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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.

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Question reference: S6W-04426

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 29 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what the community alarm charge is in each local authority area.

The community alarm/telecare charging amounts are set out below by Local Authority. The rate of charging varies depending on a range of factors including what technology offering they receive. This can be a standard community alarm package to more advanced technologies such as sensors to prevent a fall and other adaptations depending on individual circumstances. Figures are regularly collated by COSLA but charging rates do change in some areas quite regularly and are often means tested. Some Local Authorities will charge more than the figures stated based on any additional offering provided.

LOCAL AUTHORITY	From Local Government return, Feb 2021
ABERDEEN CITY	£3.65
ABERDEENSHIRE	£3.50
ANGUS	£5.05
ARGYLL & BUTE	£5.46
BORDERS	£4.80
CLACKMANNANSHIRE	£3.50
DUMFRIES & GALLOWAY	£3.60
DUNDEE	£3.60
EAST AYRSHIRE	£4.31
EAST DUNBARTONSHIRE	Flat Yearly Rate £241.45
EAST LOTHIAN	£4.05
EAST RENFREWSHIRE	£2.60
EDINBURGH	£5.80
FALKIRK	£3.65
FIFE	£2.80
GLASGOW	£3.53
INVERCLYDE	£2.80
MIDLOTHIAN	£4.00
MORAY	£18.50 per quarter
NHS HIGHLAND	£6.35
NORTH AYRSHIRE	£4.83 per week (mainland) £2.36 per weeks (islands - limited service).
NORTH LANARKSHIRE	£3.40
ORKNEY	£0
PERTH & KINROSS	£4.62*
RENFREWSHIRE	£3.55
SHETLAND	£1.55
SOUTH AYRSHIRE	£4.41
SOUTH LANARKSHIRE	£1.63
STIRLING	£3.70 *
WEST DUNBARTONSHIRE	£5.40
WEST LOTHIAN	£3.02
WESTERN ISLES	£1.50

* Shows latest known figure provided, prior to the aforementioned Feb 2021 date

Question reference: S6W-04424

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 29 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has undertaken in response to reports that fewer disabled people are accessing employment opportunities in Scotland, compared with other parts of the UK.

The Scottish Government routinely publishes official labour market statistics for disabled people and analysis of how their labour market barriers and outcomes are changing over time.

We know the disability employment gap - the difference between the employment rates of disabled and non-disabled people - narrowed over the latest year to July 2020 – June 2021 by 1.5 percentage points in Scotland, to 32.0 percentage points. This was a larger narrowing of the disability employment gap than in the UK, where it narrowed by 0.6 percentage points. Scotland’s disability employment gap was also smaller than the disability employment gap in both Wales and Northern Ireland in the latest year.

We remain on course to reach our ambition to at least halve the disability employment gap in Scotland by 2038, however, we know there is much more work to do. For example, we continue to work closely with our partners in Disabled People’s Organisations to hear directly from disabled people themselves what changes they are experiencing in the labour market. This includes their representation on our Short Life Working Group for the refresh of our employment action plan, ensuring disabled people’s lived experiences are shaping this work.

Latest data and analysis are published at:

Labour market monthly briefing: November 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Fairer Scotland for disabled people - employment action plan: progress report - year 2 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-04416

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what information it can provide on the levels of financial fraud that have been detected since the establishment of Social Security Scotland.

Social Security Scotland regularly publishes information on levels of detected fraud in its Annual Report and Accounts. The most recent document covering the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021 was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 3 November 2021.

From 3 September 22018 until 17 November 2021, Social Security Scotland has detected internal fraud with an estimated value of £17,400. Throughout the same period, no overpayments of benefit have been classified as being due to client fraud. Benefit fraud cases are only recorded as such following conviction.

Question reference: S6W-04417

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been declared homeless in each year since 1999, broken down by local authority area.

The Scottish Government publishes information on “Homelessness assessment decisions” which provides data on the number of homeless applications which are assessed as homeless or threatened with homelessness. Information has been collected and is available by local authority for the years 2002-03 to 2020-21.

The data can be found in Table 11 of the Main Tables (June 2021) associated with the latest Homelessness in Scotland: 2020-21 publication.

Question reference: S6W-04419

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many young people have been removed from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) waiting lists under the Choice and Partnership Approach (CAPA) model, broken down by NHS Board.

