- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 January 2020
To ask the Scottish Government how many interviews for roles in Social Security Scotland have taken place at (a) Dundee House, Dundee, (b) High Street, Glasgow, (c) Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, (d) St Andrew's House, Edinburgh, (e) Atlantic Quay, Glasgow and (f) other (i) Social Security Scotland and (ii) Scottish Government premises.
Answer
We are unable to provide a response to this question as we do not collate the requested information centrally.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 09 December 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2020
To ask the Scottish Government whether cold-spell heating assistance will be paid to people who receive universal credit.
Answer
We are putting in place robust plans to deliver Cold Spell Heating Assistance from winter 2021. Our priority in taking on full responsibility for all the devolved benefits is a safe and secure transition so that people continue to receive support at the right time and right amount.
Our position paper clearly states that we expect that delivery of Cold Spell Heating Assistance will continue on the basis of existing eligibility.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 December 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26536 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 December 2019, what the full list of reserved premiums or benefits are, also broken down by the relevant qualifying Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) component or rate.
Answer
The information requested is in the public domain and available at: https://www.gov.uk/disability-premiums
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 19 December 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what the maximum backdating period is for the Scottish Child Payment.
Answer
Scottish Child Payment regulations will include provisions to allow Scottish Ministers to make a determination without application where an individual been unsuccessful in their application as a result of a qualifying benefit or child responsibility benefit decision.
In these instances, where this was as a result of an incorrect decision being made on a reserved benefit, and the person has since appealed and received a backdated award, the Scottish Child Payment will also be backdated to the point a person first applied for the Payment.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 December 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments in its paper, A Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland, Scottish Government response, which reserved premiums or benefits are contingent on an individual having a disability living allowance (DLA) or personal independence payment (PIP) mobility component.
Answer
Disability Premiums for Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Housing Benefit are contingent on an award of one or both of the care or mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Personal Independence Payment (PIP) at any rate.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 December 2019
To ask the Scottish Government when the interim review of the operation and impact of Experience Panels began, and when it is expected to conclude.
Answer
The mid-programme peer review of the Experience Panels began in October 2019. The review was completed in November 2019. The output from the review will be published alongside the annual report for the Experience Panels before the end of 2019.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what the verified financial gain of the Money Talk Team service is (a) in total and (b) per client.
Answer
Citizens Advice Scotland’s nine month progress report (November 18 to July 19) shows verified financial gains of £6,005,338.69 for 3,198 Money Talk Team clients.
We do not hold information on the verified financial gains for each client.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 07 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 21 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what measures are being taken to manage demand for the Money Talk Team service, and whether funding will be extended if this is exhausted ahead of schedule.
Answer
We recently undertook a six week national marketing campaign in partnership with Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) to help promote the service and generate demand. We are content that this funding will match demand and continue to meet regularly with CAS to monitor on-going performance.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26062 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 November 2019, what the date was of the disability living allowance (DLA) caseload data that informed the analysis, and when this analysis was (a) conducted and (b) last updated.
Answer
Scottish Government analysis of the inclusion of a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People (DAOP) used the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 65+ client group from February 2013 as the best comparison to DAOP. This is because it is the most recent data available before Personal Independence Payment was introduced and the DLA caseload starts to reduce.
This analysis was conducted and last updated in Summer 2019.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 November 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 November 2019
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-26062 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 November 2019, whether it has used or plans to use personal independence payment (PIP) caseload data to estimate the cost of introducing a mobility component for older people.
Answer
Scottish Government analysis of the inclusion of a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People (DAOP) used Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 65+ client group as the best comparison to DAOP.
The DLA 65+ client group was used for this analysis as, prior to the introduction of Personal Independence Payment (PIP), it had a large caseload of people aged 65+. This included people in the highest age bands, meaning DLA 65+ can be used as a comparator to DAOP. Data on the DLA caseload 65+ caseload from February 2013 was used, as this is the most recent data available before the before the introduction of PIP.
People under state pension age are able to make a new claims for PIP. People may be on the PIP caseload and over state pension age if their claim started when they were below pension age. Given that PIP was introduced in 2013, only a small number of PIP clients are now over state pension age, and none are 80 or above, which the majority of the DAOP caseload will be. This means PIP caseload data is not suitable to compare to DAOP for the purpose of estimating the number of people who would receive a mobility component.