Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth
Local Government Taxation
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to meet the Opposition parties to discuss the reform of local government taxation. (S4O-03631)
The Scottish Government is committed to consulting others later in this parliamentary session, to develop a fairer, more progressive local tax based on the ability to pay.
The minister is aware that councils across Scotland are being forced to make severe cuts. The City of Edinburgh Council alone must find savings of £67 million by 2018.
The Government has consistently argued for greater powers, but at the same time it has disempowered our local authorities. Parents who were taking part in a radio phone-in this morning on the need to fundraise for basic school equipment were not convinced that the council tax freeze has been fully funded. As we all engage in the debate—
Can we have a question, please?
I have a question, Presiding Officer.
As we all engage in the debate on new powers for this Parliament, is it time to empower our local authorities properly, with a fair tax that raises a greater proportion of their income?
As I said, the Scottish Government will work with others to fulfil the manifesto commitment that we put to the people. To help to inform our thinking, we have the recommendations of the Local Government and Regeneration Committee, including on empowerment, and the deliberations of the commission on strengthening local democracy in Scotland.
I do not agree that we have disempowered local authorities. The council tax freeze was supported by a majority at the Scottish Parliament elections, which gave us the mandate to commit to it, and resources have been put into the local government settlement to ensure that local authorities can freeze the council tax and have been compensated for doing so.
In addition, de-ring fencing has been very empowering of local authorities, which have far more flexibility in their financial decision making than they had before.
I am grateful for the minister’s comments. How many people have benefited from the council tax freeze? Will the Scottish Government urge all councils to deliver it again?
We encourage all local authorities to continue the council tax freeze. All council tax payers—around 2 million households—have benefited from the freeze, which is welcome, given the pressures that households have faced over the past few years.
The council tax freeze has been fully funded and will be fully funded again in financial year 2015-16, if councils choose to take advantage of that.
What tax options, other than a local income tax, might be considered for local government between now and May 2016?
Our manifesto commitment is to consult others later in the parliamentary session, to develop options for a fairer and more progressive local tax, based on the ability to pay. It would not be appropriate to prejudge the results of such an exercise at this stage. However, all alternative proposals that meet those criteria can be considered.
Draft Budget 2015-16 (Carbon Assessment)
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth had with the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment regarding the carbon assessment of the 2015-16 draft budget. (S4O-03632)
I have had discussions with all members of the Cabinet, including the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment, during the development of the 2015-16 draft budget. The carbon assessment sets out the impacts on greenhouse gas emissions of the spending proposals in the draft budget and is one of a range of resources available to inform ministerial discussions on our climate change agenda and financial choices.
The cabinet secretary will be aware that the Scottish Government’s carbon assessment of the draft budget highlights imported emissions, which are a cause for particular concern in sectors such as health and local government. The proportion of emissions that is accounted for by imported greenhouse gases is quite substantial. Can the cabinet secretary provide details—from his portfolio or other portfolios—of schemes that might be put in place to address the extent of imported emissions?
The measures that we take to improve the energy efficiency of the Government estate and the wider range of public buildings are examples of how we address those particular issues. Of course, energy factors are significant in underpinning the particular emissions to which Claudia Beamish refers, so the Government’s approach to its energy efficiency policy for housing stock and our approach to new house development are designed to address the very issues that the member raises.
Carbon assessment is a new tool that the Government has introduced to focus on the choices that have to be made by ministers about financial issues and wider implications for the environment as a consequence. Ministers will continue to pay close attention to the output of the carbon assessment tool in making our financial choices.
Energy Efficiency (Funding)
To ask the Scottish Government what communication it has received from the United Kingdom Government regarding the extra £100 million of funding to be available for household energy efficiency. (S4O-03633)
We were informed of the proposed measure on the morning of the holding of a Liberal Democrat party conference at which the announcement was made, and only after the press was informed in a release. No further information has been received from the UK Government since 7 October, despite officials’ attempts to seek such clarity on five separate occasions. Perhaps stimulated by the publication of Mr Stevenson’s question, high-level details of the amounts of proposed funding were eventually received yesterday from the Department of Energy and Climate Change.
I thank the minister and congratulate myself on my success.
Is the minister aware of WWF’s report “The Economics of Climate Change Policy in the UK”, which shows that the installation of energy efficiency measures in the UK dropped in 2011 and 2012? Does he accept that that drop and the current incoherence of UK policy makes it more difficult for us to meet our insulation and fuel poverty targets?
