Chamber and committees

Everyone in Scotland who pays council tax benefits from the freeze on council tax.

Detailed information is not held centrally on the numbers and incomes of people in households who pay council tax by area. However, based on information from the Scottish House Condition Survey 2007, it is possible to estimate that there were between 224,000 and 240,000 people in Glasgow living in a household with an annual income of under £16,000 where at least one person in the household is eligible for council tax, is not exempt and does not receive full council tax benefit.

This is between 85.0% and 91.5% of people in Glasgow living in a household with an annual income of under £16,000.

Information on the number of children living in a household with an annual income of under £16,000 affected by the extension of free school meals is not held centrally.

The extension to free school meals extends eligibility to households in receipt of both maximum child tax credit and maximum working tax credit and income under £6,420 (as assessed by HMRC in 09-10). Using 2007-08 data provided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) it is estimated that there are approximately 6,500 pupils in Glasgow who will benefit from this extended entitlement to free school lunches. It should be stressed that this an estimate and is thus subject to some uncertainty.

Skills Development Scotland is currently collecting data on the number of people aged 16 to 19 in the 15% most deprived areas who have accessed employment or training since April 2008 and will be available later in the year.

Skills Development Scotland provides access to training for those employed and those seeking work through its national training programmes. Since April 2008, 176 disabled people have accessed national training programmes in lowland Scotland.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor1001-01.htm

The Scottish Government is developing a Carers'' Strategy for Scotland, to be published in the first half of 2010. As part of strategy development we are considering a range of supports for all unpaid carers, including those who care for adults with learning disabilities.

In partnership with COSLA, the Scottish Government is investing £4 million over three years to enable local authorities to deliver an additional 10,000 respite weeks by 2010-11. That can include respite care for people with learning disabilities, in accordance with local authorities'' assessed priorities. We have also provided health boards with £9 million over three years for Carer Information Strategies to support the identification of carers, to signpost carers to sources of support and to train carers.

The Scottish Government is discussing a range of issues relevant to carers of adults with learning disabilities with a number of organisations, including ENABLE. In the meantime, the guidance being produced for local partnerships on measuring outcomes to inform planning of learning disability services will include important references to older carer issues.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0924-01.htm

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27259 on 28 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

The Scottish Government is funding and working in partnership the Scottish Consortium for Learning Disability and others to increase employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities. It is also currently working with COSLA to develop a supported employment approach that provides flexible support to enable disabled people including those with learning disabilities to secure and stay in paid employment in the open labour market. A Task Group has been set up to oversee the development of the framework and will report its findings later in the autumn.

Policy, implementation and evaluation of the uptake of benefits and tax credits remains the responsibility of the UK Government. The Scottish Government however is committed to action on a number of levels to tackle poverty and income inequality in Scotland as set out in Achieving our Potential.

Achieving our Potential commits significant new investment in 2009-10 and 2010-11 for income maximisation with a focus on benefits uptake for older people and other key groups. Key funding issued so far includes:

£1.1 million to Macmillan Cancer to provide cancer patients and carers with advice and information on welfare benefits and other financial matters in the five cancer treatment centres in Scotland.

£160,000 to Citizens Advice Direct to provide free telephone benefit entitlement checks to those people that access the Energy Assistance Programme.

£700,000 to provide income maximisation advice and support to older people in deprived parts of Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, West Lothian and Clackmannanshire.

These do not focus on specific benefits and tax credits but take a holistic approach to increasing overall income. We are considering other initiatives and interventions which will provide support to those people that are most difficult to reach.

Central to the income maximisation programme is a commitment to target those vulnerable groups that are not accessing the benefits that they are entitled to, and to identify ways to ensure that all benefits are claimed. The Scottish Government is working with UK counterparts on areas of shared interest to promote this.