Question reference: S6W-04415

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 25 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many first-time buyers it has offered financial support to in each year since 2007, broken down by local authority area.

An evaluation of the Scottish Government shared equity schemes (Help to Buy, Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) and New Supply Shared Equity (NSSE)) was published in June 2020. The evaluation can be found on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/evaluation-scottish-government-shared-equity-schemes/

The evaluation estimated that 64% of Help to Buy purchasers, 71% of NSSE purchasers and 95% of OMSE purchasers were first time buyers. All households supported by the First Home Fund include at least one first time buyer.

The annual number of households supported by the shared equity schemes since 2007, broken down by local authority, can be found on the Scottish Government website at:

OMSE and NSSE

Affordable Housing Supply Programme out-turn reports

https://www.gov.scot/policies/more-homes/affordable-housing-supply/

Help to Buy

Help to Buy (Scotland) monitoring information 2013-2016: report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Help to buy (Scotland) Spend and Units Monitoring Information Report 2020-2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

First Home Fund

First Home Fund Spend and Units Monitoring Information Report: December 2019 to March 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-04422

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications for benefits have been rejected by Social Security Scotland, broken down by the type of benefit that was applied for.

Social Security Scotland routinely publish official statistics publications on each of the devolved benefits at:https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications

For benefits where clients can apply to Social Security Scotland, published statistics include information on the number of applications received and the outcomes of applications, including the number that have been rejected. The latest publication for each benefit can be found at:

Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods statistics to 31 August 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/best-start-grant-and-best-start-foods-high-level-statistics-to-31-august-2021

Funeral Support Payment statistics to 30 September 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/funeral-support-payment-high-level-statistics-to-30-september-2021

Young Carer Grant statistics to 31 July 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/young-carer-grant-high-level-statistics-to-31-july-2021

Job Start Payment statistics to 30 September 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/job-start-payment-high-level-statistics-to-30-september-2021

Scottish Child Payment statistics to 30 June 2021

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/scottish-child-payment-high-level-statistics-to-30-june-2021

Question reference: S6W-04420

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payments have been made in each year since the scheme was established.

Social Security Scotland routinely publish information as part of the quarterly Official Statistics release ‘Best Start Grant and Best Start Foods’. This includes information on the value of payments issued for Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payments each month.

Number and value of Best Start Grant Pregnancy and Baby Payments issued, by year

	Number of payments issued	Value of payments issued
2018-19 (10 th December to 31 st March)	10,675	£4,072,200
2019-20	15,875	£6,638,100
2020-21	16,315	£6,942,600
2021-22 (1 st April to 31 st August)	7,755	£3,238,914

*NOTE: The Pregnancy and Baby Payment provides eligible families with £606 for a first child and £303 for any subsequent children. Prior to 1 April 2021, the value of the payment was £600 for a first child and £300 for a subsequent child.

The latest Official Statistics, covering the period from 10 December 2018 to
‎ 31 August 2021, were last published on the 26 October 2021 and are available from:

https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/reporting/publications/best-start-grant-and-best-start-foods-high-level-statistics-to-31-august-2021

Question reference: S6W-04421

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 24 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government by what date it will deliver on The Promise that it made to care experienced young people.

On 5 February 2020 the Independent Care Review published its conclusions which became ‘The Promise’ . On the same day the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament agreed to implement all the findings of the Independent Care Review by 2030. The Scottish Government continues to work closely with The Promise Scotland to progress the actions set out in Plan 21-24 and Change Programme ONE .

Question reference: S6W-04180

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 November 2021
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 22 November 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported figures suggesting that the cumulative excess summer mortality per 100,000 people was higher in 2021 than in each of the preceding 40 years.

Covid-19 was the highest single cause of excess mortality during summer 2021. Every one of these deaths is a tragedy. All those affected by the virus have our sympathy and we are working to prevent others from experiencing that same heartbreak.

As a result of the Scottish Government’s vaccination programme and increased medical knowledge of the virus, in summer 2021 the mortality rate was far lower, despite greater transmission of the virus. We are now offering boosters to protect the population further.

We are also working to remobilise our NHS safely and will be providing over £300 million in a winter funding package to support the health of people across Scotland this winter.