Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-09851

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with officials from (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire councils to discuss the 2023 non-domestic rates revaluation and any potential impact upon business.

Question reference: S6W-09827

Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Lorna Slater on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how many contracts have been awarded through NatureScot for deer management in Scotland in each year since 2007, broken down by the cost of each individual contract.

Question reference: S6W-09773

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it issues guidance to local authorities on how to make it easier for the public to report local road defects.

Question reference: S6W-09809

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether any local authority areas are using (a) CEM and (b) GL assessments to obtain standardised data on their pupils and, if so, which ones, broken down by assessment type.

Question reference: S6W-09835

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what legislative options it is exploring to achieve a sustainable reduction in the prison population.

We are taking action to change the way that imprisonment is used in Scotland. The Vision for Justice in Scotland (published 8 February 2022) sets out the ambition that people in Scotland live in a just, safe and resilient society, where they will be supported in rehabilitation by the most effective means. As part of this vision, the Scottish Government recognises that there must be appropriate and consistent alternatives to custody, accessible across Scotland.

The Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Bill (introduced 8 June 2022) supports the aims of the strategy by introducing a number of reforms designed to refocus how imprisonment is used. They are intended to ensure that, as much as possible, the use of remand is a last resort for the court, and to give a greater focus to the rehabilitation and reintegration of individuals leaving custody.

This is supported by investment to strengthen and reform vital services across the justice sector, including an expansion of community justice services supporting diversion from prosecution, alternatives to remand and community sentencing. We have increased investment in community justice services since the new model for community justice was introduced in April 2017 – reaching more than £119m of funding for this year (2022-23).

Question reference: S6W-09842

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted a cost benefit analysis of increasing the Basic Property Rate (poundage) for non-domestic rates from 49p to 49.8p.

Decisions on non-domestic rates including the Basic Property Rate (poundage) are taken in the round of the Scottish Budget, in the context of other budgetary priorities.

With a poundage of 49.8p, the Scottish Budget 2022-23 delivered a below-inflation increase, ensuring the lowest poundage in the UK for the fourth year in a row and saving ratepayers £40 million compared to an inflationary increase. This ensures that over 95% of non-domestic properties continue to be liable for a lower property tax rate than anywhere else in the UK.

Question reference: S6W-09813

Asked by: Oliver Mundell, MSP for Dumfriesshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it collects data on the literacy programmes used by schools.

The Scottish education system is set up in such a way that decision making is devolved to the most appropriate level, enabling local authorities to make choices that meet their local circumstances and needs. Within this empowered system, head teachers are responsible for ensuring that the literacy programmes used in their school are evidence-based and fit for purpose. As a result, Education Scotland, the Scottish Government agency charged with supporting quality and improvement in Scottish education, do not collect data on the literacy programmes that are selected by head teachers for use in schools.

The Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels statistical publication provides information on national performance of school pupils in literacy organisers (reading, writing and listening and talking) and numeracy. The latest data is available at the following link:

Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) Levels 2020-21 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Question reference: S6W-09852

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made towards implementing all of the recommendations of the Report of the Barclay Review of Non-domestic Rates.

The following table shows the progress towards the accepted recommendations of the Barclay Review.

