Parliamentary questions
Mark Griffin
2,186 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
16 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-00248 by Angela Constance on 14 June 2016, when the inspectors of the funeral industry will be appointed; what the selection criteria for the appointments will be, and for how long the appointments will last.
Answer · Aileen Campbell: The Scottish Government is currently considering the implementation of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016. It is anticipated that the appointment of inspectors of funeral directors will start once relevant regulations come into force, which is not l…
7 Jun 2016 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what methodology it will use to calculate the increase each year in the financial support that it will provide for people who receive disability payments.
Answer · Jeane Freeman: In last week’s debate on 9 June 2016, we stated that disability benefits should be uprated in line with inflation. We are committed to ensuring our policies are designed to best meet the needs of disabled people, and we therefore intend to consider how to do …
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to the Fair Food Fund in each of the last four years.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00556 on 16 June 2016. 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…
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the £1 million funding for the Fair Food Fund will continue in each of the next four years and, if so, whether it will increase or decrease over the period.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00556 on 16 June 2016. 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…
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to extend the application period for the Fair Food Fund.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00556 on 16 June 2016. 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…
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many applications were received for the Fair Food Fund in 2016-17, broken down by (a) Scottish parliamentary constituency, (b) UK parliamentary constituency, (c) Scottish parliamentary region and (d) local authority area.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00556 on 16 June 2016. 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/2…
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will carry out an impact assessment of support provided by the Fair Food Fund in 2016-17.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00556 on 16 June 2016. 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…
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of organisations that it consulted prior to the creation of the Fair Food Fund.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00556 on 16 June 2016. 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…
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with voluntary organisations regarding the criteria that must be met prior to providing support from the Fair Food Fund.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00556 on 16 June 2016. 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…
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the criteria to qualify for support from the Fair Food Fund.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00556 on 16 June 2016. 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/2…
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to make local community groups aware of the support provided by the Fair Food Fund and the application process.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00556 on 16 June 2016. 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…
7 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the £1 million funding for the Fair Food Fund announced on 2 June 2016 is in addition to the £1 million announced on 10 March 2016.
Answer · Angela Constance: The establishment of the Fair Food Fund is part of a sustained investment by the Scottish Government to tackle food poverty in Scotland. From 2013 to 2016 the food poverty budget was £500k per annum and supported the Emergency Food Fund. On 10 March 2016 Mr N…
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been awarded under each category of the Volunteering Support Fund in each of the last four years, broken down by (a) Scottish parliamentary constituency, (b) UK parliamentary constituency, (c) Scottish parliamentary region and (d) local authority area.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00449 on 16 June 2016. 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…
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to the Volunteering Support Fund in each of the last four years.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00449 on 16 June 2016. 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…
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether funding for the Volunteering Support Fund will continue at the same level, increase or decrease over the next four years.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00448 on 16 June 2016. 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…
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to extend the application period for the Volunteering Support Fund.
Answer · Angela Constance: Applications for the 2016-17 round of funding in the Volunteering Support Fund opened on 17 February 2016 and closed on 31 March 2016. There are no plans to extend the application period.
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many applications were received for the Volunteering Support Fund for 2016-17, broken down by (a) Scottish parliamentary constituency, (b) UK parliamentary constituency, (c) Scottish parliamentary region and (d) local authority area.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00449 on 16 June 2016. 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…
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will carry out an impact assessment of support provided by the Volunteering Support Fund for 2016-17.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00448 on 16 June 2016. 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…
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with the Voluntary Action Fund regarding eligibility criteria prior to providing support through the Volunteering Support Fund.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00448 on 16 June 2016. 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…
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the value of awards from the Volunteering Support Fund is for 2016-17, broken down by (a) Scottish parliamentary constituency, (b) UK parliamentary constituency, (c) Scottish parliamentary region and (d) local authority area.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government has allocated £1.1 million per annum to the Volunteering Support Fund in each of the last four years. Details of the value of awards under each category and number of applications are as follows: 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 …
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the criteria to qualify for support from the Volunteering Support Fund.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Volunteering Support Fund (VSF) provides £1.1 million per annum to support delivery of the following outcomes, which were agreed with the third sector: Third sector organisations create new volunteering projects, increasing the diversity of volunteers, e…
2 Jun 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to make community groups aware of the support provided by and the application process for the Volunteering Support Fund.
Answer · Angela Constance: Under the terms of the Volunteering Support Fund (VSF) contract between the Scottish Government and Voluntary Action Fund (VAF), the VSF is promoted by VAF on their website; in social media and by emails. The VAF promotional material also provides details of …
25 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce parity in the burial and cremation costs charged by local authorities.
Answer · Angela Constance: The responsibility of burial and cremation charges lies with local authorities. As part of wider work on funeral costs, we plan to bring together funeral directors, councils and interested groups to examine ways of reducing funeral costs and encouraging peopl…
25 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to introduce a licensing system for funeral directors.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 contains a regulation making power to enable Scottish Ministers to introduce a licensing scheme for funeral directors. The introduction of such a scheme will be considered once inspectors of the funeral industry ha…
25 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that social security funeral payments meet the actual cost of a funeral.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00236 on 14 June 2016. 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…
25 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring arrangements are in place to track funeral poverty.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not currently track funeral poverty however after recognising the issue of the costs of funerals commissioned a report into funeral poverty, as referred to in S5W-00238 on 14 June 2016 to examine this issue. Various measures will …
25 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will hold the national funeral poverty conference that it announced on 3 February 2016.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government is in the process of organising a national conference as part of the range of work currently being undertaken to address the issue of the costs of funerals including hosting round table discussions between Scottish Ministers and stakeh…
25 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much the funeral payment would be if it had been uprated in line with the (a) retail and (b) consumer price index since 2003.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Department of Work and Pensions is responsible for the funeral payment.
25 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the average cost of a funeral.
Answer · Angela Constance: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-00238 on 14 June 2016. 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…
25 May 2016 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the basic cost of a funeral.
Answer · Angela Constance: After recognising the issue of the costs of funerals the Scottish Government commissioned a report into funeral poverty, referred to in S5W-00238 on 14 June 2016 to examine this issue. We are concerned about the costs of funerals and have plans to take this f…