Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S4O-03136 on 24 April 2014. The answer can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28862.aspx?r=9116&mode=html#iob_82330.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4O-03136 on 24 April 2014. The answer can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28862.aspx?r=9116&mode=html#iob_82330.

As stated in the first Oil and Gas Analytical Bulletin in March 2013, the bulletins summarise ‘recent statistics and analysis of the Scottish oil and gas industry. The content of each bulletin therefore varies.

The first bulletin focused on production levels, remaining reserves and potential future revenues. The second bulletin focused on international activity of oil and gas companies and the value of oil and gas exports.

Scotland's Future provided analysis of the opening balance sheet for an independent Scotland in 2016-17. As announced in the parliamentary debate on the 26 March 2014 (Official Report, c. 29404), the Scottish Government will extend this analysis in the coming weeks to cover a number of years, building on the analysis in the white paper and its central conclusion that Scotland is a wealthy country that will start life as an independent nation with great economic prospects.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20564 on 28 April 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.

We are working closely with COSLA and the third sector to develop a shared understanding of the position in relation to long term funding to third sector organisations, and to move the issue forward. To this end a number of very positive meetings have taken place between senior officers from COSLA, local authorities, the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO), third sector partners, and involving Scottish Government officials.

I chaired a meeting of partners on 18 March 2014, at which a jointly developed outline of an approach to taking forward the work was discussed. Subsequently at the COSLA Resources and Capacity Executive Group on 19 March, SCVO and other third sector colleagues joined the executive group for a discussion on joint working on an early intervention and preventative approach through means such as co-production of services. The group endorsed COSLA officers to continue to work in conjunction with the third sector and Scottish Government, to develop a proposal that would be presented at a future executive group meeting.

Information on schools’ provision for teaching ICT and computing is not held centrally. Responsibility for the recruitment and deployment of teachers lies with local authorities, taking into account their local contexts.

In line with the Skills Investment Plan, we recognise the value of ensuring young people have opportunities to develop their understanding and skills in computing and the use of ICT, and the important role of teachers and schools in achieving this.

Through the Teacher Workforce Planning Working Group we have taken initial steps to increase student teacher intakes to ‘priority subjects’, which present challenges in teacher recruitment, and will be working with the teacher education universities to pursue this further. The ministerial guidance to the Scottish Funding Council on ‘priority subjects’ seeks to more than double the number of computing Postgraduate Diploma in Education students within the three academic years to 2016-17, from an intake of 17 per annum to 42.

Scotland’s Future points out that “With independence the Scottish Parliament will make decisions about all aspects of taxation. Independence will provide an opportunity to design a Scottish tax system based on specific circumstances, preferences and principles. Tax rates and allowances will be set by future governments in an independent Scotland.” - page 7. It will therefore be for all parties in Parliament to set out their plans for taxation in an independent Scotland ahead of the 2016 election.

In the Scottish Government publication “Scotland’s Economy: the case for independence (from May 2013) it was stated:

“An independent Scotland could also choose to follow the example of many EU countries by adjusting the VAT rate to help tourism. The UK imposes one of the highest rates of VAT in Europe. 23 of the 27 EU countries currently offer some form of reduced VAT rate to their hospitality sectors. With the ability to adjust VAT rates, we could choose to follow suit.” (p. 25)

There has been research, at UK level, by the British Hospitality Association (BHA) using the UK Treasury taxation model. The BHA research “The Impact of Reduced VAT Rates on British Visitor Accommodation, Attractions and the Wider Economy: Report of Discussions with HM Treasury and Results of Dynamic Partial Equilibrium and Computable General Equilibrium Models” from December 2012 concludes that reduced VAT on tourism services represents “one of the most efficient means of generating GDP gains at low cost to the exchequer that I have seen with the GCE model.”

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-20469 on 14 April 2014. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.