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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S5W-20402

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what application methods have been made available for applications for Best Start Grant baby and pregnancy payments.

Question reference: S5W-20406

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) retention, (b) turnover and (c) vacancy rate has been of Social Security Scotland staff.

The turnover and retention rates for Social Security Scotland in the period 1 September to 30 November 2018 are shown in the following table.

	Turnover (Leaver rate)	Retention rate
1 September – 30 November	1%	99%

Whilst there is no commonly accepted definition of how vacancy rate should be calculated, Social Security Scotland currently has 27 unfilled posts. These are new posts and represent 10.22% of the overall headcount.

No vacancy within the agency has remained unfilled for longer than 3 months.

Question reference: S5W-20333

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government further to the answer to question S5W-19402 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 November 2018, what the response from the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions was; whether it will publish the correspondence; whether the response from the Secretary of State specified how many carers allowance recipients were found to have been overpaid by the DWP's Verify Earnings and Pensions service, and, if so, how many.

Question reference: S5W-20346

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether Social Security Scotland plans to use the DWP Verify Earnings and Pensions service.

Question reference: S5W-20469

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the effectiveness of the Scottish Welfare Fund, and whether this review will consider the fund's (a) social return on investment and (b) financial sustainability.

The Scottish Government continually assesses the effectiveness of the SWF through management information of applications, awards and expenditure. We work closely with local authorities, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and third sector organisations, as well as seeking views of users of the SWF through experience panels and social media platforms. In this way we can ensure that the most vulnerable people in our society receive help when they need it. The Scottish Government has continued to maintain funding for the SWF at £38 million per year.

There are no plans for a separate review at this stage.

Question reference: S5W-20470

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 07 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have used television advertising to encourage applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Question reference: S5W-20261

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) its Social Security directorate and (b) Social Security Scotland (i) paid to the DWP (A) in 2017-18 and (B) since April 2018 and (ii) expects to pay to the DWP in (aa) 2018-19 and (bb) 2019-20, broken down by cost type.

The following tables reflect actual and forecast payments to DWP:

Payments for Implementation costs (actual and indicative) to DWP from Social Security Directorate

	Payment
17-18 (actual)	£3.5 million (inc VAT)
18-19 (actual to date covers period April – June)	£1.3 million (inc VAT)
18-19 (forecast July – March)	£7.4 million (inc VAT)
19-20	Forecast figures currently being negotiated with DWP

Implementation costs are the demonstrable and jointly agreed net costs to DWP wholly and necessarily incurred by as a result of the devolution of powers.

Payments for Running costs (actual and indicative) to DWP from Social Security Scotland

	Payment
18-19 (to date)	£0
18-19 (indicative)	£4.2 million (inc VAT)
19-20 (indicative)	£7.3 million (inc VAT)

Running costs are the demonstrable and jointly agreed net costs to DWP for the provision of services to Scottish Government.

In addition to the above, the Social Security Directorate paid £38,467 for delivery of Universal Credit Scottish Choices from October 2017 to May 2018. Work is currently ongoing with DWP to refine forecast delivery costs.

Implementation costs for 2019-20 are currently being negotiated with DWP.

Question reference: S5W-20363

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 04 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government further to the answers to questions S5W-18779 and S5W-18780 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 27 September 2018, how the Budget will take account of this debt.

Question reference: S5W-20329

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what review and assessment it has carried out of the effectiveness of the Universal Credit Scottish choices scheme.

Question reference: S5W-20332

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 December 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 12 December 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-19399 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 5 November 2018, what information it receives from the DWP in the event that someone, who was receiving carer's allowance and living in Scotland on the qualifying dates for carer’s allowance supplement for the purposes of paying the supplement, is subsequently found to have been overpaid, and how Social Security Scotland uses that information for the purposes of administering and recovering the carer's allowance supplement.