Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-13191

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration its social security agency has made regarding the payment of assistance to people who are unbanked.

Question reference: S5W-13142

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has (a) requested and (b) received from the Department for Work and Pensions regarding how many people have requested (i) twice-monthly and (ii) direct payments for rent and services under the Universal Credit (Claims and Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 2017.

The Scottish Universal Credit choices were made available to new claims in full service areas from 4 October. Eligible people are offered the new choices in the second assessment period, and therefore 16 November was the first date, following their introduction on 4 October, that the offer could be made to residents in Scotland.

As part of the Scottish Government’s Working Level Agreement with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for the delivering of the Scottish Universal Credit choices, the DWP will provide management information on the number of people who have requested twice monthly and direct payment of their housing cost element of their Universal Credit award to their landlord. We expect to receive the first tranche of management information from the DWP by end December 2017.

Question reference: S5W-13140

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether principle (d) in the Social Security (Scotland) Bill will allow agency staff to provide people with one-to-one support and help them understand what reserved benefits they are entitled to.

Principle (d) - if amended in the manner the Scottish Government intends - will place a legal duty on Scottish Ministers to ensure that people are given what they are entitled to under the Scottish system. It would be inappropriate to extend such a legal duty to also cover other forms of assistance that the Scottish Government has no responsibility for either developing or administering.

However, in line with our commitment to a rights based approach, agency staff will provide one-to-one support, where appropriate, and help people to understand what further support they may be entitled to, including reserved benefits and wider assistance available from other services.

Question reference: S5W-13139

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 18 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether its staff (a) are and (b) will be entitled to provide people with one-to-one support and help them understand what reserved benefits they are entitled to.

Question reference: S5O-01609

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will set targets for income maximisation and help reduce the overall amount of benefits that go unclaimed.

Question reference: S5W-13141

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 13 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government which councils it is still to meet regarding co-locating services for devolved social security.

Question reference: S5O-01598

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to create targets with specific deadlines to reduce the disability employment gap.

Question reference: S5O-01572

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 6 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many and what proportion of the IBM UK staff involved with the Low Income Benefits Agile Service Design are disabled.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

The Scottish Government is committed to the delivery of high quality public services, through fair work practices. This includes promoting equality of opportunity and developing a workforce which reflects the population of Scotland in terms of characteristics such as age, gender, and disability. In order to ensure the highest standards of service quality in our contracts, we expect suppliers including IBM to take a similarly positive approach to fair work practices.

Question reference: S5W-12993

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 24 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Aileen Campbell on 5 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the UK Parliament scheduling the second reading of the Organ Donation (Deemed Consent) Bill on 23 February 2018, by what date it will lodge its Organ and Tissue Donation Bill.

The First Minister confirmed in the 2017-18 Programme for Government that legislation for a soft opt out system of organ and tissue donation will be introduced during this Parliamentary year.

The Scottish Government is committed to introducing a workable soft opt out system that will add to the improvements already being delivered through A Donation and Transplantation Plan For Scotland 2013-2020. It is important that we take the time to get the system right. It needs to be developed in a way which will do no harm to trust in the NHS or to the safety of donation and we are working with stakeholders to achieve this.

Question reference: S5W-12165

Asked by: Mark Griffin, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 October 2017
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 7 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what progress its is making on its commitment as part of the Developing the Young Workforce implementation plan to deliver (a) a “new work experience model for young disabled people introduced and improved approach to careers services for young disabled people implemented [in 2016-17]" and (b) the “Introduction of supported work placement programme for young disabled people [in 2017-18]”

In September 2015 Education Scotland published new quality standards to which underpin how work placements are provided in school. These standards relate specifically to career education, through an improved approach to careers services, the Career Education Standard 3-18 and to work experience, through a new Work Placements Standard. These standards were developed with representatives from equality groups and set out universal entitlements for all young people, including young people with disabilities. (Alongside the standards, the school-employer partnership guidance refers to the importance of incorporating an equality and diversity perspective into partnerships.)

Through our Inspiring Scotland 14-19 Fund we have continued to support ENABLE Scotland's Stepping Up service which delivers a tailored support package to young people with learning disabilities to improve their employability while at school. This includes a workplace skills qualification at Level 3 alongside 150 hours of work experience. Through this over 1,500 young people have been supported with over 1,750 work placements being delivered.

We are currently exploring options with Education Scotland to enhance the promotion of this model as well as considering how this approach could be further developed to include a wider range of disabilities, allowing more young people with disabilities access to good quality work experience across Scotland.

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