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-00557

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to make local community groups aware of the support provided by the Fair Food Fund and the application process.

Question reference: S5W-00565

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether the £1 million funding for the Fair Food Fund will continue in each of the next four years and, if so, whether it will increase or decrease over the period.

Question reference: S5W-00562

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will carry out an impact assessment of support provided by the Fair Food Fund in 2016-17.

Question reference: S5W-00560

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it had with voluntary organisations regarding the criteria that must be met prior to providing support from the Fair Food Fund.

Question reference: S5W-00566

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has provided to the Fair Food Fund in each of the last four years.

Question reference: S5W-00561

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of organisations that it consulted prior to the creation of the Fair Food Fund.

Question reference: S5W-00564

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to extend the application period for the Fair Food Fund.

Question reference: S5O-00060

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 June 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 16 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what methodology it will use to calculate the increase each year in the financial support that it will provide for people who receive disability payments.

In last week’s debate on 9 June 2016, we stated that disability benefits should be uprated in line with inflation. We are committed to ensuring our policies are designed to best meet the needs of disabled people, and we therefore intend to consider how to do this, taking consumer price index as a starting point, in the round with other aspects of our social security policy as part of the forthcoming consultation.

Question reference: S5W-00226

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government when it will introduce new arrangements to replace the Sure Start Maternity Grant.

We are still considering our plans for the operation of the new Maternity and Early Years Allowance, including questions such as eligibility criteria and timescales for introduction. We want to implement the new benefit, which will replace the Sure Start Maternity Grant, as soon as practically possible. We have been consulting stakeholders including users, potential users and interested groups and will continue to do so over the summer to gather views to inform decisions and the required legislation. We will also be taking forward the next steps in the delivery process, which will involve financial, legal and practical considerations.

Question reference: S5W-00232

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 15 June 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of applicants expected in respect of its replacement for the Sure Start Maternity Grant in each of the next four years; what information it has on how many applications were made in Scotland for the grant in each of the last five years, and what the estimated annual cost of these payments was.

Estimates of the number of applicants expected for the Maternity and Early Years Allowance will depend on decisions yet to be taken about the rollout of this benefit and the eligibility criteria that will be used.

For the purposes of policy development, we have estimated that, if current Sure Start Maternity Grant take-up rates and eligibility criteria were maintained, around 40,000 awards would be made each year. If full take-up were achieved and all eligible families received a grant we estimate that somewhere in the region of 85,000 awards would be made each year.

These figures are estimates of the total numbers of awards that would be made in a year and so combine payments on birth, upon a child starting nursery and upon a child starting primary school.

Source: Scottish Government analysis based on Department for Work and Pensions figures.

Information on the number of applications and the annual cost of these payments is held by the Department for Work and Pensions.