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: S5W-16798

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff each of its (a) directorates and (b) agencies has procured through external recruitment companies, also broken down by (i) what proportion were hired on (A) employment agency and (B) temporary contracts and (ii) the total value of their salaries

The Scottish Government does not use the services of external recruitment companies for vacancies at bands A-C bands - administrative through to management posts. These companies are however sometimes used at Senior Civil Service level.

In the last 5 years the Scottish Government has recruited six Senior Civil Servants to core SG Directorates and SG Agencies through the use of executive search by external recruitment companies. Of those one was recruited on a fixed term contract. The total value of their salaries on appointment was just over £608k.

One person at Senior Civil Service level has been engaged by a core Directorate through an employment agency under the Scottish Government’s Temporary and Interim Staff Services framework agreement. Costs are not being disclosed because this is regarded as personal information relating to an individual.

Tables have been supplied to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre which provide figures for Agency and temporary workers, salary costs broken down by Directorates and Agencies. Bib number 59782.

Question reference: S5W-16803

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much each of its (a) directorates and (b) agencies has spent on external recruitment agencies in each month since April 2017.

Question reference: S5W-16804

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many advertisements have been placed with external recruitment companies by each of its (a) directorates and (b) agencies in each month since April 2017, and how many staff were hired as a result of each.

Question reference: S5W-16801

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of staffing costs in each of its (a) directorates and (b) agencies is spent on (i) recruiting and (ii) hiring (A) temporary, (B) seconded and (C) employment agency staff.

Question reference: S5W-16799

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff there are in each of its (a) directorates and (b) agencies, also broken down by their total value of salaries.

Question reference: S5W-16847

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-16547 by Angela Constance on 22 May 2018, whether the service will be contracted through Social Security Scotland or another part of the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S5O-02148

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what investment it has committed to transport infrastructure in the Central Scotland region.

Question reference: S5W-16576

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 11 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 23 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15241 by Jeane Freeman on 27 March 2018, when it will publish the final business case for the social security agency, including the preferred option for assessments.

The full business case for Social Security Scotland will be prepared as the agency approaches steady state and the actual costs of all of its commitments are known. This includes the commitment on the preferred option for assessments, a decision on which will be confirmed in due course. The outline business case for the agency was informed by the existing expenditure by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), including expenditure on the DWP assessments process.

Question reference: S5W-16527

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-09095 by Shona Robison on 15 May 2017, how the new GP contract has taken account of the preferred model for delivery of the new social security agency.

The new Social Security Scotland service will provide people with the information and advice they need for the benefits it will be responsible for. This includes staff being available locally to meet with people and help them complete their applications and provide advice on their payments. These staff will have a presence in every local authority area and work in existing premises and alongside colleagues in health and social care services including links workers, local authorities and the third sector. This will help free up the time of professionals, such as clinical and non-clinical staff, who are involved in helping patients with welfare related issues to concentrate on supporting people in their capacity of medical experts.

The GP Contract accounts increases the role of the multidisciplinary team in and around GP Practices in order to free up GPs to spend more time with patients who need their skills most. It is supported by a Memorandum of Understanding between the Scottish Government, the BMA, Health Boards and Integrated Authorities. This sets out the principles and priorities for services to be locally redesigned where it is safe, sustainable and improves care for patients to do so. Services for priority delivery over the next three years includes providing community links workers to support GP practices or groups of practices. Health Boards and Integrated authorities are developing Primary Care Improvement Plans that will set out how Integration Authorities will deliver these services locally.

Question reference: S5W-16526

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 May 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 22 May 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-09095 by Shona Robison on 15 May 2017, how the new GP contract makes provision for the co-location of welfare and benefits advice workers in GP surgeries.

The new GP contract, backed by investment of £110 million in 2018-19 and jointly developed with the BMA, will help cut doctors’ workload and ensure GPs are able to spend more time with patients most in need of their skills. This will be achieved by supporting Health Boards, Integrated Authorities and GPs to work together to redesign services so that the wider primary care multi-disciplinary team take on services previously carried out by GPs where it is safe, sustainable, and improves to patient care to do so.

Services to be delivered as a priority include providing community Links workers to patients in GP practices or clusters of practices, who will help with signposting to services; assessment and personal planning; and supporting people to take up services in other organisations.

The GP Contract is supported by a Memorandum of Understanding between the Scottish Government, the BMA, Health Boards and Integrated Authorities, which sets out the principles and priorities of how services will be redesigned locally to deliver the priorities of the new GMS contract over the next three years. While the focus for Links workers remains on the areas of greatest deprivation, we also aim to meet the needs of those who have complex conditions and rural communities by supporting Integration Authorities to develop these services locally, over the course of the next three years.