No	Recommendation Description	Current Status
1	Business growth accelerator relief (BGA)	The Barclay Review recommended 12 months relief for new builds and no rates increases for 12 months on property improvements. This was delivered by secondary legislation from 1 April 2018 with iterative changes to the regulations following feedback over the years, including an extension of the relief for property improvements where there has been a change of use of the property from 1 April 2021 (which will encourage the repurposing of existing buildings) and extending eligibility to the rateable value increase associated with the installation of solar panels from 1 April 2022.
2	Three yearly revaluations and a one-year tone date	Three yearly revaluations are provided for in the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 and will take effect from the 2023 revaluation onwards. A one-year tone date will take effect from the 2023 revaluation onwards (which will have a tone date of 1 April 2022).
3	Reduction in large business supplement	The Barclay Review Implementation plan published in December 2017 committed to considering this recommendation in the context of future budgets, subject to affordability The Scottish Budget 2020-21 increased the threshold for the Higher Property Rate (previously Large Business Supplement) to £95,000 from £51,000 and introduced an Intermediate Property Rate (IPR) for properties with a rateable value from £51,001 to £95,000.
4	New relief for day nurseries	Delivered through secondary legislation from 1 April 18 and extended until at least June 2023 in The Non-Domestic Rates (Levying and Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2021.
5 a	Expanding fresh start relief to benefit town centres	Fresh Start relief was introduced in 2016 and offered up to 12 months relief on re-occupied properties in prescribed sectors with a rateable value over £65,000. From 1 April 18 the Scottish Government expanded Fresh Start to all sectors, and the Scottish Budget 2021-22 further delivered an extension to the upper rateable value threshold from £65,000 to £95,000.
5 b	Pilot schemes to increase rates out of town	It was confirmed at the Scottish Budget 2019-20 that this would not be progressed following concerns raised by the business sector in the Consultation on the Implementation of the Barclay Review.
6	Review of plant and machinery valuation	The Scottish Government commissioned the Tretton Review of small-scale hydro plant and machinery which concluded in January 2020. Responding to the review findings, the Scottish Budget 2021-22 committed to guaranteeing the existing 60% hydro relief until 31 March 2032.
7	Review of Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS)	The Scottish Government commissioned the Fraser of Allander Institute (FAI) to undertake this review and the final report was published in March 2022. The Scottish Government has convened a short-term working group to inform considerations of the data-related recommendations of the FAI’s report.
8	‘Road map’ for future rates changes	A Road map is now available on the SG website: https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-business-rates-roadmap/
9	Provision of better information on rates	The Scottish Government has made significant improvements to its website including providing more information in a more accessible language. The Scottish Assessors’ Association have developed a ‘geo-spatial’ map on their website which displays valuation information for the majority of non-domestic properties. The Non-Domestic Rates (Valuation Notices) (Scotland) Regulations 2022 expand the level of information Assessors that must provide to ratepayers alongside valuation notices, as recommended by the Barclay Implementation Advisory Appeals sub-group. This will apply to valuations from 1 April 2023
10	Relief recipients to be published	A working group of councils was convened to create clear and consistent guidance on the publication of relief recipients which was published on 24 December 2020. Councils now routinelypublish relief recipient information in accordance with data protection legislation.
11	Employ rateable value finder product	The Resource Spending review published in May 2022 committed to explore further with COSLA, Digital Office and Revenue Scotland how best to transform the digital administration of the Non-Domestic Rates system The Scottish Assessors’ Association launched a geospatial platform for the valuation roll in summer 2020.
12	More transparency & consistency from Assessors	The SAA action plan sets out the steps taken to date regarding this recommendation.
13	Greater information-gathering powers for Assessors and a new civil penalty for failure to provide information to replace the criminal penalty	The Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 provides for a civil penalty for failure to comply with assessor information notices to deter the withholding of information and incentivise full disclosure of information. This has been in place since 12 March 2020. A criminal penalty is retained for those who knowingly provide “false or misleading information” when completing an assessor information notice. The Act provides that, as well as “the proprietor, tenant and occupier”, the assessor will also be able to seek information from any other person who can reasonably provide information necessary for an accurate valuation to a non-domestic property.
14	Standardised rates bills across Scotland	All councils have adopted standardised billing.
15	Incentivise online billing	Local authorities continue to provide a range of billing options for ratepayers, including online billing.
16	Penalty for non-provision of information to councils	From 1 April 2021, the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 allows a council to issue of a civil penalty notice of £95, increasing by £370 for continued failure to comply with information notices. The Act will provide that a person will have committed a criminal offence if they knowingly provide false or misleading information when complying with a council information notice or when notifying a council of a relevant change in their circumstances.
17	Councils to make refund payments faster	Scottish Government wrote to Councils in August 2018 to encourage faster refunds. We are not aware of any ongoing concerns.
18	Enable quicker debt recovery from ratepayers	The Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 brings the enforcement position for non-domestic rates into line with council tax. From 1 April 2021 councils have the option to commence recovery action against a non-domestic ratepayer once the first planned instalment is missed.
19	Reform of the appeals system	In late 2021, the Scottish Government consulted on subordinate legislation providing for complex and technical reforms to the non-domestic rates system, including a new two-stage appeals system to take effect from 1 January 2023. The remaining regulations from the suite consulted on will be laid in the Scottish Parliament in October 2022.
20	General Anti-Avoidance Rule (GAAR)	The Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 allows Scottish Ministers to make regulations to counter the tax advantages that can arise from tax avoidance arrangements that are legal but are not in keeping with the spirit or the intention behind the legislation. A Working Group made up of local authorities was convened in 2020 in order to advise on potential measures that could effectively tackle anti-avoidance.
21	Close empty property relief loophole	The 42-day reset period was increased to 6 months for empty property relief from 1 April 2020 as recommended by the Barclay Review.
22	Close SBBS second homes loophole	The requirement that self-catering properties be actually let for 70 days and available for let for 140 days in a year in order to be considered as non-domestic and entered on the Valuation Roll was set out in The Council Tax (Dwellings and Part Residential Subjects) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021. The regulations allow councils to determine when a second home is not a dwelling – this will apply where unforeseen circumstances prevent a self-catering property from being able to let for 70 days.
23	All relief awards to be checked for errors	Relief recipient lists are routinely published by councils, increasing the transparency of awards. The Scottish Government publishes since 2019 an annual guidance on non-domestic rates relief for councils. A pilot project was undertaken in Spring 2019 across 7 local authorities to identify inappropriate SBBS relief awards in conjunction with Audit Scotland. The project identified around £412,000 of potentially incorrect awards. This project was expanded to all local authorities in 2021-22 and identified £2.15 million in incorrect awards. As of 31 March 2022, recovery was in progress for 119 cases with a value of around £745,000.
24	Reform charity relief	The Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 removed the eligibility for charity relief schools from mainstream independent schools from 1 April 2022 (delayed from 1 April 2020, and then again from September 2020 due to Covid-19). Independent special schools and specialist independent music schools will continue to be eligible for charity rates relief.
25	Relief restricted to properties in active occupation	From 1 April 2020, the Small Business Bonus Scheme is restricted to properties in active occupation only. From 1 April 2021, the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 allows councils to serve a notice on a ratepayer who is in receipt of a relief (except empty property relief), to prove that their property is not being unused or underused. If the ratepayer fails to comply, the council may take further action; which could result in the council awarding empty property relief instead of another relief.
26	Reform empty property relief	Empty Property Relief will be devolved to councils as set out in section 19 of the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020. This will take effect at the next revaluation on 1 April 2023.
27	Sports relief for affordable community facilities	The Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 enables the Scottish Ministers to issue statutory guidance to councils about the exercise of their discretion to grant relief under s4(5)(c) of the Local Government (Financial Provisions etc.) (Scotland) Act 1962 (sports club relief). Councils require to have regard to said guidance. Statutory guidance was developed in consultation with representatives from councils, the sports club sector and the Charity Regulator. This came into force on 1 April 2021.
30	Commercial activity on parks etc.	The Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 will bring non-domestic properties on parks and lands onto the valuation roll on 1 April 2023 (at the next revaluation). Commercial activity on parks will therefore be liable for rates from 2023.

