Mark Griffin

6 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on amending the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018 to extend the backdate period for older people claiming council tax reduction to six months.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government will continue to proactively amend the Council Tax Reduction scheme where evidence indicates any element of its impact or operation is unsatisfactory.

6 Mar 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason regulation 7 of the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018, which extends the backdate period for claiming council reduction to six months, applies only to working age claimants and not older people.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Regulation 7 of the Council Tax Reduction (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2018 has the effect of reverting the Scheme to the original provisions of regulation 85(8)(b) and (c) of SSI 303 of 2012. This is because there is evidence that difficulties associated…

27 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports in Third Force News on 20 February 2018, what information it has on which subcontractors that were originally contracted to help deliver its Fair Start programme are no longer involved in it.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14938 on 12 March 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/…

27 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports in Third Force News on 20 February 2018, whether contractors for its Fair Start programme have been able to ensure that capacity for services is maintained, and whether services will commence on 1 April 2018 as planned.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-14939 on 12 March 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/…

27 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports in Third Force News on 20 February 2018, which Fair Start regions are affected by subcontractors ending their involvement in the programme.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: No subcontractors have ended their involvement in the Fair Start Scotland Programme. Both the Tayside and West Lots have seen changes to the mix of subcontractors, however these same subcontractors retain an interest in other Lots.

27 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports in Third Force News on 20 February 2018, whether it has audited the ongoing viability of the contracts issued under its Fair Start programme.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Scottish Government has and will continue to review the on-going viability of contracts awarded for the Fair Start Scotland programme as part of its normal Contract Management processes. Service providers are ready to commence on 3 April as planned.

14 Feb 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the analysis of, and its response to, the Consultation on Free Bus Travel for Older and Disabled People and Modern Apprentices.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: There has been a considerable response to our consultation on the National Concessionary Travel Scheme, with over 2,800 members of the public and more than 100 organisations offering their views. We are considering all the views expressed during the consultat…

9 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14074 by Jeane Freeman on 8 February 2018, when it agreed with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that some payments of social security assistance will be made through the DWP Central Payments System.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: October 2017

9 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14074 by Jeane Freeman on 8 February 2018, which payments of social security assistance will be made through the Department for Work and Pensions Central Payments System.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government intends to make payment of all social security assistance through the Central Payment System, with the exception of Carers Allowance Supplement and Best Start Food, which will be paid through the Scottish Government finance system. Det…

9 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14074 by Jeane Freeman on 8 February 2018, when it will stop making payments of social security assistance through the Department for Work and Pensions Central Payments System.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: To minimise the risk to individuals and fully support our intention that there is a smooth and safe transition of devolved benefits, in October 2017 the Scottish Social Security Programme Board approved the re-use of the DWP Central Payment System (CPS) for a…

5 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Northern Ireland Government's Department for Communities regarding the design and capabilities of its Household Income Database, as detailed in the document, Supporting People - Maximising Income through the Uptake of Benefits, which was published in …

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Scottish Government officials have been in discussion with the Northern Ireland Department for Communities about the design and capabilities of its Database for Income Modelling & Estimation (originally known as the Household Income Administrative Database). …

5 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13690 by Jeane Freeman on 17 January 2018, who is compiling the evaluation, and on what date it will be (a) completed and (b) published.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: An evaluation of the Benefit Uptake campaign is being compiled by the Scottish Government’s Marketing team. It is based on information supplied by Citizens Advice Scotland and data taken from pre and post campaign tracking carried out by Kantar TNS, an indepe…

5 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13690 by Jeane Freeman on 17 January 2018, what information it has received from Citizens Advice Scotland regarding the uptake; on what date this was received, and whether it will publish this in full, including on its website. 

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has received the following information from Citizens Advice Scotland related to the Benefits Uptake campaign, which ran in October 2017: Calls to national campaign helpline during the campaign period Visits to the Benefits help page …

5 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13763 by Jeane Freeman on 22 January 2018, whether the provisions in the Universal Credit (Application, Advice and Assistance) Bill 2017-19 would apply in Scotland, in light of its powers under sections 29 and 30 of the Scotland Act 2016.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Private Members Bills in Westminster are not published until around the time of the second reading, which will be 16 March 2018 in this case. As a result, it is not yet clear what the scope and extent of the Bill will be. The overlap between what the Bill se…

5 Feb 2018 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister how the UK Government's proposed changes to the support for mortgage interest scheme could impact on householders in Scotland, and whether it has asked UK ministers to pause the introduction of these changes.

