- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 11 August 2014
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-22030 by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 July 2014, whether it has information regarding the length of sanction imposed for people in each category in each year.
Answer
<>As mentioned in response to question S4W-22030, the Scottish Government does not collect information on the number of individuals who have been sanctioned as benefits are reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government does not have any further information on sanctions other than what is publicly available on the Department for Work and Pensions Stat-Xplore tool, available at the following link:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk.
Due to the complexity of this request, as sanction length varies depending on the type of sanction and the number of failures at that level, we would recommend requesting this information from the Department for Work and Pensions.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Margaret Burgess on 16 July 2014
To ask the Scottish Government which projects have been funded by the Welfare Reform Resilience Fund in 2014-15.
Answer
The Welfare Reform Resilience Fund is supporting 11 projects across Scotland which will assist in mitigating the worst impacts of the UK Government’s welfare reform policies and build resilience into Scottish public services regardless of any future changes to the welfare system imposed by the UK Government.
The following table gives a brief overview of each of the projects. Further details can be found on the Scottish Government website at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/welfarereform/WRRF2014-15Update.
| Local Authority | Project Description |
| Aberdeen City | Improving the coordination of local support services for clients with mental health issues. |
| Aberdeenshire | Providing holistic housing and money advice service for new social sector tenants. |
| Dundee City | Providing enhanced access to ICT and creating innovative digital tools to improve the accessibility and clarity of information on welfare reform. |
| Falkirk | Improving support for customers with complex/multiple mental health needs to access welfare benefits/advice services. |
| Fife | Adding consistency to local welfare reform action plans and supporting people in their communities through improved triage, digital and financial inclusion. |
| Inverclyde | Tackling the issues of high cost lending and developing a robust case management system. |
| Midlothian | Creating a digital access point in a local library for vulnerable people affected by welfare reform. |
| Moray | Creating a welfare benefits 'portal' giving information on, and access to, support services. |
| Renfrewshire | Providing fuel advocacy services to vulnerable families and families experiencing financial hardship. |
| Shetland Islands | Developing the ICT skills of individuals and their access to the internet throughout rural Shetland. |
| West Dunbartonshire | Providing financial wellbeing advice and support for families with additional support needs relating to parenting challenges (via local family support centre). |
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 July 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 15 July 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the number of (a) disabled people, (b) lone parents, (c) women and (d) young people who received a jobseekers allowance sanction in Scotland in each year from 2009 to 2013.
Answer
As benefits are reserved to the UK Government the Scottish Government does not collect information on the number of individuals who have been sanctioned. However, the Department for Work and Pensions publishes data on the number of individuals in receipt of an adverse sanction decision on their Stat-Xplore tool. The following table shows the number of individuals in Scotland who received an adverse sanction for Jobseekers Allowance each year from 2009 to 2013.
| Number of individuals in in Scotland receipt of an adverse sanction for Jobseekers Allowance, 2009 to 2013 |
| | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012* | 2013 |
| Disabled people | 8,026 | 10,239 | 9,677 | 11,616 | 13,128 |
| Lone Parents | 476 | 1,042 | 1,635 | 2,576 | 3,157 |
| Women | 7,914 | 9,832 | 10,034 | 13,276 | 13,993 |
| Young People** | 16,857 | 19,797 | 18,622 | 22,290 | 20,699 |
| Source: DWP Stat-Xplore tool [Accessed 7 July 2014] https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/ Notes: * The UK Government introduced a new sanction regime from 22 October 2012. Data for 2012 therefore includes both the old and new regime. **Young people are defined as those aged 16 to 24 |
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 June 2014
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Current Status:
Initiated by the Scottish Government.
Answered by Fergus Ewing on 26 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update of the action it is taking to implement the Renewable Heat Action Plan in order to deliver its target to meet 11% of heat demand from renewable sources by 2020.
Answer
I am pleased to announce that I laid a report in Parliament on 26 June 2014 which updates the actions the Scottish Government is taking to implement the Renewable Heat Action Plan. Copies of the report are available on the Scottish Government website at:
http://scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/Energy/Energy-sources/19185/Heat/RHUpdate2014
In addition the Energy Saving Trust published their report on Renewable Heat in Scotland for 2013 on 26 June 2014. The report shows that in 2013 renewable heat capacity increased by 18% and heat generated from renewable sources by 17% compared with 2012, indicating that Scotland is making good progress towards meeting the renewable heat target by 2020. A copy of the Energy Saving Trust report is available at the following link: http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/About-us/About-us/Recent-reports.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2014
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2014
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitors the application in schools of Getting it Right for Every Child for children who require additional support.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 25 June 2014
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has given consideration to making provision of adult changing places a requirement of large developments or transport hubs.
Answer
There is a need for a national spread of changing places in public places in Scotland. Focusing on large developments is not the best way to achieve this. In the amended October 2013 Building Standards Technical Handbook – Non Domestic – Section 3.12, it acknowledges changing places as best practice and recommends a network of these facilities.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2014
To ask the Scottish Government whether it provides subsidies to bodies looking to install adult changing places.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not provide such support.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to increase the availability of adult changing places since 2011.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to increasing the availability of changing places in buildings with public access. The Scottish Government’s new strategy for learning disability The keys to life recommends that 100 Changing Places be available by June 2015 and PAMIS has been commissioned to help make this happen. Since The Keys to life was published in June 2013 the number of changing places has increased from 85 to 92 in Scotland and there are a number waiting to be registered.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 7 May 2014
To ask the Scottish Government how many of its agencies provide adult changing places.
Answer
No Scottish Government agencies provide changing places. The aim is to develop a network of changing places in buildings which the public have routine access to. There is little benefit of changing places being located in office buildings where the public have no access.
- Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2014
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 2 May 2014
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to increase the provision of adult changing places in premises that it owns or operates.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not have any facilities that comply with the requirements of adult changing places in the premises that it owns or operates.
The need for this type of facility across the Scottish Government estate will be kept under review and any requirements identified will be considered as part of our programme of future works.
