Parliamentary questions

Mark Griffin

2,186 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

2 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the new social security agency offering a public services card similar to that used in Ireland for the delivery of services.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: My announcement to Parliament on 27 April 2017 presented the high level delivery model for social security in Scotland. Within that delivery model there are a wide range of detailed design decisions to be made. We will consider a range of options as we endeav…

1 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has discussed with the Department for Work and Pensions bringing forward winter fuel payments for 2017-18 to support older people who use off-grid energy and, if so, what the outcome was.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The administrative lead-in time for arranging each year’s winter fuel payments by the Department of Work and Pensions is around 18 months and therefore any changes have to be arranged far in advance. Furthermore, UK Government regulations, to commence the rel…

1 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Jobs Grants it has paid out since since September 2016.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a Job Grant to help 16-24 year olds who are returning to work after a period of six months unemployment. Work is underway to clarify any legislation requirements and we are engaging with local partners, as w…

1 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government to ask how many 16- to 24-year-olds who had been unemployed for six months or more have moved into work since September 2016.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: This information is not held centrally. The Annual Population Survey, produced by the Office for National Statistics, and held by the Scottish Government, is the official source of information for unemployment (based on International Labour Organisation Defi…

1 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, following the establishment of a social security agency, whether decisions made by social security agency staff will be taken on behalf of the Scottish ministers.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The social security agency will be an executive agency, which means that it will be an integral part of the Scottish Government. The staff, who will be civil servants, will be directly accountable to Ministers and will take decisions within a policy framework…

1 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what future engagements (a) ministers and (b) officials have with Atos Healthcare.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: No future engagements with Atos Healthcare have been arranged or scheduled with either SG Officials or Scottish Ministers.

1 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by Jeane Freeman on 27 April 2017 (Official Report, c. 44), which of the 11 devolved benefits will not be delivered by the new social security agency.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As I said in my statement on 27 April 2017, Discretionary Housing Payments will continue to be delivered by local authorities. This benefit will not be delivered by the new social security agency.

1 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will cease its engagement with Atos Healthcare.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government does not have any engagement with Atos Healthcare.

1 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the commitment made by Jeane Freeman on 27 April 2017, that there will be "no contracting with the private sector" in the deniability assessment model, will be provided for in its social security bill.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As I stated in Parliament on 27 April, I have made a clear commitment that profit making companies will not be involved in delivering assessments for disability benefits once devolved to Scotland. The Social Security Bill will be introduced to Parliament be…

1 May 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the new GP contract has taken account of the preferred model for delivery of the new social security agency.

Answer · Shona Robison: The new GP contract is agreed through a process of bilateral discussion between the Scottish General Practitioners Committee and the Scottish Government. These negotiations are commercially sensitive and details will be published once they have concluded.

28 Apr 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Transplant and Donation Group last discussed opt-out.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Donation and Transplant Group last discussed opt out on 8 March 2017.

28 Apr 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Scottish Transplant and Donation Group last met.

Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Donation and Transplant Group last met on 8 March 2017.

20 Apr 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding using powers devolved under the Scotland Act 2016 to vary the (a) allowances, (b) premiums, (c) components and (d) elements within reserved benefits, and what the outcome was.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Discussions between the Scottish Government and Department for Work and Pensions are on-going. Recent discussions about using powers devolved under the Scotland Act to vary elements within reserved benefits have focused on Scottish Government flexibilities …

11 Apr 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Scottish Welfare Fund assistance for housing costs for 18- to 21-year-olds was not available to local authorities when the Universal Credit (Housing Costs Element for claimants aged 18 to 21) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 were (a) made and (b) came into force.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Despite several attempts we have not been able to secure agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on a means of reversing the UK Government’s policy through the Universal Credit system. DWP Ministers proved unwilling to offer any compromise t…

27 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-02667 by Jeane Freeman on 28 September 2016, and the follow-up question, S5W-07360, which received a holding reply on 7 March 2017, when it will provide a substantive answer to whether the spend on all devolved benefits will be demand-led.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: A substantive answer to S5W-07360 was provided on 8 March 2017

27 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-06728 by Angela Constance on 24 February 2017, what plans it has to create a disability poverty target.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has no current plans to create a disability poverty target. We are committed to tackling the intergenerational cycle of poverty and as such introduced the Child Poverty (Scotland) Bill to Parliament on 9 February 2017, signalling our …

