Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-29117

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 3 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the letter to all MSPs from the Cabinet Secretary for Constitution, Europe and Constitutional Affairs of 7 April 2020 establishing a process for Members to raise urgent COVID-19 issues direct with Ministers, how many items of correspondence from MSPs and MPs have been received to date in this regard; how many have been answered through (a) private office and (b) COVID-19 priority mailboxes since then, also broken down by ministerial portfolio, and what the average time taken to respond was by portfolio.

The urgent MSP mailbox was established on 7 th April as a means of separating the most pressing of MSP queries about the pandemic from the very significant volumes of general COVID related correspondence received by the Scottish Government and by so doing attempting to shorten the standard 21 working days target for response where possible. To date, there have been over 200 items of correspondence from MSPs and it is estimated that 60% of completed cases have been answered by the COVID-19 priority mailboxes and 40% by portfolio Ministers. The majority of inquiries were received in the first month of operation. Answering many of them required input from a number of different portfolios though the majority related to Economic and Health issues. We estimate that the average number of working days it took to respond to a question that was correctly defined as urgent was seven, although some cases were further investigatory work was required took longer.

Question reference: S5W-29273

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Fair Start Scotland programme will be extended into 2021-22, and whether all (a) lots and (b) prime contractors will continue to deliver the service in the same form.

Question reference: S5W-29272

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the commitment made by the First Minister at a press briefing on 19 May 2020, that "[the Scottish Government] will be investing a further £33 million to support people back to work... most of which will be allocated to Fair Start Scotland", when it will release more information about that provision, and when the funding will be made available.

The Scottish Budget announced in February 2020, demonstrated the Scottish Governments ongoing commitment to helping those furthest from the labour market move towards and into work. In 2020-21 we are continuing to invest more than £33 million to support those who are most vulnerable to the adverse impacts of the current pandemic, which will be essential in supporting Scotland’s economic recovery.

The funding includes continued delivery of Fair Start Scotland, which has increased this year from £20m to £21.48m reflecting the maturity of the service as we move into the third year of delivery.

Question reference: S5W-29368

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assumed executive competence for pre-existing (a) Attendance Allowance, (b) adult Disability Living Allowance, (c) child Disability Living Allowance and (d) Personal Independence Payment (i) overpayment and (ii) fraud debt.

Question reference: S5W-29271

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings the Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills has had with representatives of Fair Start Scotland prime contractors since 1 February 2020; who the Minister met, and what was discussed.

I have held meetings with senior members of all six prime Fair Start Scotland Service Providers since 1 February 2020 in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of these meetings was to discuss the ways in which the current crisis has impacted Providers and how the Scottish Government can continue to support them in effectively delivering a quality service to Fair Start Scotland Participants.

This was also an opportunity for Providers to openly discuss any other subjects they wished to raise with myself

Additionally these meetings were used to convey the importance of the continuity of Fair Start Scotland, ensuring support is still available for those most vulnerable to the effects of the current crisis.

Question reference: S5W-29369

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assumed executive competence for pre-existing Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit overpayment and fraud debt.

Question reference: S5W-29367

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) Attendance Allowance, (b) adult Disability Living Allowance, (c) child Disability Living Allowance and (d) Personal Independence Payment claimants have an outstanding (i) overpayment and (ii) fraud debt, broken down by the value of the debt.

Since 1 April 2020 Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, and Personal Independence Payment in Scotland has been delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on behalf of Scottish Ministers under Agency Agreements. Section 10 of those Agreements states that:

DWP will not create new management information reports that detail performance specifically for customers/clients resident in Scotland.

Management information will only be supplied showing performance, at a Great Britain level, of delivering the functions discharged on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. DWP will not supply data specific to Scotland unless it is currently available and easy to access.

The information requested is not currently produced by the DWP.

Question reference: S5W-29366

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many Severe Disablement Allowance claimants have an outstanding (a) overpayment and (b) fraud debt, broken down by the value of the debt.

Since 1 April 2020 Severe Disablement Allowance in Scotland has been delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on behalf of Scottish Ministers under an Agency Agreement. Section 10 of that Agreement states that:

DWP will not create new management information reports that detail performance specifically for customers/clients resident in Scotland.

Management information will only be supplied showing performance, at a Great Britain level, of delivering the functions discharged on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. DWP will not supply data specific to Scotland unless it is currently available and easy to access.

The information requested is not currently produced by the DWP.

Question reference: S5W-29370

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 June 2020

To ask the Scottish Government how many Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit claimants have an outstanding (a) overpayment and (b) fraud debt, broken down by the value of the debt.

Since 1 April 2020 Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit in Scotland has been delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions(DWP) on behalf of Scottish Ministers under an Agency Agreement. Section 10 of the Agreement states that:

DWP will not create new management information reports that detail performance specifically for customers/clients resident in Scotland.

Management information will only be supplied showing performance, at a Great Britain level, of delivering the functions discharged on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. DWP will not supply data specific to Scotland unless it is currently available and easy to access.

The information requested is not currently produced by the DWP.

Question reference: S5W-29230

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 May 2020
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 29 May 2020

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of comments by Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Disabled People, at the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 23 April 2020, regarding a fall in the number of applications for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), whether there has been a fall in such claims from disabled people in Scotland.

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