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-19369

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) attendees (b) expressions of interest and (c) new hires were identified at each of the recruitment roadshows for the new social security agency that took place in September/October 2018.

Social Security Scotland (SSS) recently completed 22 recruitment workshops/roadshows between September and October 2018.

For this current round of recruitment, an estimated 900 people attended our engagement events.

All candidates were required to submit a formal application for these posts under a fair and open recruitment process, with applications being submitted through the Scottish Government Work for Scotland Website. This system does not record whether candidates attended specific roadshows or engagement events.

Question reference: S5W-19368

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 30 October 2018

Social Security Scotland’s current headcount is 263, with a full-time equivalent headcount of 258.5.

Subject to pre-employment checks for 15 new recruits, Social Security Scotland’s headcount is expected to be 278 by the end of the 2018 calendar year. The exact full-time equivalent figure will depend on individual working patterns and hours which have still to be agreed.

Social Security Scotland will continue to grow as benefits are devolved. The full-time equivalent headcount for 2019 and beyond will depend on the sequencing of benefits which has still to be agreed.

Question reference: S5O-02483

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 October 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how successful it considers participatory budgeting has been since the implementation of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015.

Question reference: S5W-19200

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government where the 400 staff recruited initially by Social Security Scotland will be based, broken down by (a) Parliamentary region and (b) local authority area.

An estimated 400 staff will be recruited to all Scottish local authority areas to provide face-to-face advice once Social Security Scotland is fully operational. An estimate by location is not available at this time. However, 19 Local Delivery Relationship Leads are now in place who will undertake further analysis and local consultation to identify the specific needs of each area. Each local authority will be designated a Lead who will work closely with them to develop a service that is appropriate to the needs of their communities.

Question reference: S5W-19366

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what increase in benefits uptake it attributes to the You’ve Earned It campaign, in terms of the (a) overall value of additional benefits claimed and (b) number of additional claimants.

Question reference: S5W-19135

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 01 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 23 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the core group from the Social Security Experience Panels has met, and how many times it will meet before the Social Security Charter is introduced.

Question reference: S5W-19184

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 October 2018
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 15 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities (a) have introduced or (b) plan to introduce a dyslexia policy for (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools.

The Scottish Government does not collect this information.

Education authorities and other agencies have duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act 2004 (as amended) to identify, provide for and review the additional support needs of their pupils, including those arising from dyslexia.

Under the Act education authorities must also publish information and contact details relating to the identification of additional support needs and the arrangements for support for pupils.

Question reference: S5W-18864

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 17 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Ash Denham on 2 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with its discussions with the UK Government regarding the devolution of the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal.

The Scottish Government is keen to make progress on the devolution of powers over the management and operation of the reserved tribunals, as agreed by the Smith Commission. The process of transfer set out in the Scotland Act 2016 requires an Order in Council to be agreed between both the Scottish and UK Governments. While it was originally agreed that the UK Government would take forward the recommendations of the Smith Commission by providing a draft Order in Council in December 2017 with respect to the transfer of the first tranche, including the Social Security and Child Support jurisdiction, an initial draft of the Order was not received until late June 2018. Detailed discussions are now taking place at official level.

The UK Government acknowledges that that the initial draft Order in Council does not represent a final agreed position between the two governments and that the timetable for transfer requires further discussion with the Scottish Government. Once it is clear what the final offer of devolution is in relation to these tribunals, the Scottish Government intends to consult before formally responding to the UK Government and agreeing a timetable for transfer.

Question reference: S5W-18912

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 2 October 2018

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason when a person joins it from a UK Government department it reportedly does not record the department that the person has come from.

Question reference: S5W-18778

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 13 September 2018
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 September 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to maintaining Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) payments at the current level after January 2019.

LFASS is vital for our rural economy and remote communities throughout Scotland, providing support to over 11,000 farmers and crofters. With 85% of Scotland’s agricultural area classed as less favoured, clarity on future support for farmers and crofters is crucial to ensure the economic viability and sustainability of these remote areas.

Our top priority is the rural economy and providing the agricultural sector with certainty, which is why as soon as the EU rules changed it was announced last December that we will continue with a 100% LFASS payment for 2018.

However, EU rules do not allow us to continue with LFASS unchanged after 2018. That is why, having looked at ?all options, and to provide as much financial stability as possible during these uncertain times, we intend to continue LFASS in 2019, with the payments at the maximum that EU rules allow, which is 80%.

Unfortunately we are unable to give farmers and crofters assurance on LFASS beyond 2019 as, despite repeated requests, the UK Government has still not given a clear statement about the guarantees after Brexit.