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-07090

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 February 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 20 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the economic impact of delays to the redevelopment of the Buchanan Galleries on Glasgow city centre as a retail destination.

Question reference: S5W-06631

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 15 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how the 30/70% split in the payment to Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland between the service fee and job outcome and sustainment payments will impact on their ability to provide pre-employment support.

The Scottish Government are committed to delivering value for money within both the Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland programmes.

Balancing the need for investment in individuals while continuing to emphasise the importance of sustained job outcomes underpins our payment model. I believe this is the best way to deliver both a high quality service and value for money. The decision to balance a service fee with outcome payments reflects both lessons learned from previous DWP contracted employment support and stakeholders views and creates and strong foundation for the effective delivery of these programmes. SG officials will work closely with the Service Providers through Contract Performance Reviews to monitor and seek feedback on our design of the transitional services.

Question reference: S5W-06633

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to allocate additional funding in the 2017-18 budget to Skills Development Scotland to help it to integrate its services with Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland.

SDS will receive up to £5 million via their block grant to resource the delivery of Work Able Scotland. The Scottish Government will continue to engage SDS in both the on-going development of Scotland’s employment services, including the alignment and integration agenda, through representation on both Scotland’s Devolved Employment Services Advisory Group and the Integration and Alignment Advisory Group.

Question reference: S5W-06632

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether Skills Development Scotland will be able to deliver its current level of services in light of its proposed budget reduction of £6.8 million.

In the draft budget, published on 15 December 2016, SDS was allocated Grant in Aid of £179.6 million which will be used to meet its commitments in 2017-18. This is an increase from the previous years initial budget of £176.1m.

The figure quoted, also taken from the draft budget, includes a number of in year transfers made to SDS. Additional transfers will be made to SDS for 2017-18 through the Autumn and Spring Budget Revisions to allow SDS to deliver activity in addition to its core services.

Question reference: S5W-06630

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what transitional arrangements will be put in place for jobseekers referred to the Work First programme between April and December 2017.

The Work First Scotland (WFS) programme will deliver high quality employment support to those with a disability in Scotland from April 2017, who want and need help to enter and remain in the labour market.

Further detail of how WFS will operate are available on the Employability in Scotland website and can be found at the following link:

http://www.employabilityinscotland.com/policy-and-partnership/scotlands-devolved-employment-services/employment-support-2017/

Question reference: S5W-06629

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that its approach to national procurement for devolved employability programmes is consistent with local level delivery in light of the comment in the written submission to the Social Security Committee by the Scottish Local Authorities Economic Development Group (SLAED) in January 2017 that “it is very disappointing that local government is being viewed as a potential provider instead of a key strategic partner”.

The Scottish Government believes that Local Government is a key strategic partner in the delivery of employability programmes. Local Authorities have been a consistent strategic partner in the service and policy development stages of our new devolved programmes, including through bilateral and collective engagement and consultation. They will continue to have an important role to play in the implementation of new services, including the crucial alignment and integration agenda, through representation by SLAED on Scotland’s Devolved Employment Services Advisory Group and the Scottish Government's Integration and Alignment Advisory Group.

Question reference: S5W-06628

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its response it to the comment in the written submission to the Social Security Committee by the Scottish Local Authorities Economic Development Group (SLAED) in January 2017 that “weaknesses … in the UK managed work programme are at risk of being repeated” in the new devolved employability programmes and that “large contract package areas do not enable effective local alignment and integration and the current areas are not consistent with any other geographical clusters such as city regions”.

Scottish Ministers agree with SLAED on the risks with large CPAs. That is why, in comparison to the UK Work Programme’s six CPAs for all of England and Wales, there will be nine in Scotland.

The CPAs were determined following a series of market engagement meetings, followed up with an online survey for further feedback on the proposals. We also undertook further discussions with stakeholders, including local government.

Question reference: S5W-06624

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that Skills Development Scotland works in partnership with devolved employability programmes.

As Scotland’s national skills body, Skills Development Scotland (SDS) will continue to play an important role in supporting individuals towards and into work. SDS is a key partner in delivery of the 2017 transitional employment services, managing Work Able Scotland which will support to up to 1,500 people with health conditions who want to enter work. More generally, the Scottish Government will continue to engage SDS in both the on-going development of Scotland’s employment services, including the alignment and integration agenda, through representation on both Scotland’s Devolved Employment Services Advisory Group and the Integration and Alignment Advisory Group.

Question reference: S5W-06626

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland work in partnership with locally-run health care, occupational therapy and addiction services.

Through both Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland customers will be able to access integrated support including provision of personal and vocational skills development, work related experience, and health support to manage specific barriers to work.

Devolution of employment services is a clear opportunity to build on the strengths of existing national and local services and set out our longer-term vision for achieving greater alignment and integration. My officials are working with other areas of Government including Health and Justice and have engaged with a broad spectrum of organisations to help develop our approach to integration and alignment of employment services.

On 21 December 2016, the Scottish Government announced a £1 million funding allocation secured as part of the draft budget that will help develop innovative approaches to integration and alignment of employment services. Further details on that funding will be announced in due course.

Question reference: S5W-06627

Asked by: Adam Tomkins, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 27 January 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 3 February 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will continue to involve local authorities in the provision of employability support services when the Work First Scotland and Work Able Scotland contracts begin in April 2017.

The Scottish Government is committed to providing continuity of service for those who need it in 2017-2018, in advance of a full programme of support beginning in April 2018. We are working collaboratively with our partners, including local authorities, on the design and delivery of our devolved employment support programmes.

Local Authority partners were key players in the consultation process for future employment support in Scotland, including bilateral and collective engagement and consultation with Local Authorities, SOLACE and COSLA. Local Authorities will continue to be engaged in the implementation of new services, including the integration and alignment agenda, through representation by SLAED on Scotland’s Devolved Employment Services Advisory Group, and the Scottish Government’s Integration and Alignment Advisory Group.

Local Authorities have been consistently involved in the service and policy development stages of our new devolved programmes, and the Scottish Government is committed to continuing to work in partnership with Local Authorities as we move forward.