Portfolio Questions - Scottish Parliament: 17th May 2017
Channel: The Scottish Parliament
Date: 2017-05-17

Communities, Social Security and Equalities
1. Ross Thomson: To ask the Scottish Government how it reached its estimate of £150 million 
annual running costs for the new social security agency. (S5O-00979)
2. Alison Harris: To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the guidance on
what constitutes a dangerous building. (S5O-00980)
3. Alison Johnstone: To ask the Scottish Government how it will encourage the uptake of all of
the devolved benefits to which people might be entitled. (S5O-00981)
4. Claudia Beamish: To ask the Scottish Government what assessment has been made of the
impact that an increased carers allowance would have on disability poverty. (S5O-00982)
5. Anas Sarwar: To ask the Scottish Government by what date the next phase of its benefit
uptake campaign will begin; how long the phase will run, and who the target audience will be.
(S5O-00983)
6. Mark Ruskell: To ask the Scottish Government how many planning appeals determined under
ministerial direction in the last year have been contrary to local development plans. (S5O-00984)
7. Donald Cameron: To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Church
Census 2016, which estimates that the number of churchgoers will have more than halved
between 2000 and 2025. (S5O-00985)
8. Kenneth Gibson: To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK
Government regarding the impact of its welfare reforms on communities in North Ayrshire. (S5O-
00986)
9. Monica Lennon: To ask the Scottish Government whether it will withdraw the planning consent
that it issued in August 2015 for an incinerator facility at Whitehill in Hamilton. (S5O-00987) R
10. Maurice Corry: [Not Lodged] (S5O-00988)
11. Colin Beattie: To ask the Scottish Government whether there are plans for the Access to
Elected Office Fund Scotland to be open to disabled people wishing to be nominated for the 2017
General Election. (S5O-00989)
12. Gordon Lindhurst: To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards are in place to protect
communities that are in close proximity to extensive building works. (S5O-00990)
13. Gillian Martin: To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to increase the availability of
affordable housing in the north east. (S5O-00991)
14. Joan McAlpine: To ask the Scottish Government what response it has received from the third
sector to the comment by the Minister for Social Security that "the private sector should not be
involved in assessments for Scotland’s benefits". (S5O-00992)
15. Linda Fabiani: To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to recent figures that
suggest the Scottish Welfare Fund has supported more than 241,000 households, with awards
totalling £124 million. (S5O-00993)
16. Ruth Maguire: To ask the Scottish Government how many households in Scotland will be
affected by the changes to child tax credits that were introduced on 6 April 2017. (S5O-00994)
17. Maree Todd: To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received a response from the UK
Government to its request to halt the roll-out of universal credit in Scotland following reports that
the new system is pushing more people into hardship and debt. (S5O-00995)
18. Richard Leonard: To ask the Scottish Government when its officials last met Atos Healthcare.
(S5O-00996)
19. Jackie Baillie: To ask the Scottish Government whether the transfer of UK Government staff
to the new social security agency and the Cabinet Office statement of practice are on the agenda
for the next meeting of the Ministerial Working Group on Welfare. (S5O-00997)
20. John Mason: To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the outcome of the local
government elections. (S5O-00998)

Read the full transcript of Portfolio Questions in the Scottish Parliament Official Report: https://goo.gl/65sOQD