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-08415

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 7 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how much control it has over the (a) cash and (b) non-cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend.

The Scottish Government is required to manage its DEL cash and non-cash budget within the framework of the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance published by HM Treasury on an annual basis. Accordingly, the Scottish Government monitors performance against budgets authorised by the Scottish Parliament and HM Treasury limits. Budget Exchange arrangements for the Devolved Administrations has replaced End Year Flexibility and will operate across the UK 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review period. This provides a facility to plan budget carry-forward within agreed limits. The Devolved Administrations Budget Exchange Mechanism allows the Scottish Government to carry forward any underspends from one financial year to the next up to a limit which is calculated as a percentage of the DEL budget.

Question reference: S4W-08413

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 7 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the departmental expenditure limit (DEL) cash budget the provisional cash DEL underspend has represented in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-08414

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 7 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the provisional non-cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend has been in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-08424

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 7 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a breakdown of the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for each portfolio, broken down by resource and capital.

The following table provides a breakdown of the provisional HM Treasury cash Departmental Expenditure Limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for each portfolio, broken down by resource and capital.

Provisional HM Treasury DEL Cash Underspend by Portfolio Split by Capital/Resource: 2011-12

Resource	Capital	Total Fiscal DEL
£ Million	£ Million	£ Million

Finance, Employment and Sustainable Growth	-52	38	-14
Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy	-8	-1	-9
Education and Lifelong Learning	-17	-3	-20
Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy	-1	0	-1
Justice	-7	2	-5
Rural Affairs and the Environment	-40	-13	-53
Culture and External Affairs	-2	0	-2
Infrastructure and Capital Investment	7	-7	0
Administration	-2	1	-1
Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal	0	0	0
Local Government	-2	0	-2
Total Scottish Government	-124	17	-107
Food Standards Agency	0	0	0
Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body	-2	0	-2
Audit Scotland	-1	0	-1
Total Scottish Block	-127	17	-110
Funding secured for Carry Forward to 2012-13	-44	-35	-79
Budget alignment transfer	22	-12	10
Year End DEL Underspend	-149	-30	-179

Question reference: S4W-08423

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 7 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an explanation for the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for the Rural Affairs and the Environment portfolio.

Question reference: S4W-08433

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 7 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the figure of £98 million for 2010-11, on page 2 of Provisional Outturn 2011-12 and Shovel-Ready Projects, includes both cash and non-cash DEL.

Question reference: S4W-08420

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 7 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide an explanation for the cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend in 2011-12 for the Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy portfolio.

Question reference: S4W-08412

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 7 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what the provisional cash departmental expenditure limit (DEL) underspend has been in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S4W-08587

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many companies went into liquidation in the first quarter of 2012 and how this compares with the previous (a) quarter and (b) year.

<>The Accountant in Bankruptcy publishes the official corporate insolvency statistics for Scotland on a quarterly basis on its website (see www.aib.gov.uk).

Liquidation may be voluntary, by resolution of the company’s members or creditors, or compulsory, by order of the courts. Not all liquidations are insolvencies: a voluntary liquidation may be the formal closure of a solvent business which the company’s members no longer wish to continue, a compulsory liquidation of a solvent business may sometimes be in the public interest.

The Accountant in Bankruptcy records statistics on compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations. A third type of liquidation exists, called members’ voluntary liquidation, however this is not technically insolvency as the directors of the company swear a declaration of solvency to say that the company will be able to pay all its debts within a period not exceeding twelve months. Accordingly members' voluntary liquidations, although recorded by the Accountant in Bankruptcy, are counted separately to the statistics on corporate insolvency (corporate insolvency statistics consist of receiverships, compulsory liquidations and creditors' voluntary liquidations).

The most recent quarterly statistics, corresponding to the first quarter of financial year 2012-13 (equivalently, the 2nd quarter of 2012), were published on 25 July 2012 (see www.aib.gov.uk/scottish-insolvency-statistics-quarter-1-2012-13). These statistics showed that there were 468 liquidations in this quarter, consisting of 348 compulsory liquidations, 62 creditors’ voluntary liquidations, and 58 members’ voluntary liquidations: this represented an increase of 11 per cent compared to the previous quarter, and an increase of 16 per cent compared to the same period of the previous year.

The next set of quarterly insolvency statistics, corresponding to the second quarter of financial year 2012-13 (equivalently the third quarter of 2012), are due to be published in October 2012.

Question reference: S4W-08588

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 July 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 July 2012

To ask the Scottish Government how many personal insolvencies there were in the first quarter of 2012 and how this compares with the previous (a) quarter and (b) year.

The Accountant in Bankruptcy publishes the official personal insolvency statistics for Scotland on a quarterly basis on its website (see www.aib.gov.uk).

Personal insolvency statistics consist of both bankruptcy and Protected Trust Deed figures. The most recent quarterly statistics, corresponding to the first quarter of financial year 2012-13 (equivalently, the 2nd quarter of 2012), were published on the 25 July 2012 (see www.aib.gov.uk/scottish-insolvency-statistics-quarter-1-2012-13).

These statistics showed that there were 5,601 personal insolvencies in this quarter, consisting of 3,310 bankruptcies and 2,291 Protected Trust Deeds. This figure represented a 15 per cent increase in personal insolvencies on the previous quarter, and a 5 per cent increase compared to the same period of the previous year.

The next set of quarterly insolvency statistics, corresponding to the second quarter of financial year 2012-13 (equivalently the third quarter of 2012), are due to be published in October 2012.