Chamber and committees

Thank you.

I am interested in how any company can be transparent on its taxation. Many taxation powers are not part of the devolved settlement, so I look to the UK Government to support any opportunity for the likes of Amazon to declare their tax in a fairer and more appropriate way.

I was talking about the amount of money—£1.5 billion in 2020—that those eight companies avoided paying in tax. That money could have been invested in our country’s infrastructure, culture or civic society or, topically, in helping the people who are most in need with the cost of living crisis. Rhoda Grant mentioned that, too.

However, instead of aggressively working to tackle the issue and make companies pay their fair share, the UK Government has spent three and a half times more on chasing fraud and error in the benefit system than it has on pursuing tax-dodging millionaires. The Department for Work and Pensions is spending the vast sum of £510 million to prevent fraud and error in the benefit system and to collect more debt from people on universal credit. The DWP estimates that it can claw back £3.15 billion from benefit claimants, while Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs estimates that £3 billion could be raised from putting additional resource into chasing tax dodgers. In 2020, the pandemic tax gap of unpaid revenues was £70 billion. It is simply astonishing that that is receiving less additional resource than social security fraud and error.

I ask the minister for a commitment that, when we receive full taxation powers, which are currently reserved, the Scottish Government will focus its efforts on working with businesses to ensure that they pay their fair share in tax, and that we will not spend billions of pounds to penalise the most vulnerable people in society.

Fair taxation—specifically, corporate tax—is so important for investing in public services, which are the thread that binds our communities together. I thank the Fair Tax Foundation for all the hard work that it does to support companies to pay their fair share.

As a nurse, I, too, encourage everyone who is eligible to take up the vaccine offer. Many of those who are eligible for vaccines will face accessibility requirements, particularly those who are housebound. Accessibility should never be an obstacle to people receiving healthcare. With that in mind, what arrangements have been considered in the roll-out of the next round of vaccinations for people with accessibility needs?

I welcome the opportunity to speak in the fair tax week debate, and I congratulate Rhoda Grant on securing it. Ms Grant has outlined the issues really well.

Fair tax week is an opportunity to celebrate the companies and organisations that are proud to?promote responsible tax conduct. Paying a fair share of tax is one of the principal ways in which businesses contribute to society, helping to fund the public services that we all rely on. Championing a level playing field for businesses, fair tax week provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of fair tax principles in protecting and advancing public services in Scotland, as well as across the UK.

The growth of tax havens and unethical corporate tax conduct has become the subject of much debate in Scotland, across the UK and around the globe. Aggressive tax avoidance negatively distorts national economies and undermines the ability of business to compete fairly, both domestically and internationally.

For example, eight large tech companies made an estimated £9.6 billion in profit from sales to customers in Scotland and the UK in 2019, but, by moving money out of the UK, those companies ended up declaring a fraction of the profits in the accounts of their UK subsidiaries, thereby radically reducing their tax liabilities. Amazon, eBay, Adobe, Google, Cisco, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple faced UK corporation tax liabilities of £297 million in 2019, putting the total amount of tax that those companies avoided in the UK at an estimated £1.5 billion in 2020, the latest year for which figures exist.

Beatrice Wishart mentioned oil and gas and those who are off-grid. It is really hard for her constituents in Shetland. Does she agree that the same folk who are off-grid in the south of Scotland are affected, too?

I remember an anaesthetist telling me that people used to smoke right under the windows of the ear, nose and throat ward so, when she woke from her anaesthesia fog after a tonsillectomy, she smelled cigarette smoke. I therefore welcome the instrument.

As the co-convener of the cross-party group on lung health—and a nurse—I am keen to hear what measures are being taken to help health boards, local authorities and health and social care partnerships to educate people about the legislation, so that it is easier to enforce as we move forward.

Will you confirm again the go-live date? Did you say that it was 8 September?

Good morning, minister, and good morning, Mr Kellet. I am interested in the issue of cross-portfolio working, because, as you have said, the austerity being inflicted on Scotland is costing £770 million a year at the moment. You have also said that we do not have all the levers that we need to tackle health inequalities. As a public health minister, can you tell us what work is being done in other parts of the Government and in other portfolios to tackle these inequalities?

Those challenges are not just urban; they are also rural, and you are a rural MSP, like I am. Is specific work being done to consider housing or other wider issues to help raise awareness of health inequalities in rural areas?

Thank you for that, minister.

I have a couple of quick questions on the theme of health in all policies. In a previous session, I asked about health inequality impact assessments being included in planning, for instance. Again, that involves looking across portfolios. Can the minister describe what work the Scottish Government is doing to include health inequality impact assessments in all policy areas?