2 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of comments by the Minister for Social Security in the Daily Record on 24 January 2018, whether the “once-for-Scotland” approach referred to would entail no face-to-face assessment for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), in the event that this is not required by the Scottis…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Employment Support Allowance (ESA) is reserved to the UK Government and we have no powers over ESA assessments at present. If further social security powers were devolved to the Scottish Government, we would be able to consider the coherence of the system and…

2 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-01753 by Jeane Freeman on 31 January 2018, which stated that it will "reduce the need for face to face assessments", whether this is consistent with the comments by the Minister for Social Security in the Daily Record on 24 January 2018 that "rather…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Yes.  

2 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5O-01753 by Jeane Freeman on 31 January 2018, which stated that it will “reduce the need for face to face assessments” in respect of devolved disability assistance, and in light of comments by the Minister for Social Security in the Daily Record on 24 …

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government remains committed to reducing the need for face to face assessments for disability benefits and is working closely with the Disability and Carers' Benefits Expert Advisory Group, our experience panels and relevant stakeholder groups …

29 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13764 by Jeane Freeman on 24 January 2018, when this work was commissioned.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: On 25 October 2016 the Scottish Government published on its website a Memorandum of Understanding between the Scottish Government and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on joint working arrangements for the implementation of devolved powers, including…

29 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S5W-13768 and S5W-13762 by Jeane Freeman on 22 January 2018, which organisations attended the four meetings.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The organisations that attended the four meetings (1 September, 2 October, 30 October and 15 December 2017) to discuss how best to split payments of Universal Credit between members of a household are set out in the following table. The table also includes th…

29 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will provide a substantive answer to question S5W-13765, which received a holding response on 24 January 2018, and what the reason is for the delay.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Parliamentary question (S5W-13765) was answered on 31 January 2018.

24 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to use the DWP Central Payment System for payment of social security assistance.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government’s priority is to ensure the safe and secure transition of the 11 benefits being devolved for the 1.4million people who rely on them. To support this and to ensure continuity of payment for citizens currently in receipt of assistance ad…

11 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13142 by Jeane Freeman on 18 December 2017, what information it has received from the Department for Work and Pensions regarding how many people have requested (a) twice-monthly and (b) direct payments for rent and services under the Universal Credi…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has received management information from the Department for Work and Pensions on the number of requests for the Scottish Universal Credit choices in the period from 4 October 2017 to 31 December 2017. We are currently analysing the dat…

10 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with stakeholders to (a) discuss and (b) develop potential policy options for delivering split payments for universal credit, and when these took place.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: 22 January 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/28877.aspx

10 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what equality impact assessment it has conducted regarding the use of universal credit split payment flexibilities, and whether this considered domestic abuse.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As part of the work to understand the implications of the different policy options for splitting the payment of Universal Credit between members of a household in Scotland, the Scottish Government is developing an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA). This will …

10 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has discussed the use of automatic split payments for universal credit with the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The United Kingdom, as the member state, is required to submit periodic reports to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women every 4 years. These reports detail the legislative and other measures which have been taken by the member s…

10 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it paid the Department for Work and Pensions for the implementation of the flexibilities introduced by the Universal Credit (Claims and Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The cost for the DWP to deliver the Scottish Universal Credit choices is determined by a model jointly built by the DWP and the Scottish Government based on how we expect people to take up the choices. This model takes a unit cost approach. It looks at the co…

10 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it commissioned the Department for Work and Pensions to estimate the costs of introducing split payments for universal credit in Scotland, and when this took place.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We are currently discussing with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on the feasibility, operational and cost implications of different policy options for splitting payment of the Universal Credit award between members of a household. An announcement w…

10 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Parliament scheduling the second reading of the Universal Credit (Application, Advice and Assistance) Bill 2017-19 for 16 March 2018, whether it will make an announcement on split payments for universal credit in Scotland ahead of this date.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: We are currently undertaking scenario modelling to understand further, the implications of different policy options for splitting payment of the Universal Credit award between members of a household in Scotland. We are also currently discussing with the Depa…

10 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has done to determine how split payments for universal credit will be made relative to the elements received, and what the potential employment scenarios for couples were.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government has been engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including women’s organisations, to develop policy options for delivering split payments of the Universal Credit award; including how the different elements of the UC award would be …