I do. It does not make it any easier to efficiently administer a good scheme, because we do not know what the budget is and what the conditions are. At the moment, the scheme is reserved to Westminster. Were we to have had power in this Parliament to administer the scheme ourselves, we would have been able to make a start. Now that we have the information, we will get on with it. I am pleased that we have paid out on 19,670 vouchers for households in Scotland; indeed, we spend almost 10 times as much on energy efficiency per household in Scotland as they do in England.
Business Improvement Districts
To ask the Scottish Government how many active business improvement districts there are. (S4O-03634)
As at 31 October 2014, there were 27 operational business improvement districts in Scotland. Proposals to establish a number of other BIDs are in various stages of development.
The deadline for voting for Paisley First in our BID is drawing close. What benefits does the minister think that a business improvement district could have for the great town of Paisley?
I was delighted that Paisley was a yes town, and I hope that the people vote yes again as the ballot on the BID closes on 13 November. Seedcorn funding of £20,000 has been given to support the BID. I am convinced that the partnership that it will create will put in place a range of projects that will greatly benefit Paisley, including retail support and outlets and the promotion of arts and cultural, historical, social, recreational and educational opportunities, as well as more events in the town centre and further work to locate Paisley as a serious visitor destination. All that shows how positive we can be about Paisley, as George Adam suggests, and encourages people to vote yes in Paisley once again.
Scottish Enterprise (Meetings)
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met Scottish Enterprise. (S4O-03635)
Scottish Government ministers regularly meet Scottish Enterprise on a range of issues.
I thank the cabinet secretary for that comprehensive answer. According to the draft budget, £56 million of financial transactions was removed from the enterprise bodies budget line for other initiatives. What initiatives was that initially planned for?
The Government considered putting additional financial transaction capability into the work of the Scottish Investment Bank through a prospective allocation to the enterprise budget. When I evaluated the necessity of that investment against the necessity to improve investment in housing expenditure, my judgment was that the housing propositions that had been put forward to me were more compelling than those for additional finance for the Scottish Investment Bank. That is why I decided to reallocate the resources, as I indicated to Gavin Brown in the budget statement on 9 October.
The cabinet secretary will be aware of significant and growing local opposition to the Cockenzie energy park, as proposed by Scottish Enterprise. A local petition has gathered around 5,000 signatures already. Part of that opposition is driven by a feeling that Scottish Enterprise has not engaged with the local community on its own aspirations for the site. Will the cabinet secretary instruct Scottish Enterprise to do that, as a matter of urgency?
I hear Iain Gray’s points and I am familiar with the issue, which he raised in a meeting with me and the leadership of East Lothian Council, which I was delighted to host.
We must get our arrangements properly in place and it is important that people understand exactly where we are with the Cockenzie site. The site is not in the ownership of Scottish Enterprise, so Scottish Enterprise has no site plan to disclose or advance. The site remains in the ownership of Scottish Power, to the best of my knowledge.
I assure Iain Gray, and through him his constituents, that should Scottish Enterprise end up acquiring the Cockenzie site there will be full and active dialogue with the local community before any developments are considered or undertaken. We would be delighted to arrange that directly with the local community. We will involve the local authority and any other interested parties in that process. I am delighted for those issues to be discussed with Iain Gray and anyone else whom he wishes them to be discussed with.
I stress that there is no active proposition in place, because Scottish Enterprise does not own the site. I assure the Parliament that if it takes ownership of the site there will be full and wide consultation about any uses to which the Cockenzie site is put.
Will the cabinet secretary outline the measures that the Scottish Government takes to strengthen and support Scotland’s economic links with overseas markets?
International business activity is central to the Government’s economic strategy. As I set out our thinking in due course, I expect that our focus on expanding Scottish companies’ international connections and business activity will grow ever more significantly.
We are encouraging more Scottish companies to become active exporters through a wide variety of mechanisms, including the account management activities of Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, working directly with companies to encourage them to export. We utilise a range of Scottish Development International offices around the globe: 28 offices in 18 countries. The globalscot network has connected with more than 1,000 Scottish companies to offer support and advice from individuals who are located in international markets about how companies can best enter those markets. Scottish Development International is working with partners to support 8,000 to 10,000 businesses to develop the skills to go international by 2015. That will be the focus of much of our activity in that respect.
