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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-23042

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will request from the DWP, under its agency agreement, how many people who had entitlement to carer's allowance have sought an appeal of a decision to (a) supersede, (b) suspend or (c) terminate that entitlement as a result of them (i) entering full-time education, (ii) earning or having an income greater than the earnings limit or (iii) no longer caring for 35 hours per week and being unsuccessful at mandatory reconsideration, broken down by the (A) year the decision was made and (B) outcome of that appeal.

Question reference: S5W-22852

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the anticipated points of contact are in the process of requesting a social security redetermination, and whether it will publish a flowchart of these.

Social Security Scotland (the Agency) currently provide re-determination rights for all appealable benefits under the Social Security Act 2018. Clients can request this either by phone or completion of the re-determination form provided with first determination letters. There are at least four contact points between the client and the agency during this process.

The process is described on the mygov website: https://www.mygov.scot/if-you-do-not-agree-with-a-benefit-decision/ .

Question reference: S5W-22853

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether short-term social security assistance will be made available as soon as a request for a social security redetermination is first communicated to the agency or once the completed redetermination request is submitted in full.

Section 36 of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 provides that Short-term Assistance will be available once a request for a‎ re-determination or an appeal is made. This is considered to be when the individual has submitted the re-determination or appeal form.

We are currently consulting on our proposals for STA, as part of the consultation on Disability Assistance, to inform the detailed design and operation of how it will operate.

Question reference: S5W-22854

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether entitlement for short-term assistance will exist for the period immediately after a new social security determination is made and up to the request for a redetermination or an appeal is made, and, if entitlement will exist for this period, whether the assistance will only be made available or payable after the request for a redetermination or an appeal is made.

Question reference: S5O-03257

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will integrate the principle of non-regression into provisions on keeping pace with EU laws to ensure that no new measures inadvertently lead to a lowering of consumer and environmental standards.

Question reference: S5W-23069

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many Best Start Grant applications in the initial phase up to 28 February 2019 were from people with non-Scottish postcodes; what proportion of these were processed; for what reason they were processed, and how many staffing hours were spent carrying out this task.

Official statistics on the number of Best Start Grant applications received from people with non-Scottish postcodes to 28 February 2019, and the number of these applications that were processed, are available at: https://www2.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/SocialSecurityforScotland/BSGFeb2019 . All applications received by Social Security Scotland are processed, to determine whether they will be authorised or denied. We do not hold information on the number of staffing hours spent processing applications with non-Scottish postcodes.

Question reference: S5W-22957

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many social security programme staff have recorded (a) short- and (b) long-term absences in the last year.

Question reference: S5W-22915

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 14 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how much it will cost the Department of Health and Social Care to deliver welfare foods under agency arrangements in Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-22944

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-22076 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 15 March 2019, and in light of the commentary in the report by Auditor General, Social Security: Implementing the devolved powers, which states that Industrial Injuries Disabled Benefit will be delivered by the DWP on an ongoing basis by agency agreement, whether the new claims service for Employment Injury Assistance will be launched in autumn 2022.

Question reference: S5W-22962

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 02 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many of its social security (a) programme, (b) directorate and (c) agency staff have previously been employed by the DWP.