- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the methodology for this year's Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland report (GERS) will show the allocation of Scotland's share of air passenger duty revenue based on the number of flights from or within Scotland and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer
The Scottish populationshare has been used to calculate the Scottish share of this tax becauseScottish air passengers tend to use airports throughout the UK.
This treatment follows theprinciple that GERS measures the tax burden that is imposed on Scottishresidents within the UK.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the methodology used in this year's Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland (GERS) to calculate Scotland's revenue from duty received on spirits, beer and wine will base the figure (a) on where the drinks are released from the bonded warehouse or (b) on which company pays the duty and where that company's headquarters are and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer
The proportions ofexpenditure on each type of alcohol were estimated from the ONS Expenditure andFood Survey based on average expenditure per household and number of households.
This treatment follows theprinciple that GERS measures the tax burden that is imposed on Scottishresidents within the UK.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive why it was unable to calculate an estimate of Scotland's landfill per head based on environmental data that indicated more landfill per head than the rest of the UK, as referred to in Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland (GERS) 2000-2001.
Answer
Customs and Excise do notprovide regional data on landfill tax. The environmental data referred to in GERSpertain to differences in recycling rates between England, Wales and Scotland. Thisdata cannot be used directly to infer Scotland’s share of landfill tax.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the methodology used in this year's Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland report to allocate Scotland's revenue from duty from cigarettes will base the figure (a) on where the products are released from bonded warehouses or (b) on which company pays the duty and where that company's headquarters are and what the reasons are for its position on the matter.
Answer
The UK tax oncigarettes and tobacco is apportioned to Scotland on the basis of Scotland’s share of expenditureas estimated from the Expenditure and Food Survey.
This treatment follows theprinciple that Government Expenditure Revenues in Scotlandmeasures the tax burden that is imposed on Scottish residents within the UK.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 16 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether the methodology for calculating Scotland's share of fuel duty revenue in this year's Government Expenditure and Revenues in Scotland report will take account of VAT on sales.
Answer
Fuel duties are based on thevolume, not on the price of fuel. The methodology does not take account of VATon sales.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by George Reid on 16 December 2003
To ask the Presiding Officer how many trade packages have been awarded for the Holyrood project; of these, how many were awarded following a recommendation by the construction managers, and in how many cases was such a recommendation rejected.
Answer
The Convener of the HolyroodProgress Group has informed me that 64 construction trade packages have beenawarded, all of which were recommended by the construction managers andappropriate members of the design team and accepted by the Scottish ParliamentaryCorporate Body.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Ross Finnie on 15 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will respond to the points raised by Jim and Margaret Cuthbert in their letter in The Scotsman on 25 November 2003; how much borrowing the water and sewerage industry could have undertaken under the system of financial control in 2001; whether the industry could have borrowed up to around #260 million in 2003-04 without breaching its resource accounting limit, and whether there were mistakes in the commissioning letter.
Answer
I have already responded tothe points made by Jim and Margaret Cuthbert in the
The Scotsman priorto the 25 November. I do not believe their letter of 25 November raises anysignificant new points.
In 2001-02, in accordancewith the rules governing public expenditure, limits were applied to the capitaland resource budgets, not borrowing. For 2003-04, following a change in therules, public expenditure for public corporations now scores net new borrowingand grants. £250.7 million is, therefore, available.
No mistakes were made in thecommissioning letter for the strategic review of charges 2002-06.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Andy Kerr on 15 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive which assets were subject to non-trading capital consumption in 2000-01 in Scotland and what comparative information it has on the treatment of such assets in England and Wales.
Answer
The depreciation of allpublic assets was recorded. The same treatment applies to England and Wales.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Nicol Stephen on 15 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reconsider its decision with regard to the dualling of the A96.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer given to question S2O-678 on 6 November 2003which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for whichcan be found at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/search_wa.
- Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2003
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom McCabe on 12 December 2003
To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is regarding the level of charges that voluntary organisations are required to pay in order to register with the Care Commission and what action it will take on the matter.
Answer
The maximum registration feelevels set annually by Scottish ministers for all care services apply equallyto the public and independent sector. Ministers publicly consult on fee levels.Changes in response to consultation have included a new definition ofwhole-time equivalent employees and the exclusion of volunteers whencalculating the size of the service for the purpose of determining fee levels.This was in response to concerns raised by some smaller organisations and thoseheavily dependent on volunteers.
Ministers will shortly beconsulting on maximum fee levels for 2004-05.
