Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-17819

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the (a) capital and (b) running costs of setting up a pensions regulator in an independent Scotland.

At present, the UK Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority share responsibility for regulating pensions in Scotland. Our paper on Pensions in an Independent Scotland and the White Paper Scotland’s Future: your guide to an Independent Scotland considered the creation of a Scottish pensions regulator within the context of the wider financial and consumer landscape. There are opportunities for more effective regulation in an independent Scotland and for realising synergies and efficiencies within this landscape.

Question reference: S4W-17849

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 December 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments in its paper, Pensions in an Independent Scotland, that it “would continue with the roll-out of automatic enrolment” in an independent Scotland, (a) whether it will provide details of what body would be set up to administer this and (b) how it would mitigate issues that arise from the need to determine residency.

Question reference: S4O-02641

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 27 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of planning decision appeals from East Lothian it has determined in favour of the developer and how this compares with the national average.

Question reference: S4W-17844

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether an independent Scotland would have a structural deficit.

Question reference: S4W-17841

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 18 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that an independent Scotland would have a larger net fiscal deficit than the rest of the UK and, if so, in what year this would happen.

Over the past five years, it is estimated that Scotland has been in a relatively stronger fiscal position than the UK as a whole to the tune of £12.6 billion. This means that over this period, holding everything else constant, Scotland could have had higher spending, for example on infrastructure investment, and/or lower taxation and still had a smaller estimated fiscal deficit than the UK.

An independent Scotland will therefore stand on a strong financial footing and with the additional economic levers that independence will provide we will be able to grow our economy more sustainably and use the proceeds of such wealth to re-invest in Scotland’s public services.

Question reference: S4W-17803

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of North Sea oil and gas revenues it would invest in (a) a stability fund and (b) an oil fund in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-17802

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government at what level of North Sea oil and gas revenues it would invest in (a) a stability fund and (b) an oil fund in an independent Scotland; in what year it considers that this value will be achieved, and in how many further years.

Question reference: S4W-17801

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government at what (a) oil price and (b) production volume it would start investing in (a) a stability fund and (b) an oil fund in an independent Scotland; in what year it considers that this value will be achieved, and in how many further years.

Question reference: S4W-17800

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 14 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 5 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what criteria it has set for when it would start investing in (a) a stability fund and (b) an oil fund in an independent Scotland; for what reasons; in what year it considers that these criteria will be met, and in how many further years.

The Fiscal Commission Working Group set out a detailed framework for how investments could be made into both a short-term stabilisation fund and a
longer-term savings fund.

In the short-term the Working Group recommend that a stabilisation fund could initially involve the Scottish Government basing its spending plans on a cautious forecast of oil and gas revenues, with surplus revenue transferred into the fund.

In the long-run, the optimal condition for investment in a savings fund is for Scotland to run some form of onshore budget balance. However, the Working Group suggest that modest investments could start to be made into a savings fund once Scotland is running a manageable deficit and public sector debt as a share of GDP was on a downward path.

Question reference: S4W-17732

Asked by: Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 October 2013
Current Status: Answered by Roseanna Cunningham on 4 November 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how many fire service training courses have been cancelled at each training site as a result of inclement weather in the last five years.