- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 11 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 21 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to each of the recommendations made by the Scotland Prevention Review Group.
Answer
We commissioned this work in response to the recommendations the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action Group made for ending homelessness. We very much welcome the Prevention Review Group recommendations and we are grateful for the commitment Crisis and other partners have shown in delivering their report, in particular the vital role people with lived experience of homelessness had in shaping the recommendations.
We accepted the recommendations in principle earlier this year and will now consult with our partners across public services, people with experience of homelessness and the wider public as we fully consider the detail of the suite of recommendations, to ensure that their introduction leads to stronger housing rights for people in Scotland. Shifting the balance of services and response towards prevention is more important than ever as we work to recover from the public health crisis.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 10 June 2021
Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 21 June 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what is its response to the Association of Local Authority Chief Housing Officers’ report, The Right To Adequate Housing: Are We Focusing On What Matters?, which estimates that 547,000 households fall short of being adequately housed for two or more reasons
Answer
We welcome this report and will review its findings in detail. We are absolutely committed to working with local government to support the realisation of the right to adequate housing.
In March 2021, the National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership published its for a new human rights framework in Scotland that brings internationally recognised human rights into domestic law. The report contains 30 progressive and ambitious recommendations for a new human rights framework that will ensure the human rights of every member of Scottish society are protected.
The Scottish Government has accepted the recommendations and a Human Rights Bill will be introduced to parliament during this parliamentary session. The involvement of the public and further consultation with stakeholders will be crucial in developing this framework. An executive board will be established comprising of senior decision makers from public authorities to ensure there is capacity across the public sector to implement the Bill.
We are also committed to introducing a new housing standard for all homes in Scotland which will include improved energy efficiency requirements. It will go beyond traditional models of fitness for human habitation to a new model that meets expectations for housing as a human right and delivers homes that underpin health and wellbeing. We will consult on the new standard this year, publish a draft standard in 2023 and introduce legislation in 2024/25, for phased introduction from 2025 to 2030.
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Current Status:
Withdrawn
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jeane Freeman on 29 April 2021
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make further emergency funding available until the end of the financial year 2020-21 to support hospices throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, in light of reports of the Welsh Government making an additional £3 million available for this purpose on top of previously announced emergency funding.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the vital role of Scottish Hospices. In June 2020, we provided £10.1m in emergency funding to hospices to meet in full their funding requests for loss of income during the first lockdown period.
On the 24 March 2021, we confirmed that an additional £16.9m will be provided to Scottish Hospices to fully meet their requests for support relating to loss of income during the most recent lockdown. As such, the total funding allocated to hospices to support their work during the pandemic in the financial year 2020-2021 is approximately £27m.
The breakdown of payments can be viewed in the following table.
| Hospice | Amount paid in June 2020 | Amount paid in March 2021 |
| Accord | £396k | £540k |
| Ardgowan | £396k | £341k |
| Ayrshire | £792k | £972k |
| Bethesda | £99k | £257k |
| CHAS | £1,287k | £3,236k |
| Highland | £792k | £1,040k |
| Kilbryde | £320k | £741k |
| Marie Curie | £1,584k | £2,116k |
| P&PW | £1,089k | £544k |
| St Andrew's | £891k | £1,361k |
| St Columba's | £792k | £2,574k |
| St Margaret | £396k | £1,758k |
| St Vincent's | £297k | £233k |
| Strathcarron | £990k | £1,188k |
| Total | £10.1m | £16.9m |
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of procurements for public contracts it has not considered (a) relevant and (b) proportionate to apply Fair Work First criteria.
Answer
The Scottish Government include Fair Work criteria wherever it is relevant and proportionate to do so.
A Scottish Procurement Policy Note 03/2021, was published on 15 March 2021 on the implementation of the Fair Work First criteria within procurement processes commencing from 1 April 2021, where relevant and proportionate to do so.
The Scottish Government has updated its internal procedures and processes to include a stronger focus on the Fair Work First criteria and will implement this approach going forward.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Monday, 01 March 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-35095 by Michael Matheson on 25 February 2021, how much has been (a) spent on each operator of last resort contingency plan for both franchises and (b) paid to (i) MacRoberts, (ii) Ove Arup and Partners Ltd and (iii) Bramble Hub.
Answer
The Scottish Government has a statutory duty under Section 30 of the Railways Act 1993 to ensure that rail services continue to operate. The cost associated with the contingency planning work for the Operator of Last Resort (OLR) for both franchises has cost, to date £4,212,914 from 2019-20 to 2020-2021.
These OLR costs incurred to date can be broken down as follows:
Arup - £3,333,955
Ernst and Young - £437,243
Bramble Hub - £95,608
MacRoberts - £346,108
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 23 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have (a) membership of and (b) transitioned to the relaunched Scottish Business Pledge, broken down by (i) public and (ii) private sector status.
Answer
Information about the size of businesses which are Scottish Business Pledge members was not recorded prior to May 2018 and the total number of Business Pledge members that are a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) is not available. Since May 2018, 175 SMEs have become a member of the Business Pledge and 42 SMEs have transitioned to the relaunched Scottish Business Pledge.
The deadline for members of the original Scottish Business Pledge to transition to the new criteria has been extended to 1 September 2021 due to the continuous economic impact the Coronavirus is having.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how many small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) (a) are still to complete their transition to the relaunched Scottish Business Pledge and (b) have indicated they will not be transitioning.
Answer
Information about the size of business for Scottish Business Pledge members was not recorded prior to May 2018 and the total number of Business Pledge members that are a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) is therefore not available. Of the 698 Business Pledge members that require to transition to the relaunched Business Pledge criteria, only one SME has indicated its intention not to transition.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 11 March 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 22 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) score and (b) evaluation was of each the 72 Scottish Enterprise suppliers that were asked to demonstrate fair work practice in line with the Fair Work First criteria and were awarded regulated contracts worth a total of £23.8 million in 2019-20.
Answer
Scottish Enterprise undertook a regulated procurement process for 72 separate contracts in FY 2019/2020, resulting in the appointment of 60 unique suppliers. The application of Fair Work First was considered for all tenders, and was applied and scored on 17. Two of these were judged to be ‘Acceptable’, 13 to be ‘Good’, and 2 judged to be ‘Excellent’ following evaluation. It was not appropriate to score Fair Work for the remaining contracts, as these were either for the supply of goods, or would not have been able to be scored in a fair and equitable manner in line with procurement regulation.
Where Fair Work First is not a scored criteria, all bidders are still asked to address Fair Work practices in their tenders, and provide evidence of fair employment practices. This includes paying the real Living Wage and promoting payment of the real Living Wage throughout their supply chain. In 2019-2020, 36 unique suppliers committed to pay the real Living Wage, and 16 unique suppliers were fully accredited real Living Wage employers.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 March 2021
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 18 March 2021
To ask the Scottish Government who sits on the Fair Work and Gender Ministerial Working Group; on what dates it has met, and whether it will publish the minutes of its meetings.
Answer
The Ministerial Working Group for Fair Work Action Plans is chaired by me and the remainder of the current membership of the group is as follows :
- Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science
- Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Local Government
- Minister for Older People and Equalities
- Minister for Children and Young People
- Minister for Energy, Connectivity and the Islands
- Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport
- Minister for Rural Affairs and the Natural Environment
- Minister for Community Safety
Membership of the group will be reviewed to reflect evolving priorities. The working group has met on four occasions: 28 November 2018, 13 June 2019, 5 February 2020 and 21 October 2020. Minutes from the meetings of this group are not currently published, but this will be considered going forward.
