Chamber and committees

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: S5W-23085

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 May 2019
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 22 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £500,000 fund for the Action on Plastic Zero Waste Towns initiative has been allocated to date.

Question reference: S5O-03279

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports Scotland’s colleges.

Question reference: S5O-03250

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 May 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what value it places on local decision making in planning matters.

Question reference: S5W-22728

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether there was an underspend on Scottish Welfare Fund payments in 2018-19 and, if so, (a) for what reason, (b) whether this is being carried forward and (c) what action it is taking to maximise spend in 2019-20.

Question reference: S5W-22733

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to improve efficiency in reaching final decisions on applications to Scottish Welfare Fund.

The latest published statistics (1 October to 31 December 2018) show that 96% of Crisis Grant applications and 93% of Community Care Grant applications were processed within the timescales required by the Statutory Guidance. The Scottish Government facilitates the sharing of good practice on operational issues between Local Authorities via a quarterly practitioner’s forum and we have provided funding to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman, to hold training workshops on decision making for local authority staff.

Question reference: S5W-22731

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the Scottish Welfare Fund has had on the percentage of people who use food banks.

Question reference: S5W-22726

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it offers to local authorities that record (a) high levels of underspend on payments from and (b) lower than average levels of approved applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Local authorities are responsible for managing their budgets and are best placed to do so taking account of local circumstances. The Scottish Government’s statutory guidance to local authorities includes advice on how to manage Scottish Welfare Fund budgets to help them ensure that funds are available to meet the needs of vulnerable people throughout the year. Scottish Government officials work closely with their local authority counterparts to monitor trends in uptake, to seek explanations for any significant underspends and overspends and to facilitate the sharing of good practice between authorities via a quarterly practitioners forum.

Question reference: S5W-22735

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of applications to the Scottish Welfare Fund in 2018-19 were subject to a revised assessment, and what action it is taking to minimise the need for revisions.

Question reference: S5W-22734

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on relaxing the eligibility criteria requirements under the Scottish Welfare Fund that are needed to qualify for an emergency or disaster grant.

The Scottish Welfare Fund allows for Crisis Grants to be made to help people cope with unexpected expenses arising out of an emergency or a disaster. The eligibility criteria for these and other payments from the Fund are set out in the Welfare Funds (Scotland) Act 2015 and The Welfare Funds (Scotland) Regulations 2016. We have no current plans to change the eligibility criteria for Crisis Grants.

Question reference: S5W-22729

Asked by: Elaine Smith, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 April 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 2 May 2019

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason funding for the Scottish Welfare Fund has remained at the same level since 2013-14, and whether it plans to increase this.