Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S5W-23086

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many communities have applied for funds through the Action on Plastic Zero Waste Towns initiative.

To date, 92 groups including 71 local community groups/not-for-profit organisations, 2 schools, 2 universities, 1 college, 3 local authorities and 13 individuals have registered their interest in the Plastic Zero Waste Towns Initiative with Zero Waste Scotland. Applications will be invited once registration is closed, currently anticipated to be in September 2019, and funding will be allocated based on an assessment of those applications.

Question reference: S5O-03279

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports Scotland’s colleges.

Question reference: S5O-03250

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what value it places on local decision making in planning matters.

Question reference: S5W-22740

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of people using food banks it estimates are unaware of their possible eligibility for a crisis grant through the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Question reference: S5W-22729

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason funding for the Scottish Welfare Fund has remained at the same level since 2013-14, and whether it plans to increase this.

Question reference: S5W-22730

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much income has been lost in each local authority area in each year since 2013-14 because of unclaimed Scottish Welfare Fund entitlements, also broken down by how this has impacted on each area's economy.

Question reference: S5W-22726

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it offers to local authorities that record (a) high levels of underspend on payments from and (b) lower than average levels of approved applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Local authorities are responsible for managing their budgets and are best placed to do so taking account of local circumstances. The Scottish Government’s statutory guidance to local authorities includes advice on how to manage Scottish Welfare Fund budgets to help them ensure that funds are available to meet the needs of vulnerable people throughout the year. Scottish Government officials work closely with their local authority counterparts to monitor trends in uptake, to seek explanations for any significant underspends and overspends and to facilitate the sharing of good practice between authorities via a quarterly practitioners forum.

Question reference: S5W-22727

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase awareness among people who might be entitled to apply for funding from the Scottish Welfare Fund.

The Scottish Government continues to take a range of actions to raise awareness of the Scottish Welfare Fund among potential applicants. This includes providing local authorities and third sector organisations with posters and leaflets, distributing information using social media platforms and engaging with our social security experience panels. Information on the Fund is also being added to websites such as the Parent Club.

In addition, to ensure that people can access the Scottish Welfare Fund when they need it, the statutory guidance requires local authorities to share information about the Fund with services that may come in to contact with people in need, for example support workers, housing officers and welfare rights workers.

Question reference: S5W-22741

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of recipients of Scottish Welfare Fund community care grants in 2017-18 were in employment.

Question reference: S5W-22728

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether there was an underspend on Scottish Welfare Fund payments in 2018-19 and, if so, (a) for what reason, (b) whether this is being carried forward and (c) what action it is taking to maximise spend in 2019-20.