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-27066

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the decision was taken to reduce the time limit in which an individual can request a redetermination from 13 months for Disability Living Allowance to 42 days for Disability Assistance for Children and Young People in the draft regulations.

Forty two days was chosen as an initial period within which an individual can challenge a decision, following the supportive responses to the Disability Assistance consultation and wider stakeholder engagement.

An individual will still be able to make a late re-determination request up to one year provided they have a good reason for not making it sooner. This will carry a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal if refused by Social Security Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-26906

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government when entitlement for the Scottish Child Payment would begin and payment be made if an application for the benefit was made on the same day as one for universal credit.

The legal route we are using to deliver the Scottish Child Payment almost two years early means that we cannot pay someone unless they are entitled to a qualifying benefit. In this instance, if a client had claimed for both Universal Credit and the Scottish Child Payment on the same day, the client would not qualify for the Scottish Child Payment until they are entitled to Universal Credit.

Social Security Scotland will, however, have the ability to hold over an application for a certain period if it can see that the applicant is not yet entitled to the necessary qualifying benefit, but may soon be.

In these circumstances, once the qualifying benefit entitlement is in place, the application can be processed and, importantly, the payment will be made from the date the person applied for the Scottish Child Payment, provided the person was entitled for the qualifying benefit at that point in time.

Question reference: S5W-26877

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government which third sector organisations it has met to discuss the fortnightly payment of the Scottish Child Payment, and what the outcome was.

The Scottish Government has engaged widely with stakeholders throughout the Scottish Child Payment’s development including representatives from anti-poverty organisations, think tanks, academia, local authorities and equalities groups such as the Child Poverty Action Group, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Poverty Alliance, Engender, IPPR Scotland and Inclusion Scotland.

Throughout this engagement, we have been open about the fact that while more frequent payments may provide greater flexibility, they also pose a greater risk for Social Security Scotland given this is the first high volume, recurring benefit that the agency will deliver. An estimated 140,000 households with children aged under 6 will qualify for the benefit, so it is essential payments are made as quickly and securely as possible.

We have committed to reviewing the Scottish Child Payment during the course of the next Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan (2022-2026).

Question reference: S5O-04058

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it is making on delivering a soft opt-out organ donation system, following the passing of the Human Tissue (Authorisation) (Scotland) Act 2019.

Question reference: S5F-03878

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 20 January 2020
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 January 2020

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to figures from Oxfam Scotland, which estimate that the value of unpaid care work across the country is £36 billion.

Question reference: S5W-26876

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what constraints it has identified that might prevent the fortnightly payment of the Scottish Child Payment.

As we set out in the position paper published on 4 October 2019, more frequent payments would pose a greater risk for Social Security Scotland's operations. The more frequent the payment, the greater the volume of transactions required each week by the agency, with consequent higher resource requirements.

At a time when there is ongoing introduction of the devolved benefits, and given that the Scottish Child Payment will be one of the first high-volume, recurring benefits, we have to balance ensuring the greatest impact for individuals, while protecting as far as possible the existing programme and the capacity of Social Security Scotland to deliver this new benefit and the other devolved benefits. We have, however, committed to exploring fortnightly payments further following full roll-out of the Scottish Child Payment.

Question reference: S5W-26874

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 17 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it (a) formally requested and (b) received a response from the DWP regarding the data of families with children over six for the purposes of paying the Scottish Child Payment; whether this request was made at ministerial or official level, and what plans it has to publish the response.

On 14 June Scottish Government officials commissioned a feasibility study from the Department for Work and Pensions, to explore the implications of the Scottish Child Payment for both organisations, including the interfaces that would be required between them. DWP responded in writing at official level on 6 August confirming that they would not provide the Scottish Government with data for 6-16 year olds until nearer 2022. The then Secretary of State Amber Rudd confirmed this on 15 August in a letter to myself.

There has since been further discussion of the issue on a number of occasions at both official and ministerial level, including at the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare in November 2019. We have still to receive a response from DWP as to when they will be in a position to provide us with this data.

Minutes for the Joint Ministerial Working Group on Welfare are publicly available on the gov.scot website. The Scottish Government has no current plans to publish the other correspondence referred to.

Question reference: S5W-26869

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25151 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 September 2019, whether the costs have changed since the Discovery phase of the Scottish Child Payment design was completed and, if so, whether it will set out these changes.

Question reference: S5W-26867

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20766 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 9 January 2019, whether it will provide an update regarding what proportion of the processes are (a) automated and (b) manual, and what the staff time is per claim for manual processes for all payments made by Social Security Scotland.

Social Security Scotland is now delivering Best Start Grant including the Food element, Funeral Support Payment and Young Carer Grant. Each benefit requires the verification of evidence prior to processing an application. These verifications are dependent on the information provided by the client, the benefit type and in, specific circumstance, the information provided by other Government Departments or other providers. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we have delivered further automations to improve the processing of applications. However, the use of these verification’s is dependent on varying factors within each client’s journey. The Agency are not currently gathering the staff time per claim for manual processes for all payments.

Question reference: S5W-26868

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 January 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 January 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-25151 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 September 2019, whether it will provide a breakdown of what the cost is in terms of (a) staffing, (b) IT, (c) payment systems and (d) payments to the DWP, and what proportion of costs it expects to be attributed to activity in (i) Social Security Scotland and the (ii) Social Security Programme.