Parliamentary questions

Michelle Ballantyne

639 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

10 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects to spend in each of the financial years 2018-19 to 2023-24 on (a) carer’s allowance, (b) carer’s allowance supplement, (c) discretionary housing payments, (d) the Scottish Welfare Fund, (e) employability services, (f) Fair Start Scotland, (g) Work Able Scotland, (h) W…

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As set out in the Scottish Fiscal Commission Act 2016, the Scottish Fiscal Commission’s independent forecasts of devolved social security expenditure are used to inform the Scottish Government’s budget. The Scottish Fiscal Commission publish Scotland's Econo…

10 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what budget it currently expects the new social security agency to have in each year from 2018 to 2021 for (a) staffing, (b) IT/technology, (c) facilities and property and (d) other ongoing expenses.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The financial memorandum for the Social Security (Scotland) Bill, published in June 2017, outlined the estimate costs for the new social security agency. These estimates were drawn from the Outline Business Case for the Agency for Social Security in Scotland,…

10 Oct 2018 · Written Question

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland’s current headcount is 263, with a full-time equivalent headcount of 258.5. Subject to pre-employment checks for 15 new recruits, Social Security Scotland’s headcount is expected to be 278 by the end of the 2018 calendar year. The ex…

10 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what increase in benefits uptake it attributes to the You’ve Earned It campaign, in terms of the (a) overall value of additional benefits claimed and (b) number of additional claimants.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The You’ve Earned It campaign was carried out in partnership with Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS). An evaluation of the campaign is available at https://beta.gov.scot/publications/youve-earned-benefit-uptake-campaign-october-2017-evaluation-report/ .

3 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government where the 400 staff recruited initially by Social Security Scotland will be based, broken down by (a) Parliamentary region and (b) local authority area.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: An estimated 400 staff will be recruited to all Scottish local authority areas to provide face-to-face advice once Social Security Scotland is fully operational. An estimate by location is not available at this time. However, 19 Local Delivery Relationship Le…

3 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities (a) have introduced or (b) plan to introduce a dyslexia policy for (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not collect this information. Education authorities and other agencies have duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, …

1 Oct 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the core group from the Social Security Experience Panels has met, and how many times it will meet before the Social Security Charter is introduced.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: To date the core group has met on five occasions for full day workshops. They will meet on at least two further occasions.

19 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason when a person joins it from a UK Government department it reportedly does not record the department that the person has come from.

Answer · Derek Mackay: While we do hold an “other government department” indicator on our electronic HR system, we don’t hold the details of specific departments electronically because this is not required for continuing employment or payroll purposes. This practice is in line with…

17 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with its discussions with the UK Government regarding the devolution of the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal.

Answer · Ash Denham: The Scottish Government is keen to make progress on the devolution of powers over the management and operation of the reserved tribunals, as agreed by the Smith Commission. The process of transfer set out in the Scotland Act 2016 requires an Order in Council …

12 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to maintaining Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) payments at the current level after January 2019.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: LFASS is vital for our rural economy and remote communities throughout Scotland, providing support to over 11,000 farmers and crofters. With 85% of Scotland’s agricultural area classed as less favoured, clarity on future support for farmers and crofters is cr…

12 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to decrease the cost of farm plastic collection and improve collection infrastructure after 1 January 2019 when farms will no longer be able to incinerate farm plastics on site, which would be allowed under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations.

Answer · Roseanna Cunningham: In 2013 the Waste Management Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2011 were amended to implement the requirements of the EU Industrial Emissions Directive. As a result of this change, the “paragraph 29” exemption that allows the burning of waste on farms now only…

12 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made with exploring an expansion to the Borders Railway, in light of the upcoming Strategic Transport Projects Review.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The publication of the draft Borders Transport Corridor Study in April 2018 included the extension of the Borders Railway to either Berwick-Upon-Tweed or Carlisle as two of the 21 emerging options. Following a 6 week engagement period, Transport Scotland have…

12 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that, between July and August 2018, 49% of services arrived in Tweedbank on time, and 87% within five minutes, what action it is taking to improve the performance on the Borders Railway.

