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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: S6W-26935

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to address any long waiting times for applications to Social Security Scotland, in light of reports that nine children have died while waiting for an application for the Child Disability Payment to be processed.

Our thoughts are with the families and friends of those who sadly died before a decision could be made on their application.

We know some people waited an unacceptably long time for Child Disability Payment and urgent action was taken to address this resulting in improved processing times.

We aim to process all applications as quickly as possible and have an accelerated application process for people who have a terminal illness diagnoses. We urge anyone who is applying on behalf of a terminally ill child or young person to use this dedicated route and ensure their application is given utmost priority.

While we cannot comment on individual cases, there are a number of factors that impact on how long it takes to make a decision including the time taken to gather information to support an application from a professional such as teachers or health care practitioners. This can take time – but under the DWP, people had to do this themselves – and we know people greatly value this service.

Question reference: S6W-26934

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 April 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason Social Security Scotland staff reportedly do not work to timelines or key performance indicators, and what its position is on whether key performance indicators would help to improve the organisation’s efficiency.

Social Security Scotland is focused on making the right decision first time, whilst aiming to process all applications as quickly as possible.

Our Charter sets out a range of standards for our performance and each year we publish the Charter Measurement Framework to share how we are delivering against our Charter commitments. As part of this research, we invite feedback from our clients and stakeholders on our performance, through our annual client survey.

In addition, we have committed to processing Funeral Support Payment applications within 10 working days of receipt of a completed applications and to process Special Rules for Terminal Illness disability payment applications within seven working days.

All colleagues have agreed work objectives which are reviewed as part of our performance management process and are further supported to perform effectively through learning and development programmes. We also use system data and internal management information to promote continuous improvement.

We have for example taken extensive action to drive down processing times and have seen significant improvements. Latest published figures show that average processing times for Adult Disability Payment have fallen by almost 40%.

Question reference: S6O-03400

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to NHS Ayrshire and Arran to improve access to ADHD testing for adults.

Question reference: S6O-03310

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the housing minister has had with ministerial colleagues regarding any potential impact on rural community housing of its decision not to allow the use of fossil and biofuel heating systems in new-build construction.

Question reference: S6O-01520

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-01478

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 2 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it is working with colleagues in local government, as part of its Covid Recovery Strategy, to support Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley’s recovery from COVID-19.

Question reference: S6O-01447

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any discussions with the UK Government, in light of the concerns raised with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy regarding the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Question reference: S6W-11481

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 October 2022
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shona Robison on 10 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what further support it will provide to low income families this winter.

To enhance the support available for low income families with school age children, the Scottish Government will double the final Bridging Payment due to be paid in December 2022. This will increase the payment from £130 to £260 for every eligible child.

This increase is anticipated to reach in the region of 145,000 children, backed by additional investment of almost £19 million. As a result, Bridging Payments are expected to put around £169 million in the pockets of low income families across 2021 and 2022.

This is in addition to the expansion and further increase in the value of the Scottish Child Payment, which will become available for eligible children under the age of 16 as of 14 November and will be worth £25 per child, per week.

The Scottish Government will continue to assess all opportunities to redirect additional resources to those most in need through the Emergency Budget Review.

Question reference: S6O-01412

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 September 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out of the impact on farmers in Scotland of the UK Government’s energy price cap.

Question reference: S6W-09327

Asked by: Elena Whitham, MSP for Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 June 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide an update on the uptake to date of the Young Persons’ (Under 22s) Free Bus Travel, and what assessment it has made of the impact of the scheme on children in households on the lowest incomes and their ability to access opportunities.

As of close of business on 27 June 2022 a total of 426,397 cards had been issued under the Young Persons Scheme (YPS). This includes the number of cards that have collected a travel product from the Transport Scot Pass Collect mobile application held by Transport Scotland and data supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). NECPO support the 32 local authorities by assisting with the integration of various national and local public services on the National Entitlement Card (NEC) and are the joint controller with local authorities of this data.

One of the objectives of the YPS is to reduce household outgoings to aid children, particularly those living in poverty. Transport Scotland is undertaking an evaluation of the Scheme to assess its success. As a first step, a baseline study was undertaken prior to the scheme going live and a Baseline Data Report was published on 24 June 2022.

The report stated that as incomes decreased bus use increased for most journey purposes, with those on the lowest incomes most likely to use the bus. In addition, as income reduced the proportions of income spent on a child’s travel tended to increase.

The cost of travel and transport was noted as being a key reason why some children and young people were missing out on opportunities, including social and leisure activities as well as educational, work opportunities and support/respite services. Between 51% (for health care) and 80% (for daytime social activities) of respondents felt that the YPS would allow them to travel more often to their current destinations, and/or to access new destinations.

The evaluation is ongoing and will compare conditions at intervals up to five years after project implementation to assess the outcomes and impact of the scheme on children, young people and their families.