- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release on 29 October 2021 regarding a £41 million Winter Support Fund for low-income households, what the allocation formula is for the £25 million of flexible funding to be allocated to local authorities to support wellbeing and respond to financial insecurity based on local needs.
Answer
The Scottish Government has proposed a methodology to the Settlement and Distribution Group which was considered on 17 November. A recommendation has been made to COSLA Leaders for adoption when they next meet on 26 November.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release on 29 October 2021 regarding a £41 million Winter Support Fund for low-income households, when the £25 million of flexible funding to support wellbeing and respond to financial insecurity based on local needs will be available to local authorities.
Answer
Local authorities will be informed of their allocations once COSLA Leaders have considered and agreed the methodology for distribution on 26 November. It is proposed that funding is allocated through a redetermination to General Revenue Grant with payments in the final two weeks of the current financial year which is standard practice for additional in-year funding for local authorities. All General Revenue Grant funding requires the approval of the Scottish Parliament.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 26 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release on 29 October 2021 regarding a £41 million Winter Support Fund for low-income households, whether it will provide details of the framework for how local authorities should utilise the £25 million of flexible funding to support wellbeing and respond to financial insecurity based on local needs.
Answer
The Scottish Government has issued national guidance to inform local authority deployment of this funding, which has been sent to the relevant local authority officers and is available online: .
The guidance provides a strong steer in favour of cash-first responses, and the integration of money advice and holistic support services to prevent future hardship. Local authorities will have flexibility to decide how to provide assistance for those most likely to experience hardship – including people who may have been impacted by the recent UK Government cut to Universal Credit and those who may not be eligible for mainstream support.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how departments are co-operating to develop a cross-governmental strategy on poverty and, in doing so, the extent to which they are engaging with (a) people with lived-experience of poverty and (b) local authorities.
Answer
The Scottish Government will publish the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan by the end of March 2022, setting out a range of actions which will put us on a critical path to the 2030 child poverty targets.
We have declared a national mission to end child poverty, recognising the need for urgent and targeted action which is underpinned by work across the Scottish Government to shape the next delivery plan.
Consultation for the plan is ongoing, in compliance with the requirements of the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017. Inputs have been received from national and community based third sector organisations, local authorities and health boards. Working in partnership with third sector organisations, the experiences and priorities of people with lived experience of poverty are informing the development of the plan.
Further consultation activity with third sector organisations and people with lived experience of poverty will take place in advance of publication of the plan. This will focus on the priority family types identified in the first Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan and the experience of those most affected by child poverty.
The Scottish Government is working with COSLA to facilitate the full engagement of local authorities.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release on 29 October 2021 regarding a £41 million Winter Support Fund for low-income households, whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £6 million for third sector organisations will be allocated, and what the distribution criteria are for this part of the funding.
Answer
We are currently finalising grant awards with partners and will publish a list of organisations when this process is complete.
In terms of distribution criteria, funding will be awarded to trusted Scottish Government third sector partners who have a wide geographical reach and who have previously demonstrated the ability to mobilise quickly to deliver support to people who find themselves in need due to a variety of circumstances.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 12 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Claire Baker on 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what assessment it has made of the need for appropriate childcare provision for staff working at the Parliament.
Answer
The Parliament takes an inclusive approach to providing its staff with appropriate childcare support. Staff are supported by a range of policies to enable them to manage their work, family and home life circumstances. This has been particularly helpful during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The UK Government operates a tax free childcare scheme which offers up to £2000 per year for each child to assist with childcare costs. As an employer there are limitations on the benefits that can be offered following changes to UK legislation in 2018 which prohibited employers from operating a childcare voucher scheme other than for parents who were already members of the scheme prior to its closure. Prior to the closing of all employer funded childcare schemes the SPCB operated a voucher scheme for Members, their staff and SPCB staff. The scheme was introduced to promote fairness and inclusion for all individuals in place of a childcare facility which would primarily benefit employees across the central belt of Scotland and within easy access of the childcare facility.
The employer childcare voucher scheme which remains in operation for employees who were members of the scheme prior to its closure in 2018 has experienced a reduction in use during the Covid-19 pandemic where staff had the ability to work in a more flexible manner and from a flexible location, reducing the requirement for paid childcare provisions.
The SPCB discussed childcare at its last meeting and have asked officials to engage with Members and Staff on what support would be most useful to better balance home and work life. This will include a review of how the creche space can be best used to support staff and Members with childcare. Unfortunately, the space we have is not suitable for a nursery as we lack secure outdoor space which children can access unsupervised. Therefore, onsite childcare will be limited to short duration stays.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has committed to meeting poverty targets and whether it is on track to meet the targets.
Answer
As set out in the latest Tackling Child Poverty Progress Report, published in June 2021, the Scottish Government invested almost £2.5 billion in support targeted at low income households including nearly £1 billion to support children in low income families.
The report also highlights that the data indicates that significant progress needs to be achieved in the years ahead to deliver upon the 2030 targets. That is why the Scottish Government has declared a national mission to tackle child poverty and committed to ambitious new action through the COVID Recovery Strategy. This includes doubling the Scottish Child Payment to £20 per week as quickly as possible during this Parliamentary term, continuing investment in the Parental Employability Support Fund and designing a wraparound childcare system providing care before and after school, all year round.
The Scottish Government will publish the second Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan by the end of March 2022, setting out a range of actions which will put us on a critical path to the targets set. The Plan, when published, will include an assessment of the financial resources required to fund the proposed measures.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether there has been an underspend of the social security budget in this financial year and, if so, how much the underspend is, and how it compares to initial forecasts.
Answer
The overall social security budget for the 2021-22 financial year was set in January 2021, at almost £4 billion. This includes £3.5 billion for demand-led benefits expenditure, and almost £0.5 billion for Social Security Programme implementation investment and Social Security Scotland operating costs.
The Scottish Government has put in place robust processes to manage the risks associated with demand-led expenditure on this scale and the potential impact any variations could have on the wider Scottish Budget. After the financial year has ended, our Budget position will be presented to Parliament in the Provisional Outturn statement and confirmed in the 2021-22 consolidated accounts in the normal way.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 08 November 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 20 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to (a) prevent and (b) mitigate the disruption caused by changes to public transport due to COP26.
Answer
Transport Scotland undertook a public messaging programme to inform and forewarn the public of the need to plan their journey during COP26, directing people to the website, which held detailed heat maps of affected areas and suggested alternative routes. This campaign proved to be successful in reducing the background demand, which allowed space for the events to take place while leaving capacity on transport networks for key workers and unplanned disruption.
A zero emission Shuttle Bus service was put in place to support the extra demand on public transport between Glasgow City Centre and the venue. This was positively received by delegates, and proved to be popular, transporting almost 5000 people on its busiest day. Rail and subway services were strengthened to support the demand. Free cycle hire was also available in Glasgow, provided by Nextbike.
Furthermore, the Transport Co-ordination Centre and Transport Scotland Resilience Room were stood up throughout the conference to monitor and help mitigate any transport related issues.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 18 October 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 November 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what action it will take to ensure that any future transition away from the requirement to wear face coverings is as safe as possible and ensures public safety.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-03564 on 25 October 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at /chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .