- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many properties will be subject to the basic property rate poundage in 2025-26, broken down by (a) industry sector and (b) local authority area.
Answer
The number of properties expected to be liable for the Basic Property Rate (BPR) in 2025-2026 before any reliefs are applied is presented in the following tables, broken down in Table 1 by property class, and in Table 2 by council area.
Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property. The Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors.
These tables are based on the non-domestic valuation roll as at 1 October 2024.
Table 1: Number of properties expected to be liable for BPR by class, to the nearest 10
Class | Number of Properties* |
Shops | 50,200 |
Public Houses | 3,000 |
Offices | 40,800 |
Hotels | 4,000 |
Industrial Subjects | 56,000 |
Leisure, Entertainment, Caravans etc. | 25,600 |
Garages and Petrol Stations | 3,500 |
Cultural | 1,200 |
Sporting Subjects | 12,900 |
Education and Training | 1,500 |
Public Service Subjects | 8,300 |
Communications | 200 |
Quarries, Mines, etc. | 300 |
Petrochemical | 100 |
Religious | 5,200 |
Health and Medical | 2,400 |
Other | 12,000 |
Care Facilities | 2,200 |
Advertising | 1,400 |
Statutory Undertaking | 800 |
All | 231,600 |
*Figures may not sum due to rounding.
Table 2: Number of properties expected to be liable for BPR by council area, to the nearest 10
Council Area | Number of Properties* |
Aberdeen City | 7,900 |
Aberdeenshire | 12,300 |
Angus | 5,100 |
Argyll and Bute | 8,900 |
City of Edinburgh | 19,300 |
Clackmannanshire | 1,600 |
Dumfries and Galloway | 9,300 |
Dundee City | 5,400 |
East Ayrshire | 4,600 |
East Dunbartonshire | 2,200 |
East Lothian | 3,500 |
East Renfrewshire | 1,800 |
Falkirk | 4,900 |
Fife | 13,100 |
Glasgow City | 24,200 |
Highland | 18,200 |
Inverclyde | 2,300 |
Midlothian | 2,700 |
Moray | 5,000 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 2,600 |
North Ayrshire | 5,100 |
North Lanarkshire | 10,200 |
Orkney Islands | 2,500 |
Perth and Kinross | 8,800 |
Renfrewshire | 9,300 |
Scottish Borders | 8,600 |
Shetland Islands | 2,200 |
South Ayrshire | 5,000 |
South Lanarkshire | 10,900 |
Stirling | 5,500 |
West Dunbartonshire | 2,800 |
West Lothian | 5,800 |
All | 231,600 |
*Figures may not sum due to rounding.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 20 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 7 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are currently working on its 10-year programme of public sector reform.
Answer
Our commitment to reform is not a single programme; it is a cross system approach with a focus on strategic priorities which we set out in the Budget. This work is being progressed through multiple and interconnected work-streams and requires a whole-of-government approach.
There are 5.8 civil servants working in the team that is leading the core public service reform programme.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31765 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December
2024, what steps it has taken to enable and assist people on indefinite Adult Disability Payments to return to the workforce to some degree.
Answer
Adult Disability Payment provides financial support to disabled adults to help mitigate the additional costs of being disabled or having a long-term ill health condition so they can lead their lives more independently and fully. It is not an income replacement benefit and eligibility for Adult Disability Payment is not related to employment.
The Scottish Government are working to improve employment opportunities for those who face barriers in the labour market, including disabled people and those with ill health conditions. Through No One Left Behind, the Scottish Government are delivering person-centred, tailored employability services and in-work support through locally designed services. Between April and June 2024, 30% of participants accessing the service reported a disability, the largest proportion in a single quarter to date.
Work is underway to drive forward the commitment to implement Specialist Employability Support for disabled people across all 32 Local Authorities from Summer 2025 so that they can access secure fulfilling jobs.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31765 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December
2024, how many indefinite awards of Adult Disability Payments are currently ongoing (a) overall and (b) for mental health-related claims only.
Answer
Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on Adult Disability Payment applications and caseload, broken down by disability condition. No information on the number of indefinite awards made as a result of Adult Disability Payment applications is currently published.
As of 31 October 2024, statistics showed that there were 374,655 clients on the Adult Disability Payment caseload, of which 142,480 had the primary disability condition “Mental and Behavioural Disorders”.
The latest Adult Disability Payment official statistics publication can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics. The next release of Adult Disability Payment statistics which will cover the period to the end of January 2024, is due to be published on 18 March 2024.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31765 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December 2024, how many indefinite awards of Adult Disability Payments have been introduced for people, in respect of mental health-related claims, in the last five years.
Answer
Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on Adult Disability Payment applications and caseload, broken down by disability condition. No information on the number of indefinite awards made as a result of Adult Disability Payment applications is currently published.
From 21 March 2022 to 31 October 2024, there were 282,930 part 1 Adult Disability Payment applications received from new applicants, of which 86,275 had the primary disability condition “Mental and Behavioural Disorders”.
The latest Adult Disability Payment official statistics publication can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics. The next release of Adult Disability Payment statistics which will cover the period to the end of January 2024, is due to be published on 18 March 2024.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31765 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December 2024, whether it can expand upon its definition of a "light-touch" review.
