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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 639 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5W-22114

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on legal fees in relation to social security policy.

Question reference: S5W-22113

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 21 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) Social Security Scotland and (b) the Social Security Directorate has spent on legal fees.

Question reference: S5O-03078

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether schools should have a zero-tolerance policy toward violent behaviour.

Question reference: S5W-22128

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 20 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of how the £127 million for mitigation measures and support for those on low incomes in 2018-19 was spent.

In 2018-19 we have invested almost £103 million to directly mitigate against the worst impacts of UK Government welfare reform, this includes £63.1 million in Discretionary Housing Payments, £38 million in the Scottish Welfare Fund and £1.5 million in advice services to support benefit uptake and provide assistance to individuals impacted by the roll out of Universal Credit.

We have also invested over £24 million in wider support to reduce the impact of living on a low income and ensure individuals can access essential goods and services. This includes key investments such as £1.8 million in the new Financial Health Check service, £1.5 million for the Fair Food Fund and £1.8 million in wider advice services to support in maximising incomes and providing financial inclusion services.

Question reference: S5W-21985

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Christina McKelvie on 20 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what the expected average caseload of a Social Security Scotland case manager will be (a) during the wave one benefit phase and (b) when the department assumes its full powers.

The initial benefits delivered by Social Security Scotland are mainly a single application process. Client Advisers work across different benefits and have a range of duties from supporting clients to processing applications. Managers will work closely with Advisers as we deliver benefits to ensure that we are able to provide our clients with a service that treats them with dignity, fairness and respect, and meets the expectations they should have of our service as set out in our Charter.

For benefits still to be launched, Social Security Scotland is working closely with service design colleagues in the Social Security Programme to ensure efficient and appropriate processes and workload.

Question reference: S5W-21986

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 08 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 19 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been assigned to its Housing and Social Justice Directorate to prepare and plan for the devolution of cold weather payments and winter heating assistance.

Details of the resources assigned to deliver these activities for Housing
and Social Justice Directorate are included as part of the Scottish
Government total operating costs for the Communities and Local
Government portfolio. These are as shown in total in Annex G of the
Scottish Government’s Budget for 19-20 https://www.gov.scot/
publications/scottish-budget-2019-20/pages/25/ and are included as part
of the Fuel Poverty/Energy Efficiency budget as set out in Annex D of the
Scottish Government’s Budget https://www.gov.scot/binaries/content/
documents/govscot/publications/publication/2018/12/scottish-budget-
2019-20/documents/annex-d-table/annex-d-table/govscot%3Adocument .

Question reference: S5W-21762

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 15 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are any plans for Social Security Scotland's involvement in making referrals to the Work Able Scotland programme.

Question reference: S5W-21728

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 14 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how Social Security Scotland plans to carry out face-to-face assessments, or the Scottish equivalent, and what specific consideration it has given to people living in rural and remote areas and the islands.

Question reference: S5O-03006

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 14 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what training is given to medical and non-medical NHS staff to identify patients who are likely to go missing.

The GMC requires that all doctors in training must develop the appropriate professional competences and demonstrate that they can (i) understand, identify and manage risk (including clinical and suicide) (ii) demonstrate and apply non-technical skills and crisis resource management.

As a requirement for registration, nursing students on undergraduate programmes are required by the Nursing and Midwifery Council to be able to recognise situations and act appropriately when a person’s choice may compromise their safety or the safety of others, and to use strategies to manage situations where a person’s wishes conflict with nursing interventions necessary for the person’s safety.

We expect NHS Boards to have processes in place to deal with absconding and missing patients and that these will include appropriate training of staff.

Question reference: S5W-21914

Asked by: Michelle Ballantyne, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 04 March 2019
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 14 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has taken to ensure that Fair Start Scotland services can continue, regardless of their provider.

Social Security Directorate	£64,531.05
Social Security Scotland	£165.50