Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-16922

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many people Social Security Scotland has written to in order to let them know that they (a) are entitled to and (b) will receive a Winter Heating Payment.

As at 31 March, almost 400,000 low income households had automatically received £50 in Winter Heating Payments to support them with their energy bills for this winter. All will have received a letter explaining their entitlement to the benefit.

Information on payments for Winter Heating Payment will be included within Official Statistics that will be published on 6 June 2023. These will be available on Social Security Scotland’s statistics publication page at:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications

Question reference: S6W-16921

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 April 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Winter Heating Payment, (a) how many people and (b) what percentage of the total number of those eligible requested the payment by paper form, and how many of those received the payment by 31 March 2023.

A first release of Official Statistics on Winter Heating Payment will be published on 06 June 2023, covering up to 31 March 2023. Subject to disclosure control, the publication will include breakdowns of applications and payments by channel, including paper forms. The figures will also be reported as percentages of total applications received. These will be available on Social Security Scotland’s statistics publication page at:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/about/statistics/social-security-scotland-statistics-publications .

In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, care will be taken to ensure that these publications are produced to a level of quality that meets users’ needs. Published data will be subject to disclosure control methods to protect the confidentiality of the data.

Data on the number of people who are eligible for the payment is not available.

Question reference: S6W-16142

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a pathway in place for people with a congenital visual impairment who have had a stroke.

Vision is routinely assessed following stroke and any pre-existing visual problems would be considered as part of the assessment and rehabilitation process. The criteria for assessment during Scottish Stroke Improvement Programme (SSIP) annual reviews of NHS Boards now includes a dedicated section relating to vision in stroke rehabilitation.

The Scottish Government expects boards to demonstrate that their stroke services have a documented pathway describing services for all those with visual problems following stroke. Boards should be able to evidence the use of comprehensive visual screening, the option to refer to appropriate professionals for assessment of visual problems and the provision of tailored information and access to low vision services if required.

Question reference: S6W-16063

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is undertaking to determine how many (a) Deaf and (b) disabled people died during the COVID-19 pandemic as a result of (i) contracting the disease and (ii) any reasons associated with the disease, such as loss of social care support.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) are the official producer of statistics relating to deaths, including where the cause was related to COVID-19. The information they hold is restricted to that recorded at death registration and therefore they do not hold sufficient detail to identify where a cause of death was related to secondary COVID-19 impacts such as loss of support.

A one off analysis of COVID-19 deaths by disability was made possible by linking information on death registrations to data on long-term health problems and disabilities from Scotland’s Census 2011. This is publicly available on the NRS website: Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland, Week 11: Report (nrscotland.gov.uk).

There is no ongoing or planned work to look further at the level of detail outlined in the question.

Question reference: S6W-16064

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to identify how many (a) Deaf and (b) disabled people who died during the COVID-19 pandemic had (i) a voluntary and (ii) an involuntary do-not-resuscitate order in place.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

National Records of Scotland (NRS) are the official producer of statistics relating to deaths, including where the cause was related to COVID-19. The information they hold is restricted to that recorded at death registration and therefore they do not hold sufficient detail to identify where a person had in place a do not resuscitate order.

A one off analysis of COVID-19 deaths by disability was made possible by linking information on death registrations to data on long-term health problems and disabilities from Scotland’s Census 2011. This is publicly available on the NRS website: Deaths involving coronavirus (COVID-19) in Scotland, Week 11: Report (nrscotland.gov.uk)

There is no ongoing or planned work to look further at the level of detail outlined in the question.

Question reference: S6W-16361

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Michael Matheson on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government (a) what plans it has and (b) when it will decide on how to fund an audit of Scotland's Fracture Liaison Services, following the approval of this audit by the National Audit Programme Board in April 2022.

Question reference: S6O-02109

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported £21 million of budget reductions for health and social care in Glasgow.

Question reference: S6W-16080

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 11 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors bullying of Deaf and disabled children at a national level, and what steps it is taking to tackle bullying of Deaf and disabled children in schools.

Bullying of any kind is unacceptable and must be addressed quickly and effectively. Our national approach to anti-bullying, Respect for All , provides guidance on, including an explicit commitment in relation to prejudice based bullying. All schools are expected to develop and implement an anti-bullying policy, which should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

Each local authority is responsible for the care, safety and welfare of pupils in school in the authority area. All adults who work in schools have a responsibility to ensure the mental, emotional, social and physical wellbeing of the children and young people in their care, including those with disabilities and hearing impairments.

The Scottish Government does not collate the number of bullying incidents at a national level. In 2019, in support of the Respect for All approach, the Scottish Government introduced a consistent approach to recording and monitoring incidents of bullying across all schools in Scotland and guidance was published. All schools and local authorities are expected to use this approach. Recording and monitoring locally helps organisations identify recurring patterns, which enables early intervention and appropriate support at a local level.

In February 2023 Education Scotland published the results of a thematic inspection of recording and monitoring bullying incidents in schools. We take the findings of that report very seriously and have put in place a range of actions immediately to respond. This includes beginning a review of the national anti-bullying guidance, Respect for All , which will include further consideration of the current guidance on prejudice-based bullying.

Question reference: S6F-01981

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 27 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to the poverty statistics published last week in the report, Poverty and Income Inequality in Scotland 2019-22.

Question reference: S6W-15935

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 27 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of eligible people have received the Winter Heating Payment to date.

Chamber and committees