Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-06626

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 15 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding Glasgow City Council received, from the £23.5 million allocated to homelessness prevention, in 2021-22.

Question reference: S6F-00918

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 March 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 March 2022

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government anticipates meeting the interim targets set out in the Child Poverty (Scotland) Act 2017.

Question reference: S6W-07025

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 March 2022
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 14 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to reduce waiting times for audiologist tests to obtain NHS hearing aids.

Excessively long waiting lists are not acceptable and we offer our sympathies to all patients waiting for treatment. Pausing of non-urgent activity has taken place across the health system and has inevitably led to a build-up of patients waiting for treatment, and the emergence of Omicron is continuing to have an impact on existing significant pressure.

Remaining covid restrictions and infection prevention control measures mean that Audiologists are working on reduced capacity and a reduced numbers of patients have access to the services.

Additionally, all services have seen a surge in referrals since restrictions have started to ease and GPs have become more accessible. Waiting lists have grown as a result and services have to balance ensuring that patients receive good quality, efficient and effective treatment with reducing waiting times.

We published an NHS Recovery Plan in August 2021 which sets out our plans for health and social care, including audiology services, over the next 5 years.

Backed by over £1 billion of funding, the Plan will support an increase in inpatient, daycase, and outpatient activity to address the backlogs of care, which will be supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements and new models of care.

Question reference: S6W-06648

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has plans to gather data on the number of people with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) who receive the Young Carer's Grant.

Question reference: S6W-06620

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what training is being provided to staff working with VoiceAbility to ensure that they can provide support to people, dealing with Social Security Scotland, to participate in the decisions and processes that affect them.

My officials have worked closely with VoiceAbility, and continue to support them to develop comprehensive training packages for their advocates. This training will be delivered through VoiceAbility’s newly established training centre and Scottish headquarters in Glasgow.

Training provides all necessary information on Scottish benefits; the application and appeals process; and the Scottish Social Security Principles set out in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 and underpinned by Social Security Scotland’s Charter. In return, VoiceAbility Learning and Development leads have supported Social Security Scotland counterparts to develop training resources for client advisors – setting out the principles of advocacy, as well as the client journey following referral to the service.

Officials will continue to monitor the service as it develops to ensure that all training packages are relevant and up to date.

Question reference: S6W-06625

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote its Best Start Grant School Age Payment.

There are a number of actions in place to promote Best Start Grant School Age Payment. We are promoting this payment as part of the Five Family Payments campaign. This campaign focuses on the three Best Start Grant payments, Best Start Foods and Scottish Child Payment. It includes paid-for television and radio advertising that encourages parents and carers to access the support to which they are entitled.

We are also promoting the School Age Payment through tailored and targeted social media posts, as well as news stories and press releases. This includes interviews containing School Age Payment case studies which ran on TV last year when the new school year started. Through all of this activity, we have been highlighting the deadline for applications which is the 28 February 2022.

Using information from DWP and HMRC, Social Security Scotland writes directly to families who may be eligible, inviting them to apply for School Age Payments. This proactive approach to maximising benefit uptake is a first for Social Security Scotland.

Social Security Scotland has written to all nurseries and primary schools in the country, ahead of the application deadline, to raise awareness of the payment. Through their monthly stakeholder newsletter, Social Security Scotland continually promotes the School Age Payment.

Question reference: S6W-06903

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out any assessment of the reasons for the majority of Job Start Payment applications reportedly being declined.

Analysis of management information shows that the most common reason for Job Start Payment applications being denied is that the applicant did not meet one or both of the key eligibility criteria i.e. that the applicant was not out of work and in receipt of a qualifying benefit for at least 6 months prior to being offered a job.

An initial evaluation of the benefit is currently being carried out which may shed further light on why applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria apply for Job Start Payment.

Question reference: S6W-06630

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding recruitment campaigns for Social Security Scotland, of those roles that are (a) being advertised and (b) at interview stage as of 18 February 2022, how many will be located in (i) Dundee and (ii) Glasgow.

In response to the question regarding the locations of recruitment campaigns for Social Security Scotland at advertisement and interview stage as of 18 February 2022, please find below a breakdown of current campaigns and roles by location. For the purposes of this response, we have interpreted the term roles to mean the number of full time equivalent posts we intend to fill through recruitment.

	Dundee		Glasgow		Dundee or Glasgow
	Number of Campaigns	Number of Roles	Number of Campaigns	Number of Roles	Number of Campaigns	Number of Roles
Advertisement Stage	1	4	1	4	23	58
Interview Stage	4	150	6	245	12	76
Total	5	154	7	249	35	134

Question reference: S6W-06846

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what the process is, including any legislative requirements, for it to top up reserved benefits, and how this can be accelerated if required urgently.

Any new benefit intended to top-up reserved benefits would have to be developed with research and testing among potential users, and close collaboration with DWP and other stakeholders. For delivery of new benefits, we need to develop and test all application and case management systems to ensure households are able to apply, in addition to obtaining data from DWP and HMRC in order to process and administer the benefit. Any work of such nature is extremely complex and takes a considerable period of time to develop, build and deliver. It would require other priorities to be set aside.

New benefits also require legislation to be made by the Scottish Parliament. The procedures for scrutinising proposed legislation are set out in the Standing Orders of the Parliament. There may also be a requirement for amending regulations to be laid by the UK Government, to ensure that any new income provided by the top-up of reserved benefits does not affect entitlement to other reserved benefits.

Question reference: S6W-06621

Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 February 2022
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 11 March 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the costs that it anticipates to cover with the £20.4 million that it has committed to provide over the next four years for the advocacy service, which will be provided by VoiceAbility.