Non-profit Distributing Model (Expenditure)
To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent under the non-profit distributing model and on how many projects. (S4O-03636)
Information on the capital value of investment in the non-profit distributing programme is included in the recently published draft budget 2015-16.
The draft budget refers to a £2.5 billion NPD pipeline and says that £750 million-worth of projects is under construction. How many projects funded under the NPD financing model have been completed since its introduction?
A number of projects have been completed since the NPD programme got under way. I do not have the complete list, so I will not give Dr Murray a definitive answer at this stage. She is absolutely correct that more than £750 million-worth of activity is under construction. There is also £1.4 billion-worth of projects currently in procurement.
At the weekend, the Deputy First Minister set out further information on a proportion of the £1 billion expansion of the NPD programme, which will take forward a range of projects around the country that invest in the school estate, the health sector and the college sector. That further reinforces the previous announcements that I made on the £2.5 billion NPD programme.
Is the cabinet secretary able to set out what steps will be taken to inform and update the local community on the redevelopment of the Royal Edinburgh hospital in Morningside, in my constituency? It is the single biggest beneficiary in the latest tranche of projects, with £120 million being invested in new state-of-the-art facilities so that people with mental health problems can be cared for in an appropriate clinical and therapeutic environment.
I reassure Mr Eadie that there will be extensive dialogue with the community as the project is prepared for further development. One of the necessary elements of the NPD programme is that we embark on early consultation about the details of projects to avoid running into project management and development issues later.
That early dialogue and consultation with communities is essential to ensure that we embark on projects on the best possible basis and that they are well founded on views in the community. Crucially, that approach ensures that the issues that Mr Eadie raises about the creation of the appropriate settings for us to support individuals to address their mental health problems are well understood in the design and delivery of such projects, which can have a significant therapeutic benefit for the individuals who face such challenges.
Electricity Transmission Surcharge (Highlands and Islands)
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on people in the Highlands and Islands having to pay a 2p-per-unit electricity transmission surcharge. (S4O-03637)
The Scottish Government is aware that customers in the Highlands and Islands face some of the highest electricity prices in the country. That is due to a combination of factors, which include the higher costs that are associated with delivering electricity in remote areas.
We are discussing the current arrangements for electricity customers in the north of Scotland with the regulator—the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets—and the United Kingdom Government, as the matter is currently reserved. We engage regularly with energy companies on a range of issues, and consumer energy bills are frequently discussed.
Even SSE plc now backs national pricing throughout the UK for transmission charges. Given the scale of fuel poverty in my constituency and its link with fuel costs, what more can be done to alleviate the detrimental effect that the surcharge has on the wider goal of eradicating fuel poverty in the Highlands?
We are concerned about the level of energy bills throughout the country but especially in the north of Scotland. Mr Thompson is correct that his constituents in places such as Skye and Lochaber face some of the highest costs in the country.
We are doing everything that we can with the powers that we have to alleviate fuel poverty and invest in energy efficiency. For example, figures from Energy Action Scotland show that, on average, £3.52 is invested in energy efficiency measures for low-income households in England, compared with £36.48 in Scotland.
The fact that the figure in Scotland is 10 times more than that in England shows that we are doing what we can, but we do not have the powers in the Parliament to ensure proper regulation to address the fact that Mr Thompson’s constituents and others who live on our islands suffer not only the worst weather but the greatest fuel poverty and highest bills. That has been a complete failure of the regulatory regime in the UK.
Is the minister aware of the work of the Western Isles poverty action group, which has called for an end to the 2p electricity surcharge in the Highlands and Islands? As he well knows, many consumers in the north face fuel poverty and higher fuel and transport costs. With a bleak and Dickensian winter in prospect, will the minister write to Ofgem and to the energy secretary, Ed Davey, to urge them to get rid of the unfair charges in the Highlands and Islands and instead introduce the sharing of all network costs equally among all GB consumers?
Mr Stewart’s remarks are absolutely correct and I appreciate his sentiments. We absolutely believe that, in the UK, Scottish householders should not be penalised in this way, but they are, through a total failure of regulation under successive Governments. The position is exacerbated because one of the longer-term solutions is to connect the islands to the grid, which would generate such additional benefit through community benefit and community ownership of schemes that the funding generated in places such as Shetland, Orkney and the Western Isles would be sufficient to banish fuel poverty if the island leaders so chose.
I hope that Mr Stewart and his colleagues will join us in making representations to the Smith commission and will use the opportunity to empower Scotland to cut our bills rather than continue with a somewhat touching faith and belief in the good will of the Tory Government—their former better together ally.
I agree with the minister’s point that, because of the colder weather, constituents in the Highlands and Islands face greater fuel poverty. They are understandably concerned about the transmission charge. SSE has indicated that it wants a national price. Has the minister raised that point with the Competition and Markets Authority as well as the UK Government? If so, what was the response?
Expecting action from the CMA on the matter would be akin to expecting a chocolate fireguard to operate effectively. We have the regulatory authorities—we have Ofgem—but they do not work. That is the problem.
Another problem, which—sadly—Mr McGrigor’s colleagues and masters down in London have not dealt with, is that we in Scotland have 35 per cent of the costs of transmitting electricity in the whole UK but we have only 12 per cent of the generators. Therefore, the electricity supplier is paying three times as much for transmitting electricity, and of course it passes that on to its consumers in the Western Isles, in Skye, in Lochaber, in Shetland and in Orkney. I urge Mr McGrigor to look at other options to solve the problem, not least powers in this Parliament.
The minister started off rather well in his initial response to David Thompson but things have degenerated ever since. The Scottish Renewables submission to the Smith commission has emphasised the need to retain a single energy market across the UK—the only way of spreading the cost.
The minister will be aware that, yesterday in Westminster, my colleague Sir Robert Smith MP raised the issue with Dermot Nolan, the Ofgem chief executive officer, whereupon Mr Nolan indicated that the idea of a single national tariff—as we have for the Royal Mail—would be possible, although complex. From the discussions that the minister has had with Ofgem and the UK Government, can he indicate what progress has been made on that?
We have been discussing these matters with the UK Government and Ofgem for as long as I can remember and for far longer than I have had the honour of holding my current position. The First Minister has led the campaign on the issue and has called for fair electricity costs throughout the UK.
Project transmit was supposed to be the solution, but that solution is not expected to deliver any amelioration of the unfairness to Scotland until 2016. That is what the regulators are doing at the moment. The regulators are responsible to the UK Government and, sadly, they have not delivered.
Manufactured Exports
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest figures on manufactured exports in Scotland. (S4O-03638)
We welcome the index of manufactured exports increase of nearly 3 per cent during the second quarter of this year and we continue to work as team Scotland to promote exports further.
I thank the minister for that response. Am I right in thinking that this trend could be continued and ever strengthened if the Smith commission was to recommend that responsibility for all business taxation and employment law should be with the Scottish Parliament?
Yes—Fiona McLeod is absolutely correct. I pay tribute to Scottish exporters, who are doing extraordinarily well through their efforts and the quality of their goods and products, and through the good offices of Scottish Development International, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
It is of course vital that we have access to all the levers of taxation. For example, if we were possessed of powers in respect of air passenger duty, we would, according to the leaders of most of Scotland’s airports, be in a position to increase travel further, thereby helping to promote and stimulate trade and exports and to welcome more people to Scotland. Fiona McLeod is correct in calling for more powers to come to this Parliament in that respect.
European Union (Membership)
To ask the Scottish Government what impact exiting the EU would have on the Scottish economy. (S4O-03639)
The Scottish Government firmly believes that exiting the European Union would have a deeply damaging impact on Scotland’s economy.
Europe is a vital market for Scottish businesses: it accounts for 45 per cent of Scotland’s international exports, which are worth £11.7 billion to our economy.
An analysis published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research in March 2014 estimated that, in 2011, approximately 336,000 jobs in Scotland were associated with exports to the EU. Such jobs and economic activity in Scotland would be at risk if the United Kingdom was to leave the EU.
I thank the cabinet secretary for explaining those risks. He will be aware that recent polling shows that, although people in Scotland would vote to stay in the EU in a referendum, people across the UK would vote for an exit.
Does the cabinet secretary agree with me—and now Carwyn Jones, the Labour First Minister of Wales—that it is essential that a UK exit from the EU must require a vote for exit in each of the UK’s constituent nations, thereby ensuring that the economic interests of all the nations in the UK family are represented?
