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-16012

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of what the (a) international reputation and (b) credit-worthiness of an independent Scotland would be if it did not take a share of UK debt.

Question reference: S4W-16011

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of independence on the cost of (a) mortgage and (b) credit card borrowing.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16009 on 30 August 2013. 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.

Lending decisions are ultimately based on characteristics of an individual, the outlook for the economy and the lending institution. A number of small countries, including Finland, Austria and Denmark, have lower interest rates on long term housing loans compared to the UK.

Question reference: S4W-15894

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many (a) embassies and (b) consulates an independent Scotland would require; where these would be based, and how much it would cost to operate them.

Question reference: S4W-15898

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what tax relief would be available on (a) pension contributions and (b) savings products in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-15876

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) long it would take and (b) much it would cost to (i) set up and (ii) run on an annual basis, a separate tax administration system if Scotland became independent.

Independence would provide the Scottish Government with the key economic and fiscal levers to promote sustainable economic growth and to tackle inequalities. The Scottish Government is currently establishing Revenue Scotland to administer devolved taxation.

The Scottish Government will publish its detailed white paper with positive proposals on the opportunities and gains of independence in the autumn. Material on the referendum and the Scottish Government’s proposals for an independent Scotland can be found at: www.scotreferendum.com, including published papers and speeches. This site will be regularly updated with additional material including further reports from the Fiscal Commission Working group and the Scottish Government’s white paper in the run up to the referendum.

Question reference: S4W-15871

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reported comments by the Deputy First Minister on 17 April 2013, whether it will seek to introduce a 50p tax rate if Scotland became independent.

Question reference: S4W-15944

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how independence might impact on areas of Scotland that rely on mobile telephone masts located in England, and whether people in such areas might be subject to international call roaming charges.

Roaming charges are currently applied at the discretion of companies and up to specific EU limits. They are not automatic. The European Commission has cut charges for voice calls, texts and internet access by 75% since 2007, and Commissioners voted in June 2013 to abolish mobile roaming charges from as early as July 2014. It is regrettable that the UK Government has decided to issue a misleading statement suggesting roaming charges could be introduced at the very time a decision has been taken to abolish them.

Question reference: S4W-15891

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what its assessment is of the (a) initial and (b) ongoing costs to the (i) public and (ii) private sectors of separate PAYE and personal and business tax assessment and collection systems in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-15899

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether any diplomatic missions shared between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK would have (a) staff who were dedicated to looking after Scottish interests and, if so, how many and (b) a shared ambassador.

Question reference: S4W-15948

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether an independent Scotland would automatically become a member of the European Defence Agency and, if not, what the timetable for becoming a member would be and what impact there would be on Scottish involvement in the agency's work in the interim.