Answer
Every ‘scheduled’ award review carried out by Social Security Scotland is a light-touch review.
This means that Social Security Scotland do not require clients by default to provide information again that they already provided, that is not relevant to the changes they have reported, or that we can gather through other means.
Instead, Social Security Scotland will consider information they already hold about the client, where still relevant, and make use of appropriate decision-making tools, where needed, to reduce the need for further questions. They only ask for new supporting information in specific scenarios and take their usual supportive approach to gathering this information.
Our approach differs when a client’s circumstances or changes are more complex, or their reported level of need is unexpected. This is not light touch and Social Security Scotland will decide on a case-by-case basis what additional steps are required and appropriate to better understand the client’s needs, and to ensure they have the information needed to make a robust determination on the client’s entitlement.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32009 by Ivan McKee on 17 December 2024, and in relation to the "inflationary increase" in his response, how it has historically adjusted business rate poundage in relation to inflation since 1999.
Answer
Table 1 shows annual inflation as at September between 1999 and 2024 using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), as well as the annual change in the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates between 1999-2000 and 2025-2026. The rateable value threshold up to which different rates are charged has changed over time. In Scotland, there is no legislation linking the maximum possible uprating of the rates to inflation of the preceding year. Given that Scottish Ministers have chosen to set the Basic Property Rate in order to match or be below the Small Business Multiplier in England since 2007-2008, up until 2016-2017, September Retail Price Index (RPI) acted as a cap on inflationary increases in poundage in Scotland because in England, legislation used to link the maximum possible uprating of the Small Business Multiplier to September RPI of the preceding year. The independent Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates published in 2017 noted calls for increases in the poundage to be linked to the CPI rather than the RPI. Since 2017-18, annual changes in the rates in Scotland have been lower than the CPI increase. Revaluations are also typically designed to be revenue-neutral in real terms so both inflation and the growth in the tax base (taking into account expected appeals losses in that cycle) is taken into account when setting the rates.
Table 1: Annual CPI change as at Sept (1999-2024) and annual change to the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates (1999-2000 to 2025-26)
| | Annual CPI change - Sept (%) | Basic Property Rate annual percentage change | Intermediate Property Rate annual percentage change | Higher Property Rate annual percentage change |
1999 | 1.2% | 3.2% | | 3.2% |
2000 | 1.0% | -6.7% | | -6.3% |
2001 | 1.3% | 0.4% | | 2.6% |
2002 | 1.0% | 1.8% | | 1.7% |
2003 | 1.4% | 4.4% | | 1.3% |
2004 | 1.1% | 2.1% | | 1.4% |
2005 | 2.5% | -5.5% | | -5.1% |
2006 | 2.4% | -2.6% | | -2.8% |
2007 | 1.8% | -1.8% | | -2.0% |
2008 | 5.2% | 3.9% | | 4.1% |
2009 | 1.1% | 5.0% | | 5.0% |
2010 | 3.1% | -15.4% | | -14.6% |
2011 | 5.2% | 4.7% | | 4.8% |
2012 | 2.2% | 5.6% | | 5.5% |
2013 | 2.7% | 2.7% | | 2.8% |
2014 | 1.2% | 1.9% | | 2.3% |
2015 | -0.1% | 1.9% | | 2.3% |
2016 | 1.0% | 0.8% | | 3.4% |
2017 | 3.0% | -3.7% | | -3.5% |
2018 | 2.4% | 3.0% | | 2.8% |
2019 | 1.7% | 2.1% | | 2.0% |
2020 | 0.5% | 1.6% | | 1.6% |
2021 | 3.1% | -1.6% | -1.6% | -1.5% |
2022 | 10.1% | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.6% |
2023 | 6.7% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
2024 | 1.7% | 0.0% | 6.7% | 6.7% |
2025 (proposed) | n/a | 0.0% | 1.7% | 1.6% |
* Source: Office for National Statistics
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 19 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it reportedly only gave the Scottish Fiscal Commission an eight-day notice period of its plans regarding the future in Scotland of the two-child cap on benefits.
Answer
The Scottish Government keeps a range of measures under consideration as it develops and finalises its Budget. Final decisions are communicated with the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) as soon as is practicable. The Scottish Fiscal Commission is undertaking work to cost the proposal to mitigate the impact of the two-child cap in Scotland for 2026-27. The SFC plan to publish their supplementary costings on 7 January 2025.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has been made aware of the identity of the police officers investigating Operation Branchform, and, if so, when.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 8 January 2025
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, after taking account of the expected in-year transfers and budget revisions, what difference there will be between local government funding provided in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
Answer
As outlined in Table 4.12 of the Scottish Budget, on a like with like basis, the Local Government Settlement will be £15,035.2 million following the conclusion of the Spring Budget Revision 2025-26 compared with £14,027.1 million following the conclusion of the Spring Budget Revision 2024-25. It is therefore estimated that the difference in local government funding provided in 2024-25 and 2025-26 will be £1,008.1 million.
As with all previous years, any unanticipated transfers in year will also be given effect at the relevant budget revision and processed in the Local Government Finance Order 2026-27.
