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: S6W-23977

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have built up a balance of over (a) £300, (b) £400, (c) £500 and d) £600 on a Best Start Foods card since the scheme was established.

Question reference: S6W-23976

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the longest period of time has been between a Best Start Foods card being issued and it being activated since the scheme was established.

Question reference: S6W-23978

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 11 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many people and (a) what percentage of the total number of people who have received a Best Start Foods card have not activated their card since the scheme was established to date.

The Third-party provider, Allpay, supplies Best Start Food cards on behalf of Social Security Scotland.

Data from Allpay is only available from January 2021.

- Total quantity of live accounts: 76,071

- Total quantity of cards in the Not-Activated status: 6,859

- 9.02% of cards Not-Activated

This data may include multiple duplicate accounts.

A user with a Not-Activated account may also have an account in an Activated status.

Question reference: S6O-02989

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 January 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 January 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to discuss out-of-hours GP services in Inverclyde.

Question reference: S6W-23336

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in each of the last five years, how much money was allocated to the Home Heating Support Fund, and how much of the fund was spent by the time the fund closed for new applications.

Since being established in the winter of 2020 as part of the wider Winter Support Fund, the Scottish Government has awarded a total of £16.9 million to Advice Direct Scotland to administer the Home Heating Support Fund (HHSF).

Below is a year by year breakdown of the funding for the HHSF to date:

Year	Awarded
2020-21	£1.1m*
2021-22	£4.2m
2022-23	£6.6m
2023-24	£5m (ongoing)**

*The HHSF was funded from December 2020 to March 2021, via consequential funding through the Winter Support Fund. Subsequent years have been funded through the Scottish Government's Fuel Insecurity Fund.

**There is currently £9m available to the HHSF for 2023-24, with £5m already claimed.

Question reference: S6W-23338

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the total amount allocated to the Home Heating Support Fund was for 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-23337

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the Home Heating Support Fund has been spent in the current year to date.

Question reference: S6W-23339

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the Home Heating Support Fund, what the total number of applications (a) made and (b) rejected has been in 2023-24 to date.

a) Since the start of the current financial year (2023-24) up to and including 3 December 2023, 10,798 applications were received for the Home Heating Support Fund. Of these:

Approved - 5,255

Ongoing* – 2,741

*Ongoing applications are those that are being progressed, awaiting a decision or additional evidence, or are households who require debt advice before being accepted.

b) Rejected – 2,802

As per the answer to S6W-23335 on 11 December 2023, Advice Direct Scotland works with rejected applicants to ensure they have what they need to reapply. When either a referral partner or individual re-applies, the original application is used and cross-referenced with the new evidence provided.

Rejected applications are provided with a clear, bespoke explanation detailing what is required to re-apply, and both individual households and referral partners have access to follow-up support through email and telephone. Referral partners are also given training on supporting customers, particularly those who are vulnerable.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-23335

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what the most common reasons are for applications to the Home Heating Support Fund being rejected.

As part of the £30 million investment in the Fuel Insecurity Fund for 2023/24, the Scottish Government has allocated £9 million for the Home Heating Support Fund (HHSF), administered by Advice Direct Scotland (ADS), to support households with increased energy costs.

The most common reasons for HHSF applications being rejected are that evidence requirements are not met; or the customer has not already received debt advice, which is a requirement for support. As part of the appropriate verification and compliance process, relevant supporting evidence is required.

ADS adopt an holistic support approach, meaning that households presenting with debts exceeding £1,700 are internally passed to their FCA-accredited debt advice team for more comprehensive support and debt solutions. In all cases, ADS works with the applicant to ensure they have what they need to reapply to the HHSF.

Question reference: S6O-02787

Asked by: Paul O'Kane, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 16 November 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jackson Carlaw (on Behalf of the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body) on 23 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what mental health support it has in place for SPCB and MSP staff, and what work it has done to promote available resources.

The SPCB takes very seriously its responsibility for the wellbeing of its staff. That’s why it approved a Positive About Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy which applies to MSPs, their staff and SPCB staff. In support of this policy the SPCB has put in place a number of measures including our Employee Assistance Programme and online resources, self-assessment tools and intranet links to external resources. Our People and Culture team support MSPs, their staff and SPCB staff to access the help that they need, when they need it.

Threshold	Clients
£300-399	1416
£400-499	907
£500-599	622
£600+	1547