I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20200 on 31 March 2014. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

As set out in the Scottish Budget 2013-14, the Scottish Government will invest £7 million in each of the three years from 2013-14 to 2015-16 in a range of welfare reform mitigation measures such as for advice and support services. The most recent announcement on 24 April 2014 is for the Tackling Money Worries Programme which is to be administered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB).

The Scottish Government has approved that SLAB can spend up to £2.4 million on new projects focussing on supporting the outcomes of the revised Child Poverty Strategy for Scotland by connecting low income families with children to debt advice and to help them manage their money better at times where they are more vulnerable to debt.

The application period for the programme opened on 6 May 2014 and will close on
15 June 2014 after which SLAB will assess the proposals submitted. Once the bids have been assessed and applicants notified the list of successful projects will be published on the SLAB website.

The Scottish Government has no capacity to provide funding over and above the £55 million provided in the years 2013-15. The lifting of the cap on funding for discretionary housing payments (DHPs) will create additional flexibility for local authorities to supplement their DHP funds to meet any additional local priorities.

The Scottish Government is allocating £35 million in 2014-15 to mitigate the impact of the bedroom tax in Scotland. This is in addition to the £15 million funding for discretionary housing payments made available by the Department for Work and Pensions. The breakdown by local authority of the initial £20 million from the Scottish Government is described in Local Government Finance Circular 2014 No 2, available on the Scottish Government website:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/local-government/17999/11203.

The breakdown of funding from the Department for Work and Pensions is contained in their Housing Benefit Circulars HB S1/2014 and HB S2/2014.

The remaining £15 million of Scottish Government funding will be allocated to the 20 local authorities that still have insufficient funds to fully mitigate the bedroom tax. The distribution will be agreed with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities.

The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland wrote to the Deputy First Minister on 2 May 2014 to offer to provide Scottish Ministers with a power to set the statutory cap on discretionary housing payments in Scotland using section 63 of the Scotland Act 1998. The Scottish Government has accepted this offer. At their meeting on 8 May 2014, the Deputy First Minister and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland agreed to prioritise the progress of the section 63 order. The order will need to be agreed by both the Scottish and UK Governments before it is laid before both Houses of the Westminster Parliament and the Scottish Parliament. It will then go before the Privy Council. The Deputy First Minister will update the Scottish Parliament once a timescale has been agreed with the Scotland Office.

The Scottish Welfare Fund comprises of Community Care Grants and Crisis Grants.

The number of applications that were accepted and rejected by gender was previously answered in S4W-20605 on 2 May 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

The following tables show the number of applications which were accepted and rejected by gender of the main applicant and by local authority. Tables are provided separately for Community Care Grants and Crisis Grants.

Table 1: Community Care Grant Decisions by Gender of Main Applicant and Local Authority.

Note: All figures have been rounded to the nearest five applications.

Table 2: Crisis Grant Decisions by Gender of Main Applicant and Local Authority.

Note: All figures have been rounded to the nearest five applications.

Further statistics on the Scottish Welfare Fund can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/Browse/Social-Welfare/swf.

Communication with social tenants about their rent or housing benefit is the responsibility of local authorities and housing associations.

The Scottish Welfare Fund guidance sets out the ringfencing arrangements for the Fund. The Scottish Welfare Fund guidance can be found on the Scottish Government website at:

http://scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/welfarereform/scottishwelfarefund/scottishwelfarefuindguidance.

With regard to the Home Energy Efficiency Programmes for Scotland: Area Based Schemes (HEEPS: ABS), local authorities complete quarterly reports on activity which will cover work completed in the previous months, works started on site and works committed but not yet started. This will include an analysis of the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) for committed and completed homes. Local authorities will also provide details of the measures completed to homes which will be cross-referenced to the data Ofgem provides on ECO delivery in Scotland.

With regard to the HEEPS: Affordable Warmth Scheme, participating energy suppliers provide a performance scorecard to the Scottish Government on a monthly basis which forms the basis for monthly discussion of delivery, quality and service issues. Similarly, with regard to the HEEPS: Energy Assistance Scheme, Scottish Gas provides a performance scorecard to the Scottish Government on a monthly basis which forms the basis for monthly discussion of delivery, quality and service issues. Additionally, data from invoices for installations completed under the Energy Assistance Scheme allow a fuller report to be compiled for each financial year.

We intend to publish a monitoring report on all the HEEPS schemes later in the year, subject to receiving satisfactory performance data from councils and utility companies.

The Scottish Government has not undertaken research specifically into this. However, this is an area we are keen to explore further. We are developing firm links with health colleagues and this has already assisted in establishing contact with the Deep End practices through the Link Worker programme.

We are also seeking to secure replacement NHS representation on the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum to inform our discussions around the health and fuel poverty links. We will continue to work with the Scottish Fuel Poverty Forum and consider any recommendations they may make around this.