- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2023
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that the V&A Dundee has generated £304 million for the Scottish economy over the last five years, whether it will be pursuing any further joint projects with UK institutions.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2023
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2023
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2023
To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking in response to reports of widespread contamination at many of Scotland’s outdoor swimming sites.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2023
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 25 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether its Tax Advisory Group is tasked with considering whether new taxes on households or businesses should be introduced.
Answer
The Tax Advisory Group has been set up to look across a broad spectrum of views to ensure we continue to offer a fair and progressive but sustainable system. Tax policy for 2024-25 will be set out at the Budget later this year.
The group will be a long-term feature of how we engage on tax, and I will chair a quarterly meeting of the group. The minutes of their meetings will be posted on the Scottish Government website.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much it anticipates will be raised from the higher property rate in 2023-24, broken down by industry and business sector.
Answer
Table 1 presents the expected gross income from the Higher Property Rate (HPR), after the application of the revaluation Transitional Relief (TR), in 2023-2024. In 2023-2024, HPR is applied to all properties with a rateable value above £100,000. The values presented in Table 1 relate to the supplement of 2.6p above the Basic Property Rate only. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.
This table is based on the valuation roll as at 1 July 2023. Figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000.
Table 1: Estimated gross income from HPR after revaluation transitional relief in 2023-2024 by property class
Property class | Gross HPR income after TR |
Shops | 19,888,000 |
Public houses | 811,000 |
Offices | 14,643,000 |
Hotels | 5,264,000 |
Industrial subjects | 20,179,000 |
Leisure, entertainment, caravans etc. | 4,499,000 |
Garages and petrol stations | 806,000 |
Cultural | 916,000 |
Sporting subjects | 333,000 |
Education and training | 14,004,000 |
Public service subjects | 6,108,000 |
Communications | 678,000 |
Quarries, mines, etc. | 245,000 |
Petrochemical | 3,469,000 |
Religious | 148,000 |
Health and medical | 4,783,000 |
Other | 2,493,000 |
Care facilities | 1,545,000 |
Advertising | 109,000 |
Statutory undertaking | 27,209,000 |
Not in use | 0 |
All | 128,130,000 |
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many properties will be subject to the higher property rate poundage in 2023-24, broken down by (a) industry sector and (b) local authority area.
Answer
The number of properties liable for the Higher Property Rate (HPR) in 2023-2024 before any reliefs are applied is presented in the following below, broken down in Table 1 by property class, and in Table 2 by local authority. In 2023-2024, HPR is applied to all properties with a rateable value above £100,000. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property. The Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors.
These tables are based on the valuation roll as at 1 July 2023.
Figures in these tables are rounded to the nearest 10, with values greater than zero but lower than five displayed as ‘[low]’.
Table 1: Number of properties liable for HPR in 2023-2024 by property class
Property class | Properties with a gross HPR liability |
Shops | 2,410 |
Public Houses | 190 |
Offices | 1,760 |
Hotels | 590 |
Industrial Subjects | 2,500 |
Leisure, Entertainment, Caravans etc. | 560 |
Garages and Petrol Stations | 150 |
Cultural | 90 |
Sporting Subjects | 30 |
Education and Training | 1,390 |
Public Service Subjects | 510 |
Communications | 90 |
Quarries, Mines, etc. | 40 |
Petrochemical | 70 |
Religious | 40 |
Health and Medical | 280 |
Other | 240 |
Care Facilities | 350 |
Advertising | 20 |
Statutory Undertaking | 380 |
Not in Use | 0 |
All | 11,650 |
Table 2: Number of properties liable for HPR in 2023-24 by local authority
Local authority | Properties with a gross HPR liability |
Aberdeen City | 1,010 |
Aberdeenshire | 520 |
Angus | 140 |
Argyll & Bute | 160 |
Clackmannanshire | 50 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 200 |
Dundee City | 350 |
East Ayrshire | 150 |
East Dunbartonshire | 110 |
East Lothian | 140 |
East Renfrewshire | 70 |
City of Edinburgh | 1,750 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 50 |
Falkirk | 290 |
Fife | 510 |
Glasgow City | 1,840 |
Highland | 620 |
Inverclyde | 100 |
Midlothian | 180 |
Moray | 200 |
North Ayrshire | 170 |
North Lanarkshire | 570 |
Orkney Islands | 30 |
Perth & Kinross | 280 |
Renfrewshire | 370 |
Scottish Borders | 170 |
Shetland Islands | 60 |
South Ayrshire | 210 |
South Lanarkshire | 550 |
Stirling | 210 |
West Dunbartonshire | 140 |
West Lothian | 430 |
Scotland | 11,650 |
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue raised by the business rates incentivisation scheme was retained by each local authority, in each year since its inception.
Answer
Table 1 presents the amounts retained through the Business Rates Incentivisation Scheme (BRIS) by each council in each financial year since 2015-2016. The years relate to years in which amounts were actually retained by the councils and include ongoing retentions (as a result of continued growth within the cycle) as well as new retention amounts awarded.
BRIS was suspended from 2020-2021 due to the pandemic. Due to the exceptional value of non-domestic rates reliefs introduced in 2020-2021, no council increased their non-domestic rates income in that year. Amounts retained in 2020-2021 and later relate to additional income generated, but not retained, before 2020-2021.
Figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.
