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-08861

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the projected non-staffing costs for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency regarding the (a) setting up and (b) running of the systems associated with the collection of the (i) land and buildings transaction tax and (ii) replacement landfill tax.

Question reference: S4W-08859

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the projected non-staffing costs for the (a) setting up and (b) running of Revenue Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-08858

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the projected non-staffing costs for the Registers of Scotland regarding the (a) setting up and (b) running of the systems associated with the collection of the (i) land and buildings transaction tax and (ii) replacement landfill tax.

Question reference: S4W-08852

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with business and industry representatives regarding the creation of Revenue Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-08857

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the projected staffing costs for the Registers of Scotland regarding the (a) setting up and (b) running of the systems associated with the collection of the (i) land and buildings transaction tax and (ii) replacement landfill tax.

Question reference: S4W-08860

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the projected staffing costs for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency regarding the (a) setting up and (b) running of the systems associated with the collection of the (i) land and buildings transaction tax and (ii) replacement landfill tax.

Question reference: S4W-08850

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) correspondence and (b) meetings it had with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) regarding the land and buildings transaction tax prior to deciding not to choose HMRC for its collection.

Prior to reaching a decision about the collection of the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, Scottish Government officials sought and received from HMRC information about the likely costs of collection of a tax “like for like” with Stamp Duty Land Tax. Officials from the Scottish Government and HMRC discussed the request and also HMRC’s response on a number of occasions by phone and in person.

Question reference: S4W-08853

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what evidence supports its statement in Taking forward a Scottish Land and Buildings Transaction Tax that it "examined carefully the option of contracting the work to [HM Revenue and Customs]."

In line with standard practice, Scottish Government officials assessed and evaluated the emerging options for collection of the devolved taxes including estimates based on information from HMRC of the costs of HMRC administering a tax “like for like” with Stamp Duty Land Tax. A copy of cost information has been provided to the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 54051). The Scottish Government opted for the best value for money option.

Question reference: S4W-08418

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend for each of the last five years, broken down by portfolio.

Question reference: S4W-08417

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 8 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the non-cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend for each of the last five years.

The Scottish Government is required to manage its Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) cash and non-cash budget within the framework of the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance published by HM Treasury on an annual basis. The figures in the following tables are provided on the basis of the rules in place for the respective years and provide a breakdown of the provisional HM Treasury cash and non-cash DEL underspends for each of the last five years, broken down by portfolio.

Provisional HM Treasury DEL underspend by Portfolio – 2011-12

2011-12

Fiscal	Non-cash	Total DEL
£m	£m	£m

Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth	-14	-28	-42
Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy	-9	-2	-11
Education and Lifelong Learning	-20	58	38
Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy	-1	0	-1
Justice	-5	-4	-9
Rural Affairs and the Environment	-53	0	-53
Culture and External Affairs	-2	-2	-4
Infrastructure and Capital Investment	0	-17	-17
Administration	-1	-3	-4
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal	0	0	0
Local Government	-2	0	-2
Total Scottish Government	-107	2	-105
Food Standards Agency	0	0	0
Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body	-2	0	-2
Audit Scotland	-1	0	-1
Total Scottish Block	-110	2	-108
Funding secured for Carry Forward to 2012-13	-79	0	-79
Budget alignment transfer	10	-10	0
Year End DEL Underspend	-179	-8	-187

Note: Table reflects Scottish Government Portfolios post May 2011 Scottish Parliament election.

Portfolio

2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

Fiscal	Non-cash¹	Fiscal	Non- cash	Fiscal	Non- cash	Fiscal	Non- cash
£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m	£m

Office of the First Minister	-7	n/a	-2	1	-7	1	-5	-1
Finance and Sustainable Growth	20	n/a	-9	-6	-57	52	24	-58
Health and Wellbeing	-2	n/a	-50	44	-16	38	0	0
Education and Lifelong Learning	-22	n/a	-44	5	11	-15	12	-31
Justice	-29	n/a	-41	35	10	-17	-1	0
Rural Affairs and the Environment	-23	n/a	-53	25	-50	65	-23	2
Administration	0	n/a	-21	2	5	-4	-2	-1
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal	0	n/a	-3	1	-1	1	-1	1
Local Government	0	n/a	7	0	-1	0	0	0
Total Scottish Government	-63	n/a	-216	107	-106	121	4	-88
Food Standards Agency	0	n/a	0	0	0	0	-1	0
Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body	-3	n/a	-1	0	-1	0	-3	0
Audit Scotland	-3	n/a	-1	0	-3	0	-3	1
Total Scottish Block	-69	n/a	-218	107	-110	121	-3	-87
Balance of budget unallocated	27	n/a	93	-13	-58	0	-9	1
Year End DEL Underspend	-42	n/a	-125	94	-168	121	-12	-86

Note: 1. Under HM Treasury Consolidated Budgeting rules, non-cash was monitored separately from 2008-09 onwards.