Directorate and (b) Agency in each month since April 2017.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: All social security staff are currently employed by the Scottish Government. The following table provides the relevant staffing levels from April 2017. Full time equivalent staff in Social Security Directorate and Agency Implementation Division (directly emp…
13 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) temporary contract and (b) seconded staff there are at its Social Security (i) Directorate and (ii) Agency, and what the total value is of their salaries
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The following table provides figures as at end March 2018 Contingent Worker Seconded Loan Actual Staff Cost 2017-18 Social Security Directorate (excluding Agency Implementation staff) 22 1 2 £1.119m Social Security Agency Implementation Division…
13 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many UK Government staff have transferred to its Social Security (a) Directorate and (b) Agency.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: As of 20 April 2018, 55 UK Government staff have transferred to Scottish Government Social Security Directorate. Of these, 13 staff have been assigned to the Social Security Agency Implementation Division. The Social Security Agency will not employ any staff …
13 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many staff in its Social Security Directorate have transferred to its Social Security Agency.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The social security agency will not employ any staff until it goes live later this year. At that point, it is expected that most staff currently employed within the Scottish Government Social Security Agency Implementation Division will be assigned to the soc…
13 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many agency staff there are at its Social Security (a) Directorate and (b) Agency.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Social Security Agency will not employ any staff until it goes live later this year. For reporting purposes temporary agency staff and temporary contract staff are recorded as contingent workers. As of end March 2018 the number of Full Time Equivalent con…
13 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government who the members are of the Supported Accommodation Steering Group.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The members of the Supported Accommodation Steering Group are: Michael McClements, COSLA Tony Cain, ALACHO Jeremy Hewer, SFHA David Bookbinder, Glasgow West of Scotland Housing Forum Yvette Burgess, Housing Support Enabling Unit Amanda Britain, CIH Jo …
13 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the Supported Accommodation Steering Group last met.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The Supported Accommodation Steering Group has met on 4 occasions to date: 24 October 2017, 30 November 2017, 30 January 2018 and 17 April 2018.
13 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government by what date the Supported Accommodation Steering Group will make its recommendations.
Answer · Kevin Stewart: The planned programme of work will allow the Supported Accommodation Steering Group to make recommendations to Ministers by the end of December 2018.
9 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how the 2019-20 Budget process will take account for the proposed income supplement to tackle child poverty.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government’s Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan was launched on 29 March setting out our plans to reach the statutory targets to reduce and ultimately eradicate child poverty by 2030. A key action in the plan is the commitment to work towards i…
6 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the re-use of the Department for Work and Pensions Central Payment System to make payment of all social security assistance is compatible with the IT accessibility programmes that its staff use, and whether it will provide a full list of programmes that the system can be used wit…
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Access by Social Security Scotland staff to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Central Payments System (CPS) will be via backend API (application programming interface) calls which take place ‘system to system’ as opposed to a member of staff accessin…
6 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what IT accessibility programmes it provides for its staff.
Answer · Derek Mackay: Ensuring equality of opportunity to enable people to join and move through the organisation is a key consideration within Scottish Government, including ensuring our people are able to access the equipment and environment required to allow them to contribute …
4 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the impact of the universal credit minimum income floor will be for (a) claimants, (b) local authorities and (c) the scheme.
Answer · Derek Mackay: We have not carried out a formal assessment of the impact of the minimum income floor on the Council Tax Reduction scheme. The Scottish Government will continue to proactively amend the Council Tax Reduction scheme where evidence indicates any element of its …
4 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people have universal credit self-employment status for the purposes of council tax reduction calculations, and what statistical information (a) it and (b) local authorities collect regarding this.
Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government does not collect this information, and we are not aware which, if any, local authorities choose to do so.
4 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the impact of the universal credit minimum income floor will be on council tax reduction claims where the discretion under Regulation 3 of the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018 is not used.
Answer · Derek Mackay: In cases where the Universal Credit minimum income floor had been applied an applicant could potentially receive a lower level of Council Tax reduction. The Scottish Government is currently exploring options for changes to the CTR scheme in light of Universal…
4 Apr 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government on what dates its officials have met the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to discuss universal credit split payments.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: Since the passing of the Scotland Act in March 2016, officials from the Scottish Government have held frequent discussions with officials from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) about a range of policy, operational and delivery issues to ensure the sa…
28 Mar 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the £152,210.25 gain that is referred to in the document, “You’ve Earned It” Benefit Uptake Campaign – October 2017 Evaluation Report, represents the total gain to date or is the annual gain based on awards.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The figures used to calculate the Client Financial Gain are calculated relevant to the length of the award. In some cases these are one-off payments. When awards are for on-going benefits these have been calculated up to a maximum of 52 weeks. The Client Fin…
28 Mar 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the figures that it used to calculate the £152,210.25 gain that is referred to in the document, “You’ve Earned It” Benefit Uptake Campaign – October 2017 Evaluation Report.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: We do not intend to publish the figures used to calculate the Client Financial Gain figure. This was calculated by our partners at Citizen Advice Bureaux and provided to the Scottish Government for the purposes of this evaluation.
28 Mar 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many people were counted when calculating the £152,210.25 gain that is referred to in the document, “You’ve Earned It” Benefit Uptake Campaign – October 2017 EvaluationReport.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Client Financial Gain figure is based on awards to 66 individuals. The Client Financial Gain figure is based on confirmed awards for individuals who engaged with a Citizen Advice Bureau (CAB), either in person or by phone, and who referenced campaign act…
22 Mar 2018 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14564 by Jeane Freeman on 6 March 2018, which other DWP technology platforms and systems the Social Security Programme Board has (a) considered and (b) approved the re-use of.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Social Security Programme Board has also considered and approved the re-use of the DWP Customer Information System (CIS) for a period of up to 3-5 years.