Table 1: Amounts retained through the Business Rates Incentivisation Scheme, by council and year of retention
Local Authority | 2015-2016 | 2016-2017 | 2017-2018 | 2018-2019 | 2019-2020 | 2020-2021 | 2021-2022 | 2022-2023 |
Aberdeen City | 533,000 | 3,904,000 | 0 | 3,904,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Aberdeenshire | 471,000 | 1,403,000 | 79,000 | 1,403,000 | 483,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Angus | 0 | 71,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14,000 | 0 |
Argyll & Bute | 0 | 0 | 39,000 | 0 | 102,000 | 102,000 | 0 | 0 |
City of Edinburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 775,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Clackmannanshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66,000 | 0 |
Dumfries & Galloway | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,556,000 | 3,074,000 | 0 | 0 |
Dundee City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 518,000 | 0 | 85,000 | 0 |
East Ayrshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 308,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
East Dunbartonshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
East Lothian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 724,000 | 0 | 268,000 | 0 |
East Renfrewshire | 188,000 | 188,000 | 0 | -63,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Falkirk | 0 | 0 | 272,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78,000 | 0 |
Fife | 892,000 | 892,000 | 0 | 892,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Glasgow City | 0 | 1,514,000 | 0 | 1,514,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Highland | 214,000 | 585,000 | 585,000 | 0 | 2,418,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Inverclyde | 0 | 0 | 59,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Midlothian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 111,000 | 176,000 | 0 | 104,000 | 0 |
Moray | 137,000 | 153,000 | 0 | 452,000 | 1,859,000 | 1,859,000 | 23,000 | 0 |
Na h-Eileanan Siar | 57,000 | 72,000 | 0 | 72,000 | 18,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
North Ayrshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 240,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
North Lanarkshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 563,000 | 0 |
Orkney Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 197,000 | 0 |
Perth & Kinross | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Renfrewshire | 68,000 | 68,000 | 0 | 68,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scottish Borders | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,000 | 0 |
Shetland Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
South Ayrshire | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 326,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
South Lanarkshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17,000 | 0 | 225,000 | 0 |
Stirling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 119,000 | 292,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
West Dunbartonshire | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 111,000 | 55,000 | 0 | 0 |
West Lothian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 289,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scotland | 2,560,000 | 8,879,000 | 1,034,000 | 8,784,000 | 12,971,000 | 5,090,000 | 1,640,000 | 0 |
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 22 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether any local authorities have opted to introduce a Workplace Parking Levy to date.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-13971 on 31 January 2023, which sets out the circumstances in which Scottish Ministers are notified of a local authorities’ proposal to introduce a scheme. While no such notifications, required at the stage of a formally published scheme proposal, have been received, I am aware of exploration by City of Edinburgh Council and Glasgow City Council who continue to consider how best to use the powers.
All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage more local authorities to consider and utilise their existing powers under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to reduce non-domestic rates.
Answer
It is for locally elected representatives to make local decisions on how best to deliver services to their local communities.
Local authorities have powers to award discretionary local relief under section 3A of the Local Government (Financial Provisions etc.) (Scotland) Act 1962, as inserted by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. When considering the use of these powers, local authorities are statutorily required to have regard to their expenditure and income, and the interests of persons liable to pay council tax set by them.
The Scottish Government devolved empty property relief on 1 April 2023 with a generous additional revenue transfer of £105m annually to local government guaranteed for the next three years. Councils can use this funding as they see fit, including to offer local relief to empty property. All councils have introduced local relief schemes for empty property in their area for 2023-24, details of which may differ by council.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 08 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to make eligibility for business rate reliefs conditional on payment of the real living wage, as part of its Fair Work Action Plan, and, if so, which rate reliefs it anticipates will be in scope.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s Fair Work Action Plan sets out actions to promote fair and inclusive workplaces across Scotland. We are committed to using all levers at our disposal to extend Fair Work conditionality with clear standards and minimum requirements to cover all forms of Scottish Government support within the limits of devolved competence. The action to consider including the use of reliefs and licensing powers is an investigatory action, and not a definitive position on if and how these can be used. Officials will continue to monitor implementation of Fair Work conditions to ensure the approach remains fair and proportionate.
Non-domestic rates are levied on the private, public and charitable sectors and on a very diverse array of properties, from shops and offices to telephone masts, railways lines, harbours, bothies and advertising boards. Certain properties may have no employees linked with them, or properties may be operated by individuals rather than businesses, and therefore may not have any employees, and we will therefore need to consider carefully the potential role of fair work conditionality in the non-domestic rates system, within the limits of devolved competence.
- Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2023
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 September 2023
To ask the Scottish Government how many awards for non-domestic rates relief have been granted under the Hardship Relief programme since its introduction; what the total value has been of any such awards, and what the eligibility criteria are.
Answer
Since 2000-2001, the Scottish Government has funded a total of £4,785,000 of hardship rates relief. The Scottish Government funds 75% of the value of hardship relief, with the remaining 25% funded by councils. For properties affected by the Glasgow School of Art fire, the Scottish Government’s contribution was increased to 95% to reflect the exceptional circumstances.
We are unable to reliably estimate the number of awards granted; numbers of properties receiving any relief are derived from the annual Billing System Snapshot, and due to the nature of hardship relief, the final number awarded per year is not well reflected in snapshot data. The latest non-domestic rates relief statistics, derived from snapshot data, can be found at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-relief-statistics-2022/ .
Hardship relief is a discretionary relief provided for in section 25A of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1966 which specifies that a council can award Hardship relief if it is satisfied that the relief applicant would sustain hardship if the council did not award the relief, and if it is reasonable for the council to do so, having regard to the interests of persons liable to pay council tax set by them. It is for councils to determine the criteria to ensure these requirements are met when awarding Hardship relief.