23 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will lodge with the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) the information that it provided to Audit Scotland to calculate that the budget for setting up the social security programme in 2017-18 would be £80 million, as referred to at Exhibit 2 of the paper, Managing n…

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The £80 million figure at Exhibit 2 of Audit Scotland’s report 'Managing New Financial Powers: An Update' utilised the published Draft Budget 2017-18 as the source. The Draft Budget 2017-18 was published by the Scottish Government on Thursday 15 December 2016…

21 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-07662 by Jeane Freeman on 14 March 2017, whether the Minister for Social Security has responded to the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, and whether a copy of that response will be sent to the Social Security Committee.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: As outlined in the response dated 1 February 2017 from the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work, there is a commitment by DWP to incorporate flexibilities in the future contract for PIP so that the Scottish Government will be able to make de…

15 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) calls and (b) enquiries from internet users were received by Citizens Advice Scotland since the first phase of the benefit uptake campaign started, and how many referrals to bureaux were made.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: Initial feedback from Citizen Advice Scotland (CAS) reports that there was a total of 185 calls to the helpline recorded during 6-10 March. Overall CAS advised there were 427 calls reflecting the number of enquiries made in the following week 13-17 March. Th…

15 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total verified financial gain was for clients who contacted Citizens Advice Scotland in the first phase of the benefit uptake campaign.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The intention of the first phase of the benefits uptake campaign was to encourage people to check their eligibility for benefits entitlements with Citizens Advice Scotland. Given the different nature of the benefits that individuals were seeking support on i…

15 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-07685 by Angela Constance on 14 March 2017, what the estimated average income is that a household in poverty would require to move above the poverty threshold in 2014-15, also broken down by income decile, and whether it will publish these estimates.

Answer · Angela Constance: The relative poverty threshold after housing costs (AHC) in 2014-15 was £243 per week and the absolute poverty threshold AHC was £237 per week. The median (middle) equivalised income AHC of households in relative poverty in Scotland in 2014-15 was estimated …

14 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-07662 by Jeanne Freeman on 14 March 2017, on what date it received the letter from the minister of state.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The letter from the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work regarding the contract for assessments of personal independence payments, was received by the Scottish Government on 2 February 2017.

14 Mar 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its timetable is for proceeding with the results of the consultation on increasing the number of organ donations.

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Welfare Fund local authority allocations for 2016-17 and 2017-18 are available on the Scottish Government website and can be accessed on the following link: http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/fairerscotland/scottishwelfarefund/socialfund The fu…

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) public information and (b) advertising campaigns it has run in 2016-17, and how long each campaign has run for.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The following public information and advertising campaigns have been undertaken by the Scottish Government during financial year 2016-2017. a) Public Information Air Weapons: from 01-05-16 to 31-10-16 Country Roads: from 01-09-16 to 30-11-16 Know The Scor…

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the audience reach will be of the first phase of the benefits campaign, which started in week commencing 6 March 2017.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government worked with a wide range of local press and local radio platforms to reach people and communities across every area of Scotland. The reach of the radio platform used is estimated to be 1.3 million people (Source: Radio Joint Audience …

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has commissioned any tracking research to assess the effectiveness of the first phase of the benefits campaign, which started in week commencing 6 March 2017.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The Scottish Government is working closely with Citizens Advice Scotland to monitor and evaluate the uplift in calls to the Citizens Advice benefits helpline and visits to the Citizens Advice website following the week long activities. We have not however com…

7 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much the budget is for the first phase of the benefits campaign, which started in week commencing 6 March 2017.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: The cost for this initial phase of work was £5,804.

2 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much incomes will need to increase by in each income decile in order to meet the relative and absolute poverty targets of 10% and 5%.

Answer · Angela Constance: In order for a child to move out of poverty their household income must rise above the poverty threshold. The increase in income required to do this depends on the poverty threshold which varies each year. The amount of income required also varies between ho…

2 Mar 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children would be in (a) relative and (b) absolute poverty by 2030 taking into account the already announced welfare reforms of the UK Government.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has, as yet, not produced any estimates of the number of children likely to be in relative and absolute poverty by 2030 taking into account the already announced welfare reforms of the UK Government. We will be developing baseline proj…