Christina McKelvie makes the argument that has been advanced by the Deputy First Minister. It is a strong argument and indicates the importance of ensuring that Scotland’s position, as part of the family of nations that we were told existed in the United Kingdom, is properly represented. Now that that view has been amplified by the comments from the First Minister of Wales yesterday, it is important that the whole debate is taken forward as part of the consideration of what I think would be a foolish move by the United Kingdom to leave the European Union.
“Empowering Scotland’s Island Communities”
To ask the Scottish Government how it is taking forward the proposals in “Empowering Scotland’s Island Communities”. (S4O-03640)
We are already working with the island councils and other key stakeholders to implement the parts of our prospectus for the islands that we can implement, given our existing powers. Those include, for example, proposals in relation to aquaculture, the rural development programme and island beef producers.
With a further transfer of powers—for example, over the Crown estate—we will be able to deliver more of the aspirations of the islands.
The minister will have seen the publication today of the submission to the Smith commission from three island authorities. It calls for, among other things, local control of the Crown estate; devolution of 100 per cent of Crown estate revenues; powers to ensure that islands can benefit from renewable energy; powers to ensure lower electricity and fuel costs in order to tackle fuel poverty; direct representation for the Scottish Government in Europe; and devolution of welfare to the Scottish Government.
Does the Scottish Government support that position? Would the minister urge all those in the Smith commission to take account of the views of the islands in their deliberations?
Yes, I concur with those comments. I have seen the document, “Our Islands: Our Future”, which was submitted to the Smith commission. I have not read it in detail, but it seems to me that there is much in it that aligns with the Scottish Government’s position.
If consensus can be reached in the Parliament—if Labour is true to its word on empowering the islands and what it wants to do with those areas, and if the same is true of the Liberal Democrats and others—there might be enough members of the Smith commission to produce a robust package for the islands and to enable powers to be transferred to the Parliament, which would, in turn, allow us to transfer powers to the islands and implement further decentralisation through the subsidiarity principle.
There is a great opportunity for members of all parties to support the vision that we offer to island communities in our “Empowering Scotland’s Island Communities” prospectus.
Employment (West of Scotland)
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase employment opportunities in the west of Scotland. (S4O-03641)
Scotland offers the most competitive business tax regime in the United Kingdom, and the Scottish Government is delivering a range of initiatives to create jobs and attract inward investment. Business gateway and enterprise agency support to start-up and expanding businesses encourages job creation, into the bargain. That includes regional selective assistance awards, which, in West Scotland, totalled £29.6 million in 2013-14 and £22.5 million in the first two quarters of this year. With half the 2014-15 year remaining, the anticipated jobs that have been created or safeguarded by those RSA awards represent 82 per cent of the 2013-14 total of 4,131 jobs.
The cabinet secretary will be aware that Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire have seen a dramatic loss of manufacturing jobs over the past three decades, in the main as a result of UK Government policies. The Scottish Government undertook a vital role in stepping in to help to save Ferguson shipbuilders in Port Glasgow, which demonstrated that areas in West Scotland actually have a manufacturing future. Therefore, what further assistance can the Scottish Government provide to encourage manufacturing opportunities, through existing companies or through further inward investment, in places such as Inverclyde and West Dunbartonshire?
Mr McMillan rightly refers to the important news over the summer about the rescuing of the Ferguson shipyard. It was a source of significant joy to me that we were able to bring about a resumption of manufacturing activity in that yard and to protect shipbuilding on the lower Clyde. That was one example of the Government working collaboratively with our enterprise agencies, a local authority and other interested parties to ensure that we achieved a result. That approach will be deployed on any other occasions on which we feel it necessary to do so.
The Scottish manufacturing advisory service offers a specific amount of support to individual companies that wish to develop their manufacturing activity, and it is available to companies in West Dunbartonshire and Inverclyde, to meet their requirements.
Tax Debt (Local Authorities)
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that local authorities should have the power to begin pursuit of tax debt up to 20 years after the liability arose. (S4O-03642)
Under the legislation governing local taxation, responsibility for the administration and collection of local taxes lies with local authorities. It is for each local authority to interpret and apply the relevant legislation when seeking to recover local tax debts, and to decide how best to seek payment of outstanding local taxes.
