- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 4 February 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how it monitored the use of funding for preparations for the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 in 2017-18; how it is monitoring the use of funding for implementation of the Act in 2018-19, and what outcomes it is measuring.
Answer
We have funded a range of public and third sector bodies to deliver support and resources to build capacity for implementing the Carers Act during this period, including thirteen pilots across local authorities and health boards in 2017-18 to test implementation of different provisions in the Act. We have monitored this work through a combination of written reporting, management meetings, reporting to the Carers Act Implementation Steering Group and reviewing the resources delivered.
We also funded a programme of small grants in 2018-19 for local third sector carer support organisations, to improve their capacity to deliver carer support under the Act. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations which delivered the grant programme will provide an evaluation report based on information from grant recipients.
The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. The vast majority of the revenue funding, including the funding to support the continued implementation of the Carers Act, is provided by means of a block grant. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate their total financial resources available to them. Individual local authorities’ allocation of funding should be on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations (including under the Carers Act) and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities. Local authorities notify the Scottish Government of their expenditure on the various services they provide and this information is published in the annual Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics publication.
The new ‘Carers Census’ is monitoring take-up of adult carer support plans, young carer statements and carer support under the Carers Act since it took effect last April. The first collection from April – September 2018 is currently running with the second collection, from October 2018 – March 2019 due to be submitted in May. The Carers Act Monitoring and Evaluation Group has identified a number of outcomes for monitoring progress and is considering which data sources and academic research will be necessary alongside the Carers Census in order to monitor progress towards these outcomes, as published in the evaluability assessment of the Act: https://www2.gov.scot/Resource/0052/00524798.pdf
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2019
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Current Status:
Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 4 February 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how it is communicating to local authorities the level of funding in the draft Budget for implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016; whether this will be provided to local authorities as a package of funding with other initiatives, and how the use of these allocations will be monitored.
Answer
The level of provision for the Carers Act for 2019-20 was confirmed by the Scottish Government as part of a package of overall support to local government of £11.1 billion in the Scottish Budget: 2019-20 published on 12 December 2018 and in the corresponding Local Government Finance Circular 8/2018 published on 17 December 2018. This overall package of support includes £40 million to extend free personal care to under 65s as set out in the Programme for Government and for the continued implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, estimated at £10.5 million. Local authorities notify the Scottish Government of their expenditure on the various services they provide and this information is published in the annual Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics publication.
Working with COSLA, the Carers Scotland Act Finance Group is continuing to consider the financial implications of implementing the Carers Act, including developing and improving data collection in respect of Carers related activity and establishing a clear understanding of the key financial risks associated with implementing the Act.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 25 January 2019
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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.
Answer
Verification mechanisms for the Young Carer Grant are under development. Decisions on verification, as with all aspects of the Grant, will take into account input from carers and other stakeholders through the Young Carer Grant consultation which ended on 10 December.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Friday, 18 January 2019
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2019
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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.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2019
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 January 2019
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2019
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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.
Answer
This information was provided by Citizens Advice Scotland. Performance information on the Financial Health Check Service will be submitted to the Scottish Government on a quarterly basis. We have not yet received the first performance report.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 January 2019
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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.
Answer
Make the Call is an established service aimed at benefit take-up. It is not comparable to the Financial Health Check Service which goes further by offering free personalised advice for people to help them reduce household outgoings by tackling the poverty premium where they may be paying more than they need to for basic goods and services.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
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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.
Answer
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.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 17 January 2019
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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.
Answer
The current Social Security Programme Senior Responsible Owner, who was also Senior Responsible Owner for each review, was approached prior to the Cabinet Secretary publishing the response.
