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: S5O-03028

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to improve NHS Lothian's infrastructure in order to cope with East Lothian’s rising population.

Question reference: S5F-03161

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 March 2019

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that people are financially ready for their retirement.

Question reference: S5W-21670

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how Social Security Scotland plans to create the "genuine, new career opportunities" referred to in its interim corporate plan.

The Agency is committed to investing in the development of its staff and part of that is developing interesting and attractive jobs which can provide longer term development opportunities for those interested in building a career in public service.

By 18 th March 2019 will have employed 153 new Client Advisors across a number of grades. These new jobs were advertised internally to existing Civil Servants but also externally to the general public and cumulatively received over 1,100 applications.

In addition 100 jobs in Local Delivery are being advertised in the spring across Scotland. To deliver a national service, jobs will be located in places that are traditionally considered difficult to reach areas of the county. This will create career opportunities for individuals who aren’t able to access civil service jobs based in the central belt.

The Agency already has a small number of Placement and Internship programmes in place and Modern Apprentices, including direct school leavers.

Moving forward, the Agency will be developing partnerships with Further Education establishments in Dundee and Glasgow and across the rest of Scotland to develop professional qualifications, talent development programmes and other development options to ensure equality of access to development for all team members.

Question reference: S5W-21665

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 8 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to allow Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) to support the work of Social Security Scotland, and whether it will provide CAS with funding to allow it to offer assistance with (a) the roll-out of devolved benefits, (b) helping people make a claim and (c) helping claimants with personal budgeting support.

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) is playing an active and valuable role in supporting the work of Social Security Scotland. This includes feeding into our various stakeholder groups and helping in the development of services and training for staff. We are also working with CAS to raise awareness of Social Security Scotland’s benefits to increase uptake. We plan for this partnership working to continue as Social Security Scotland progresses in the development and delivery of its services.

In 2018-19 the Scottish Government is providing £1.46 million of funding for Welfare Mitigation to CAS and the Citizens Advice Bureaux network to enable it to provide independent advice to the people of Scotland on reserved and devolved benefit matters. In addition, CAS is also receiving funding of £3.3 million for two years from 2018 to 2020 to deliver the Financial Health Check Service. Financial Health Checks provide personalised advice to people on money matters from reducing household energy costs to claiming Social Security Scotland benefits such as the Best Start Grant.

Question reference: S5W-21658

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to reduce colonoscopy waiting times in the Borders, in light of reports that the region’s waiting times are the longest in Scotland.

For the Quarter ending December 2018 there were 41 patients waiting over 6 weeks for an appointment for a scope investigation in NHS Borders. Of these, 32 of were waiting for a colonoscopy.

I recognise that performance across a range of diagnostic tests is lower than I want to see. That is why I launched the Waiting Times Improvement Plan in October 2018 which is supported by £850 million and will significantly and substantially improve NHS performance by the Spring of 2021.

The Waiting Times Improvement Plan has allowed NHS Borders to extend capacity, to share good practice, such as waiting list validation and pre-assessment, and to future proof activity including the training of nurse endoscopists. In addition we will shortly be publishing an Endoscopy Action Plan that will support the actions needed to reduce patients waiting over six weeks for these key tests, through the provision of additional clinics, implementing key improvement programmes such as the use of qFIT to support primary care referral, and use of endoscopy management systems to aid booking and scheduling of patients.

My officials are also working directly with the NHS Borders to support them to deliver extra colonoscopy appointments at weekends throughout the period of March to June this year. As part of its sustainability plan, the Board is developing a new service which will be delivered a community setting and will increase clinic and endoscopy capacity.

Question reference: S5W-21727

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with (a) stakeholders in the tertiary education sector and (b) City and Guilds regarding the introduction of accredited training or academic modules for face-to-face assessments, or the Scottish equivalent.

Scottish Government officials have met with the Scottish Qualifications Authority to discuss the accreditation services they may be able to provide.

The Scottish Government has published a policy position paper setting out our approach to the skills and experience assessors should hold. This policy was developed in accordance with advice provided by the Disability and Carers Benefits Expert Advisory Group. The policy position paper can be found here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/disability-assistance-assessments-policy-position-paper/

Question reference: S5W-21726

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what role Social Security Scotland’s Local Delivery Relationship Leads will have in delivering face-to-face assessments, or the Scottish equivalent.

The Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 requires that assessments for Disability Assistance must be carried out by people who are ‘suitably qualified’ to do so. Social Security Scotland will ensure those carrying out face to face assessments, if required, are suitably qualified to understand the impact that an individual’s disability or condition has on them. Local Delivery Relationship Leads will support clients through the process should they need it.

Question reference: S5W-21652

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what work has been carried out by (a) Social Security Scotland and (b) its Social Security Directorate to examine the introduction of a job grant for people over 50.

Question reference: S5W-21669

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many service users have appealed a Best Start Grant award in the Social Security Chamber First Tier Tribunal, and how many of these appeals were upheld.

Question reference: S5W-21376

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide details of the training that will be given to Social Security Scotland staff carrying out work capability assessments, or the Scottish equivalent, and how much it will cost to provide this training.