- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the cost per check will be for its Financial Health Check service.
Answer
The duration and cost of each check will vary depending on the issues a client wishes to cover. We estimate the cost of a full check to be approximately £100.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether the £3.3 million funding for its Financial Health Check service is performance-linked, and what the criteria are that must be met in order for funding to be released.
Answer
This is a two year project with funding for year two subject to a successful evaluation of year one.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what procurement process was conducted for the provision of its Financial Health Check service.
Answer
The service is grant funded by £3.3 million over two years.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish its service level agreement with Citizens Advice Scotland for delivery of its Financial Health Check service.
Answer
We do not intend to publish the service level agreement.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what the verified financial gain (VFG) of its Financial Health Check service is to date, and what the target VFG gain is for (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20.
Answer
Client financial gain is one of the six key performance indicators for the service. Citizens Advice Scotland and Citizen Advice Bureaux record a financial gain for a client once they can confirm the client has been awarded a benefit and/or service. We do not hold information on the verified financial gain (VFG) to date. No VFG targets have been set as part of this project.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what the key performance indicators are for its Financial Health Check service being delivered by Citizens Advice Scotland.
Answer
The key performance indicators are:
- Number of clients accessing the service
- Profile of clients
- Client financial gain
- Client satisfaction
- Client financial confidence
- Improved mental health as a result of the check.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government whether it or Citizens Advice Scotland is responsible for advertising and promoting the Financial Health Check service; what advertising and promotional work has been agreed as part of the agreement with Citizens Advice Scotland to deliver the service; how frequently this work is to be delivered, and how much of the £3.3 million funding committed to the service over two years is to be used for advertising and promoting the service.
Answer
Both the Scottish Government and Citizens Advice network in Scotland are responsible for advertising and promoting the service. The Scottish Government will undertake a national marketing campaign week commencing 7 January 2019 to raise awareness of the service. The funding for the Scottish Government’s national marketing campaign is in addition to the £3.3 million funding committed.
Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) will also undertake marketing work and local marketing and engagement with local partners will be undertaken by local Citizens Advice Bureau. CAS is currently developing their plans on this.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what the requirements are on Citizens Advice Scotland to report statistical information under its agreement to deliver the Financial Health Check service, and how frequently it is required to report this.
Answer
Reports on the overall progress of the service will be submitted to the Scottish Government on a quarterly basis.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government what the minimum level of service is for the Financial Health Check service agreed with Citizens Advice Scotland.
Answer
The Financial Health Check service is expected to provide income maximisation support for an additional 15,000 clients each year.
- Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 December 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Aileen Campbell on 15 January 2019
To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) members of staff and (b) volunteers it expects Citizens Advice Scotland to commit to the delivery of the Financial Health Check service.
Answer
To deliver the Financial Health Check service Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has employed 5.5 FTE staff:
- 1 Project Manager
- 1.5 x Co-ordinator
- 2 x Administrator
- 1 IT support
CAS has also committed additional staff support from its Senior Management Team, Communications, Marketing and Quality Assurance.
In addition, 12 telephony advisers have been employed by local Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) to provide the national telephony support.
We do not yet hold final information on the number of local CAB staff and volunteers providing the face to face support.