Question reference: S6W-09849

Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what ongoing review it undertakes of the non-domestic rates scheme, what assessment it makes of whether the scheme delivers fairness, clarity, certainty and consistency for ratepayers, and how any such assessment is quantified.

The Scottish Government is committed to reviewing non-domestic rates policies on a regular basis, in order to ensure that the rates system effectively supports our businesses and communities, and regularly attends the Scottish Rating Surveyor Forum and the Scottish Ratepayer Forum to discuss the operation of the non-domestic rates system with sectoral experts and their professional representatives.

In August 2017, the final report of the independent Barclay Review of non-domestic rates was published. This review made 30 recommendations to support economic growth, improve ratepayer experience and administration of the system, and to increase fairness and ensure a level playing field.

The Scottish Government accepted the majority of these recommendations in the Implementation Plan published in December 2017, and the final reforms are scheduled to come into force in 2023 alongside the revaluation. To ensure the recommendations were delivered effectively, the Scottish Government established an independent advisory group to provide advice to Ministers on the details of implementation.

The passage of the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Act 2020 provided an opportunity for parliamentary scrutiny of the recommendations, and a number of the key recommendations of the Barclay Review have since been replicated by the UK Government following their Business Rates Review which was published in October 2021.

More recently, we commissioned an independent evaluation of the Small Business Bonus Scheme relief, and an independent review of small-scale hydro plant and machinery . The findings of these reviews, which have been published, provide an independent assessment of key elements of the non-domestic rates system.

Question reference: S6W-09650

Asked by: Miles Briggs, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 3 August 2022

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have registered their interest in introducing the workplace parking levy.

The Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 introduced a discretionary power for local authorities to implement workplace parking licencing (WPL) schemes. It will be for local authorities to decide whether they wish to implement WPL locally and to shape proposals to suit local circumstances.

The Workplace Parking Licensing (Scotland) Regulations 2022 require local authorities to notify Scottish Ministers when publishing notification of a scheme proposal. There is no requirement for local authorities to register their interest in introducing a WPL scheme with Scottish Ministers before they have formally published a scheme proposal (such as during initial scoping or exploration of a scheme).

While no notifications of scheme proposals have yet been received, I am aware that local authorities may be considering how best to use the new powers. For example, the City of Edinburgh Council has included plans to take forward a WPL scheme as part of its published City Mobility Plan 2021-2030 and have recently re-affirmed that they will continue exploration of such a scheme. I am also aware that WPL is under consideration in Glasgow as part of their Local Transport Strategy policy framework.

Chamber and committees