Question reference: S5W-23963
- Asked by: Tavish Scott, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 20 June 2019
-
Current status: Answered by Maree Todd on 18 July 2019
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made with the UK Government on data sharing to help identify two-year-olds who are eligible for funded early learning and childcare, and whether difficulties on this issue relate to data protection laws preventing the DWP providing a list of just those parents who definitely are eligible.
Answer
Unlike local authorities in England, local authorities in Scotland do not have access to, or receive, information from the Department for Work and Pensions which would identify families who are potentially eligible for funded early learning and childcare for 2 year olds.
In order that Scottish local authorities can also access information that will help to promote the offer to potentially eligible families, we are working with the UK Government to develop new legislation under the Digital Economy Act 2017 which will create a legal data-sharing gateway for Scottish local authorities. In this matter we are reliant on the UK Government and UK Parliament and subject to their timescales.
Whilst the development of a legal gateway is underway, we are working with local government. HMRC, DWP and across the Scottish Government to establish routes for sharing data safely and securely once the legal gateway is in place.