- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release on 29 October 2021 regarding a £41 million Winter Support Fund for low-income households, whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £6 million for third sector organisations will be allocated, and what the distribution criteria are for this part of the funding.
Answer
We are currently finalising grant awards with partners and will publish a list of organisations when this process is complete.
In terms of distribution criteria, funding will be awarded to trusted Scottish Government third sector partners who have a wide geographical reach and who have previously demonstrated the ability to mobilise quickly to deliver support to people who find themselves in need due to a variety of circumstances.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been an underspend of the social security budget in this financial year and, if so, how much the underspend is, and how it compares to initial forecasts.
Answer
The overall social security budget for the 2021-22 financial year was set in January 2021, at almost £4 billion. This includes £3.5 billion for demand-led benefits expenditure, and almost £0.5 billion for Social Security Programme implementation investment and Social Security Scotland operating costs.
The Scottish Government has put in place robust processes to manage the risks associated with demand-led expenditure on this scale and the potential impact any variations could have on the wider Scottish Budget. After the financial year has ended, our Budget position will be presented to Parliament in the Provisional Outturn statement and confirmed in the 2021-22 consolidated accounts in the normal way.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government within what timescale it anticipates the requirement to wear face coverings will be lifted.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03564 on 25 October 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that any future transition away from the requirement to wear face coverings is as safe as possible and ensures public safety.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03564 on 25 October 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to (a) prevent and (b) mitigate the disruption caused by changes to public transport due to COP26.
Answer
Transport Scotland undertook a public messaging programme to inform and forewarn the public of the need to plan their journey during COP26, directing people to the Get Ready Glasgow website, which held detailed heat maps of affected areas and suggested alternative routes. This campaign proved to be successful in reducing the background demand, which allowed space for the events to take place while leaving capacity on transport networks for key workers and unplanned disruption.
A zero emission Shuttle Bus service was put in place to support the extra demand on public transport between Glasgow City Centre and the venue. This was positively received by delegates, and proved to be popular, transporting almost 5000 people on its busiest day. Rail and subway services were strengthened to support the demand. Free cycle hire was also available in Glasgow, provided by Nextbike.
Furthermore, the Transport Co-ordination Centre and Transport Scotland Resilience Room were stood up throughout the conference to monitor and help mitigate any transport related issues.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Keith Brown on 16 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to address the root causes of the (a) harassment and (b) drink spiking and spiking by injection of women in nightlife venues.
Answer
Our Equally Safe Strategy sets out Scotland’s ambition to tackle and eradicate all forms of violence against women and we continue to implement this with a clear and decisive focus on primary prevention of violence.
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC chairs the independent Working Group on Misogyny and Criminal Justice which is considering how the Scottish criminal justice system can better deal with misogyny and the harassment of women in public spaces. The Chair has confirmed that the Working Group’s report will be published in February 2022 and we will act swiftly to consider its recommendations.
On 4 November I chaired an urgent roundtable with representatives from the night time economy, health, education and third sectors to discuss spiking and interventions required to tackle violence against women. We are now considering the themes arising from these discussions with an ambition to agree upon robust reporting pathways, safeguarding interventions and long-term preventative measures that can be taken to address the issue of male violence against women.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 15 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government when it plans to publish its employment action plan for disabled people 2021-22.
Answer
‘A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan’ was published in December 2018, and includes commitments up to and including 2021-22.
We are currently developing a refresh of this action plan, alongside key stakeholders including disabled peoples organisations, which will be published in Spring 2022.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether the "20-metre rule" within eligibility criteria for disability benefits is dignified, fair, respectful and consistent with the values of Social Security Scotland.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 18 November 2021
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to enable disabled people to feed into its plans for achieving a fairer Scotland for disabled people, as set out in its Covid Recovery Strategy.
Answer
We are committed to working with Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) to ensure that the refresh of ‘ A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment action plan’ is informed by the lived experience of disabled people.
The short life working group overseeing the development of the refreshed action plan is co-chaired by the Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA). GDA and other DPOs will engage directly with their members and disabled people for input and views with regards to the refreshed action plan to ensure their views are heard and seen.
More broadly, we are committed to working together with DPOs to ensure disabled people’s input is represented in Scottish Government’s strategic and policy development in relation to achieving a fairer Scotland for disabled people. For example, the direct involvement of disabled people’s organisations and their members has played a key role in shaping the next phase of No One Left Behind, our strategy for placing people at the centre of the design and delivery of employability services.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 28 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 9 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the impact of COVID-19 on disabled people in the labour market.
Answer
The Scottish Government routinely publishes official labour market statistics for disabled people in Scotland and uses these to analyse how labour market barriers and outcomes for disabled people are changing over time and how they have been impacted by COVID-19.
Latest data are published at:
Labour market monthly briefing: October 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
We know, for example, the disability employment gap in Scotland - the difference between the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people - narrowed over the latest year to July 2020 – June 2021, to 32.0 percentage points.
Analysis is also published as part of the annual progress report of a Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: employment action plan - our plan to at least halve the disability employment gap in Scotland by 2038.
Latest report available here: Fairer Scotland for disabled people - employment action plan: progress report - year 2 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
