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-21263

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 1 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanism it will use to verify that a young carer is 18 and still at school in order to check their eligibility for a young carer grant, and how this mechanism will differ for young carers who attend independent schools.

Question reference: S5W-21104

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 31 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated to each local authority in its draft Budget for implementation of the real living wage for social care.

The 2019-20 Scottish Government Budget includes £120 million to be transferred from the health portfolio to Local Authorities in-year for investment in integration, including delivery of the living wage and uprating free personal care, and school counselling services.

This is in addition to £66m which was included in the 2018-19 Local Government budget settlement to be used for social care pressures including the real living wage commitment for adult social care staff and extending the commitment to sleepovers.

The funding for implementation of the real living wage for adult social care workers is included as part of an overall Local Government settlement to cover health and social care integration and social care. There are no separately identifiable budget allocations for real living wage implementation at Local Authority level.

Question reference: S5O-02872

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of the proposed closure of the Cumbernauld Village Surgery.

Question reference: S5O-02838

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to encourage young people to consider careers in the film sector.

We recognise the importance of young talent in growing the screen sector and a range of our agencies contribute to promoting careers in film. In addition to the qualifications relating to media offered by SQA, Skills Development Scotland has launched a Foundation Apprenticeship in Creative and Digital Media. Creative Scotland supports work-based training on productions such as Outlander -currently open for applications - and on programmes such as Screen Nets and the PACT Indie Diversity training scheme. Screen Scotland has launched a £300,000 Film Education Partnerships Fund and will develop an action plan on Film Education, working with Skills Development Scotland to promote career pathways.

Question reference: S5W-21005

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 24 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, whether the information in the article, “Make Friends With Benefits”, which was published in The Scottish Sun on 7 January 2019, which stated that “in the last two months nearly 200 people have already had a combined £103,230 boost after calling the [Financial Health Check service] helpline” is accurate and, if so, whether this information was provided by (a) it or (b) Citizens Advice Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-20986

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 24 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Northern Ireland scheme, Make the Call, has generated £37 million in extra benefits for 7,765 people, and how this compares with the performance of the Financial Health Check Service.

Question reference: S5W-21046

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many requests for re-determinations for Best Start Grant pregnancy and baby payments have been (a) made and (b) processed, and how many have resulted in a determination that (i) was the same and (ii) differed from the initial determination.

Official statistics, covering the first months of applications for the Best Start Grant, will be published in April 2019. More detailed analysis will be published in a quarterly publication series starting from August 2019. In line with the Code of Practice for Statistics, care will be taken to ensure that these publications are produced to a level of quality that meets users’ needs. Published data will be subject to disclosure control methods to protect the confidentiality of the data. There will be scope to analyse redeterminations made, processed and the outcomes, if we are satisfied with the quality of the data and can safeguard the confidentiality of individuals.

Question reference: S5W-21078

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20835 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 January 2019, whether it approached each of the senior responsible officers to ask if they would consider releasing their respective reviews prior to the cabinet secretary publishing the response.

Question reference: S5W-21077

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20835 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 January 2019, in the interest of openness, transparency and public accountability and, in light of it publishing details of similar reviews following FoI requests, whether it will ask each senior responsible officer to release their respective review.

Question reference: S5W-21082

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-20835 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 16 January 2019, whether a copy of each review has been lodged with its Programme and Project Management Centre of Expertise (PPM-CoE) so that it can identify and share the generic lessons learned and, if so, whether the PPM-CoE has copied summaries of the review recommendations to the relevant accountable officer.