Answer · Michael Matheson: The Rail Industry is currently progressing a number of interventions to support the enhanced resilience of the Borders railway. This includes initiatives to further improve fleet reliability and infrastructure assets which were identified in the Donovan Indep…

6 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to support the estimated 1,800 children in East Lothian who have been identified by health and social care officials as living with a parent who has a drink problem.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government recognise that children who live with a parent who have problematic substance use are among the most vulnerable in society. It is vital they are well supported, but we also want to prevent the damage occurring in the first place. That’…

5 Sep 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it plans to put in place to assist farmers from 2019 onwards.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: Given the uncertainty caused by Brexit, the Scottish Governments’ short term priority is to provide farmers and crofters with as much certainty as possible. Our recently closed Stability and Simplicity Consultation set out options that aim to do that. Howeve…

3 Sep 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on the event, Otherland, at the Tartan Heart Festival at Belladrum in August 2018, and how many people attended the event.

Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government provided £20,000 to Otherland at the Tartan Heart Festival at Belladrum in August 2018, through the Year of Young People Open Events Fund. 6,000 people attended Otherland, with 20,000 people attending the Tartan Heart Festival overall…

29 Aug 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote the export of goods from the South Scotland region.

14 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities Social Security Scotland has secured premises in.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: The Scottish Government and COSLA have signed an Overarching Delivery Agreement, demonstrating a shared commitment to join up local delivery and co-location of services. Social Security Scotland have been meeting regularly with council representatives to iden…

14 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff employed by Social Security Scotland have previously worked for the Department for Work and Pensions.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland does not become established as an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government until 1 September 2018. Until this date the staff who will ultimately work for the Agency are aligned to Social Security Agency Implementation Division with…

6 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to employ a full-time IT security analyst at (a) the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, (b) the Scottish Prison Service and (c) Social Security Scotland, and when the person will be in post.

Answer · Kate Forbes: The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) does not employ a full time Cybersecurity Analyst. SPPA employed a Cyber Security Specialist to undertake a review of all SPPA IT functions and this work concluded in July 2017. SPPA has assigned a responsible offi…

6 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what cyber-security defences are in place at (a) Social Security Scotland and (b) its Social Security Directorate.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland is embedding security and cyber protection into the fabric of our architecture and design to gain the confidence of citizens and their trust in the Agency to deliver the devolved benefits with payments made on time, every time. Worki…

2 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what procedures are in place to prevent organised crime groups profiting fraudulently from Scotland's new social security system.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Scotland’s new social security agency will participate in lawful sharing of intelligence and collaborative investigative operations alongside Police Scotland and other partners across the counter fraud landscape. Details of operational procedures are highly s…

2 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what training is undertaken by Social Security Scotland staff to help them identify and tackle benefit fraud.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: All staff employed by the Social Security Scotland will receive ongoing counter fraud training, tailored to their role and refreshed regularly to reflect emerging trends. This will enable staff to identify fraudulent activity, seek specialist advice where re…

2 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what procedures are in place to prevent the fraudulent claiming of benefits from Social Security Scotland.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Prevention measures are being carefully considered throughout the design and implementation of our new benefits and are based on detailed risk assessment, established best practice and research from across the wider counter fraud community. This has been furt…

1 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to gather data in the future on universal credit split payment requests, including monitoring disclosures of domestic abuse, reasons for the request and the number of split payments being made.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: As Universal Credit (UC) is a reserved benefit, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will deliver split payments in Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government. We will discuss and agree our requirements for the collection of management information an…

1 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what data collection procedures are in place regarding split payments of universal credit.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17985 on 17 August 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…

1 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether private interview rooms will be available in every Social Security Scotland premises that works with the public.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland will offer various options so that people can access its services in a way that is convenient to them and tailored to their needs. This will include being able to speak with Social Security Scotland staff in private rooms and home vis…

1 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether there will be a domestic abuse specialist in each of Social Security Scotland's local authority offices.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: In delivering a service that treats people with dignity, fairness and respect Social Security Scotland staff, especially those based in the local community, will be trained to recognise and assist people that may be vulnerable or at risk. This includes peopl…

1 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether a specialist training module focussing on domestic abuse cases has been included in the training programme for Social Security Scotland employees.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Links have been made with organisations, representing both national and local domestic abuse services, to help in the development of the new social security system in Scotland. In a training context, Social Security Scotland will use these links, alongside in…

1 Aug 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what provision has been made by Social Security Scotland to deal with domestic abuse cases in a sensitive and fair manner.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-17974 on 21 August 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…