Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-21286

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 12 September 2023
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 13 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the Parental Transition Fund.

As set out in the Tackling Child Poverty Delivery Plan: Progress Report 2022-23 , the Scottish Government has reviewed existing evidence and engaged with stakeholders in order to understand the challenges to be addressed through a Parental Transition Fund.

This has informed exploration of what support it is possible to deliver using powers available to the Scottish Government, however as a result of the devolved settlement and the Scottish Government’s powers, along with the interaction with reserved tax and benefits, it is not possible to deliver the Parental Transition Fund as originally envisaged.

The Scottish Government remain fully committed to delivering on the ambition of the Parental Transition Fund and to tackling the financial insecurity faced by families when parents and carers enter employment. Working together with partners, we will continue to take action to improve uptake of existing supports and to further strengthen the help available through devolved employability services. Through these actions we will leverage existing investment to tackle child poverty by supporting more parents and carers into sustainable fair work.

Question reference: S6O-02478

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 August 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how its action to achieve net zero will be supported by the recently agreed partnership between Skills Development Scotland and Built Environment – Smarter Transformation.

Question reference: S6O-02314

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of those previously accommodated on the MS Ambition are now in settled or permanent accommodation.

Question reference: S6O-02117

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 April 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 April 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how it supports low-income families in Glasgow.

Question reference: S6W-15836

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 23 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether its new strategy for palliative and end of life care will specifically include bereavement support needs to reflect the entire experience of dying and death.

Scottish Government’s Palliative and End of Life Strategy is being developed with an overarching aim that everyone in Scotland receives well-coordinated, timely and high-quality palliative care, care around death and bereavement support based on their needs and preferences including support for families and carers.

We will develop a strategy that reflects what matters to people experiencing serious illness, dying and bereavement. We are reviewing the information and evidence we have about people’s experiences of palliative and end of life care, and bereavement, in order to inform our strategy going forward.

Question reference: S6O-02090

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address any poverty-related issues in schools.

Question reference: S6W-15839

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to developing a new, cross-departmental bereavement strategy that recognises support following bereavement as a human right.

The Scottish Government welcomes The UK Commission on Bereavement’s report and the focus it brings to improving the experience of people affected by grief. We value the holistic approach taken by the UK Commission on Bereavement which recognises that bereavement touches many aspects of our lives, including emotional wellbeing and health, school and work life, finances, and housing.

Our programme of bereavement work sits across Ministerial portfolios, reflecting the wide range of impacts bereavement has on people’s lives. We have already taken steps to progress and align our cross-Government programme of work to ensure we adopt the holistic approach advocated by the UK Commission.

Question reference: S6W-15835

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to address the recommendation of the UK Commission on Bereavement in its 2022 report, Bereavement is everyone’s business, that governments in each UK nation must invest 79p annually per person in the population for transforming bereavement services over the next five years, with a particular focus on better supporting minority groups.

The Scottish Government welcomes The UK Commission on Bereavement’s report and the focus it brings to improving the experience of people affected by grief. Bereavement affects many aspects of our lives and we recognise that getting the right care and support following a bereavement is crucial for our health and wellbeing.

We are already taking forward a broad programme of work to improve the practical support, care and advice that is available for people who have been bereaved. That includes: prioritising bereavement support within our £15 million Communities Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund; investing directly in bereavement support services - including for families and workplaces affected by suicide; providing wellbeing advice on the Mind 2 Mind website; widening eligibility for the Funeral Support Payment; and, uprating the Funeral Support Payment annually.

We are also exploring ways to further improve bereavement support through our new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the new Palliative and End of Life Strategy, and through the creation of the National Care Service. This will include a focus on meeting the needs of minority groups.

Finally, we will continue to engage and listen to bereavement sector partners as we take forward our bereavement work, and will draw on the UK Commission’s findings.

Question reference: S6W-15837

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of the wide package of bereavement support as referenced in the letter from the Minister for Mental Wellbeing and Social Care to the Chair and Scotland’s Commissioners of the UK Commission on Bereavement, dated 28 December 2022.

As set out in the answers to questions S6W-15835 and S6W-15839 on 21 March 2023 the Scottish Government is already taking forward a broad programme of work to improve the practical support, care and advice that is available for people who have been bereaved.

We are also working to implement some of the UK Commission’s recommendations, for example, improving access to advice and information for people affected by bereavement, ensuring people are sensitively supported during a bereavement, and adopting public health approaches to create more open-ness in talking about dying and death. We have already introduced practical changes to ensure processes for registering a death are as straightforward as possible.

We will continue to engage and listen to bereavement sector partners as we take forward our bereavement work, and will draw on the UK Commission’s findings.

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-15838

Asked by: Bob Doris, MSP for Glasgow Maryhill and Springburn, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 March 2023
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 21 March 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it supports the core recommendations of the UK Commission on Bereavement in its 2022 report, Bereavement is everyone’s business, and whether it plans to implement the recommendations, and, if so, within what timescale.

The Scottish Government welcomes The UK Commission on Bereavement’s report and the focus it brings to improving the experience of people affected by grief. Bereavement affects many aspects of our lives and we recognise that getting the right care and support following a bereavement is crucial for our health and wellbeing.

As set out in the answers to questions S6W-15835 and S6W-15839 on 21 March 2023, we are already taking forward a broad programme of work to improve the practical support, care and advice that is available for people who have been bereaved. We are also taking forward specific work which implements a number of UK Commission’s recommendations. This includes: improving access to advice and information for people affected by bereavement; ensuring people are sensitively supported during a bereavement; and, adopting public health approaches to create more open-ness in our communities to talking about dying and death. We have also introduced practical changes to ensure processes for registering a death are as straightforward as possible.

We are also exploring ways to further improve bereavement support through our new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, the new Palliative and End of Life Strategy, and through the creation of the National Care Service. This includes focussing on the needs of minority groups.

Finally, we will continue our engagement with the bereavement sector as we take forward our work to improve support for people affected by bereavement, drawing on the UK Commission’s findings.

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

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