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-15892

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 an independent Scotland would try to recruit staff from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to its foreign and diplomatic service and, if so, how many staff it would aim to recruit.

Question reference: S4W-15927

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 corporate governance regulatory body and regimes would be put in place for (a) company directors, (b) accountants, (c) auditors and (d) actuaries in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-15910

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 how much a TV licence would cost in an independent Scotland.

The Scottish Government has no plans to alter the value of the licence fee after independence. Political parties, stakeholders, and individuals will have their own preferences for the policies to be pursued in an independent Scotland and the arguments for and against, and between, the range of policy choices available to an independent Scotland will form a central part of the national debate before the referendum and then in the run up to the 2016 Scottish election. However, it is a matter of concern that some members of the Conservative party have stated they are not committed to public service broadcasting and would consider privatising those services or abolishing support for them.

Question reference: S4W-15964

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 Kenny MacAskill on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of an independent Scotland's need to negotiate separate extradition treaties with other countries.

Question reference: S4W-15868

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 whether all income tax levels in an independent Scotland would remain the same as in the rest of the UK.

<>Independence would provide the Scottish Government with the key economic and fiscal levers to promote sustainable economic growth and to tackle inequalities as set out in the Fiscal Commission Working Group’s first report. The paper can be found at: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2013/02/3017.

Tax receipts per capita in Scotland, including a geographical share of North Sea oil and gas revenues, are estimated to have been higher than in the UK as a whole in every single year since 1980-81.

Over the last five years for which figures are available Scotland has been in a relatively stronger fiscal position than the UK as a whole to the value of £12.6 billion which had we been independent would have allowed a Scottish Government to take different policy choices.

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 the white paper in the run up to the referendum.

Decisions on all specific taxes, including tax rates, allowances and credits, will be made by the parliament and the government of an independent Scotland. Political parties, stakeholders, and individuals will have their own preferences for the policies to be pursued in an independent Scotland and the arguments for and against, and between, the range of policy choices available to an independent Scotland will form a central part of the national debate before the referendum and then in the run up to the 2016 Scottish election.

Question reference: S4W-15887

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 resources it would need to support it in independence negotiations with the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S4W-15897

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 corporate profits earned outwith Scotland would be treated for tax purposes in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-15918

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 an independent Scotland would automatically become a member of (a) NATO and (b) the United Nations and, if not, what the timetable would be for becoming a member.

Following a vote for independence the Scottish Government will formally declare its intention to remain a member of NATO following normal procedures.

Similarly Scotland would also signal its intention to remain a member of the United Nations. Given that Scotland, as part of the UK, already meets membership requirements we do not anticipate any barriers to Scotland’s timely membership of international organisations.

Question reference: S4W-15941

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 Kenny MacAskill on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of who would be responsible for policing cross-border (a) rail and (b) air services in an independent Scotland.

The policing of rail services is presently performed by the British Transport Police (BTP). The Scottish Government has repeatedly made the case for the integration of BTP services with the Police Service in Scotland (PSS). Independence would ensure that the functions currently provided by the BTP were provided by the PSS, improving the integration of policing in Scotland.

The policing of air services takes place predominantly at and around airports. This service is presently performed by the PSS, and this situation would continue post-independence.

Question reference: S4W-15901

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 an independent Scotland, what the taxation position will be for (a) Scots with equity investments listed on the London Stock Exchange and (b) foreign investors in companies registered in Scotland.