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: S4O-04016

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 18 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when it will next meet Revenue Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-24062

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 3 February 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what budget will be allocated to the Energy Jobs Taskforce in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Question reference: S4W-24141

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when local authorities will be paid under the 2013-14 business rates incentivisation scheme.

Question reference: S4W-24140

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how much was paid to each local authority for 2012-13 under the business rates incentivisation scheme.

Question reference: S4W-24034

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government when the Finance Sector Jobs Taskforce will next meet and what issues will be on the agenda.

Question reference: S4W-24031

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 28 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government how many times the Finance Sector Jobs Taskforce met in (a) 2012, (b) 2013 and (c) 2014 and whether it will publish the agenda and minutes of each meeting, as was the practice for the meetings in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The Finance Sector Jobs Taskforce engaged with and provided support to a broad range of employers during 2012, 2013 and 2014. The taskforce continues to engage with financial services companies as and when required and those discussions take place on a confidential basis.

The overseeing Finance Sector Jobs Taskforce Steering Group met twice in 2012 on 29 March and 27 September. The steering group did not meet in 2013, but met once on 30 January 2014. There are no formal minutes available for publication.

An update on taskforce activity is provided at each Financial Services Advisory Board (FiSAB) meeting. Minutes of FiSAB meetings are available on the Scottish Government website at the following address:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Business-Industry/finance/meetings.

Question reference: S4W-24064

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish illustrative projections for Scottish North Sea tax receipts based on (a) no tax changes and (ii) the tax changes that it has proposed to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing analysis on the oil and gas sector and its contribution to the Scottish economy.

Projections for future tax receipts will depend on what changes to the fiscal regime are made by the UK Treasury, and whether the UK Government improve their stewardship of the industry. The Scottish Government will publish an Oil and Gas Analytical Bulletin in due course.

Question reference: S4O-03926

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what the budget priorities are in 2015-16 for the Culture, Europe and External Affairs portfolio.

Question reference: S4W-23753

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by Fergus Ewing on 9 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-23516 by Fergus Ewing on 17 December 2014 and in light of the information not being provided, whether it will now answer when the next Oil and Gas Analytical Bulletin will be published and whether it will contain updated illustrative projections for Scottish North Sea tax receipts.

Question reference: S4W-23716

Asked by: Gavin Brown, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 7 January 2015

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the local government finance settlement published on 11 December 2014 shows the City of Edinburgh Council receiving a lower settlement in 2015-16 than in 2014-15.

The local government finance settlements are distributed on the basis of a formula agreed by local government, and the City of Edinburgh Council does, and will continue to, receive its fair share.

The local government finance settlement figures published in Local Government Finance Circular 9/2014 on 11 December 2014 were provisional with the distribution of a further £402.6 million for 2015-16, the majority of which is for the council tax reduction scheme, still to be confirmed. The City of Edinburgh Council will receive its fair share of this undistributed amount.

It should be noted that the council’s allocation includes £13.7 million in 2015-16 from the 85 per cent funding floor introduced by this government in 2011-12, which is in addition to the funds the council would have received through the distribution formula alone.