Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is not responsible for collecting the Apprenticeship Levy, which is a UK Government measure.

The Scottish Government requested access to data relevant to Scotland from HMRC some time ago. This was only provided in late September 2018 and analysis of it is currently being undertaken.

In “Delivering for Today, Investing for Tomorrow”, the 2018-19 Programme for Government, we committed to set out the conclusions of the review of Scottish Government employability investment by the end of 2018, with a view to strengthening relationships with local and regional partners and developing a new delivery model that builds on the principles underpinning Fair Start Scotland.

On 14 November 2016 the UK Government announced the Scottish Government's three year settlement from the Barnett consequentials of the Apprenticeship Levy: 2017-2018 - £221 million; 2018-2019 - £230 million; and 2019-2020 - £239 million.

Beyond 2019-20 discussions with UK Government are yet to commence on Scotland’s Barnett consequentials for future years.

As announced by UK Government Treasury on 14 November 2016 the Scottish Government's settlement from the Barnett consequentials of the Apprenticeship Levy is (a) 2017-2018 - £221 million; and (b) 2018-2019 - £230 million.

As the public sector is liable to pay the levy, the overall net effect is a reduction in public sector spending power in Scotland. A similar impact has been experienced in the other devolved nations.

All of the monies nationally allocated to the Block Grant as a consequence of the UK Government’s Apprenticeship Levy has been invested in skills, training and employability services.

Skills Development Scotland are responsible for issuing contracts to training providers.

The Scottish Government will outline our budget later in the year following confirmation from the UK Government of the financial settlement to Scotland. Budget allocations for SDS and other NDPBs for 2019-20 will be determined by that process.

Following the completion of the budget process Skills Development Scotland will issue contracts to Providers.

Scottish Water will present the finalised consultation report to a multi-stakeholder group (Water Industry Commission for Scotland, Scottish Government, Customer Forum, SEPA, DWQR and Citizens Advice Scotland) on 25 October and will publish the report on its website thereafter.

Scottish Water will publish their updated ‘Shaping the future of your water and waste water services’ document in 2019 alongside their Strategic Plan. This plan will ultimately be agreed with Ministers and Regulators.

I refer the member to answer to question S5W-19172 on 23 October 2018. The Scottish Government will undertake additional consultations and impact assessments before implementing any changes to customer charges.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

As the majority of households in Scotland are Scottish Water customers, profiles can be obtained from the Scottish Household Survey. The member may wish to review this for further information https://beta.gov.scot/publications/scottish-household-survey-key-findings-2017/pages/5/ .

Information on single person status discounts is available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 60136) .

Our consultation on investment priorities and charging principles closed on 28 September 2018. I am currently analysing the responses and expect to publish a summary in due course.