However, the Scottish Government is aware of concerns about on-going pursuit of historic debt, and therefore intends to bring forward legislation that will mean that local authorities no longer have the ability to collect debts from the defunct community charge. In doing so, it will ensure that local authorities are compensated in line with current collection rates in respect of outstanding amounts of community charge—poll tax—that would have been collected.
A constituent of mine has shown me what appears to be a tax demand for council tax from 12 years before the date of issue. It concerns me that, under the current powers, councils can do that and that, in essence, individuals have to be able to prepare and provide records stretching back for more than a decade on receipt of a tax demand. Can the minister give an indication of whether, as well as the community charge issue, the wider question of the duration of time for which tax demands can be made will be considered in the process of the proposed legislation?
I should be clear that the First Minister’s intention, as outlined at First Minister’s question time, is what the Government will legislate for. We will carry out what we have committed to publicly. However, I am happy to see whether Government officials can assist Mr Biagi on the specific points about burdens. There are burdens in terms of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973, which sets out clear timescales within which debts can be pursued. There is a difference between the poll tax liabilities, most of which are now technically out of reach, anyway, and council tax debt, of which, fortunately, there is far less in proportion to poll tax debt. That is because of the nature of the two forms of taxation. However, I am more than happy to provide further guidance to local authorities to ensure clarity on both, as we proceed with the proposed legislation.
Air Passenger Duty (Impact on Tourism)
To ask the Scottish Government what impact air passenger duty is having on Scotland's tourism sector. (S4O-03643)
We believe that air passenger duty is one of the most damaging of taxes to Scottish tourism, as it makes it much more expensive to visit Scotland than to visit competitor destinations. We welcome the submission that was made by Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, which supports the transfer of power over that tax to this Parliament.
Does the minister agree that APD is contributing to London airports being logjammed with flights, rather than facilitating direct flights to Scotland?
We do not have a United Kingdom aviation policy; we have an aviation policy that is designed for the needs of London. It has long been thus. The difficulty is that in order to boost tourism we need to make it easy and affordable for people from foreign countries to get here. Air travel is the gate to Scotland. Since air passenger duty in the UK is by far the highest of any major country in the world, the UK has effectively placed a padlock on that gate.
Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Scottish Borders)
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the impact of the recently announced land and buildings transaction tax on domestic and non-domestic property sales in the Scottish Borders. (S4O-03644)
The Scottish Government’s proposed progressive rates and bands for the land and buildings transaction tax will ensure that the tax charge on 90 per cent of residential transactions and 95 per cent of non-residential transactions will be lower than, or no higher than, the current stamp duty land tax charge.
The average price of a residential property sale in every local authority area in Scotland is significantly below £325,000, which is the value below which the tax charge under the land and buildings transaction tax is lower than or the same as the SDLT charge. That redistribution of the tax burden will support the majority of first-time buyers and complement this Government’s commitment to supporting home ownership in a balanced and sustainable way.
In the most recent quarter, the LBTT charge on the sale of the average residential property in the Scottish Borders would have been £1,055 lower than the current United Kingdom tax charge.
The cabinet secretary will be aware that, last week, Registers of Scotland published data that show that the average price of a detached house in the Scottish Borders is more than £250,000, meaning that many properties in the Borders will be caught by the Government’s new 10 per cent tax rate. What analysis has been carried out of whether the housing market will be skewed before and after the new tax is introduced, as sellers desperately try to avoid this extra 10 per cent tax rate, and is the cabinet secretary concerned that that will result in lower tax receipts in the long-term?
The first thing to say is that I do not think that the Conservatives are in a strong position to complain to me about any factors that will happen in the market between the time of my announcement and the start of the financial year, given that they were arguing that I should have announced the tax rates much earlier than I set them out to Parliament, several months in advance of the start of the financial year.
Mr Lamont highlighted the average price of a detached property in the Scottish Borders, which is still below the £325,000 level. That means that, in relation to a substantial number of detached properties that are sold in the area, the cost of the tax charge will be lower than it is currently.
Of course, according to the most recent information that is available to me—the figures for April to June 2014—the average house price in the Scottish Borders is £165,762. That is significantly lower than £325,000. John Lamont needs to think about encouragement of the property market in the Scottish Borders. All the evidence that I have heard suggests that the property market in the area and throughout Scotland will be strengthened by the fact that I have substantially reduced the cost of acquiring a property for first-time buyers and for people moving up the next stage of the housing ladder. That will be welcomed the length and breadth of Scotland.