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-01250

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 September 2012
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 September 2012

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on figures showing an 8.2% drop in retail sales on 2011 and an average 17% drop in high street footfall across eight towns in the Borders in the last four years.

Question reference: S4W-08291

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 31 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive how nuclear waste would be (a) stored and (b) disposed of in an independent Scotland.

The Scottish Government is committed to dealing responsibly with the toxic nuclear legacy this country has inherited. This is not a legacy we would have chosen, but we will continue to ensure that plans for the long-term management of radioactive waste, spent nuclear fuel and other nuclear materials are taken forward in a way that protects the health and interests of the Scottish people and the integrity of our environment.

The management of radioactive waste is a devolved matter and, as such, is already the responsibility of Scottish Ministers. The management of spent nuclear fuel and other nuclear materials, such as plutonium, is currently reserved meaning responsibility lies with the UK Government.

Full details of the Scottish Government’s proposals on independence will be provided in the White Paper to be published in November 2013.

Question reference: S4W-08283

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what proposals it has to replace the role of the Bank of England in relation to banknotes issued by private Scottish banks in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-08294

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 31 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the UK Government to ensure that, in an independent Scotland, residents would be able to (a) receive NHS treatment free at the point of use and (b) opt for specialist NHS treatment in a hospital in the rest of the UK.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the Scottish NHS as a publicly funded and publicly delivered service, free at the point of delivery.

As laid out in Your Scotland Your Voice (paragraphs 6.9 to 6.11), with independence, cross-border co-operation in health could be enhanced. There are already cross-border arrangements for the commissioning of specialist health services and similar agreements exist on a European Union basis.

Question reference: S4W-08288

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 31 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether an independent Scotland would establish a driver and vehicle licensing agency.

Question reference: S4W-08278

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether financial institutions in an independent Scotland would be regulated by the Bank of England.

Scottish Ministers have outlined their intention to retain sterling in a formal monetary union with the UK, in an independent Scotland. As I set out in my speech to the David Hume Institute on 2 February 2012, our proposal is to maintain the Bank of England as the central bank as part of a formal monetary union.

Scottish Ministers also announced the Fiscal Commission Working Group on 25 March 2012 which has since been coordinating the work to help establish a fiscal and macroeconomic framework for Scotland. The outputs of the group will be published in due course.

Full details of the Scottish Government’s proposals for independence will be provided in the comprehensive white paper to be published in November 2013.

Question reference: S4W-08279

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether financial institutions in an independent Scotland would be regulated by the Consumer Protection and Markets Authority.

Question reference: S4W-08276

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 31 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what British citizens resident outside of Scotland would be (a) automatically entitled to and (b) able to opt for Scottish citizenship in an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S4W-08284

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has for investment in an oil fund in the first five years of an independent Scotland and whether the fund would hold UK gilts as assets.

The First Minister set out in his speech at the London School of Economics on 15 February 2012 it is estimated that, by value, over half of Scotland’s oil and gas reserves could still to be extracted, which would provide approximately 40 more years of production. We can and will establish and develop an oil fund, as fiscal conditions allow.

Scotland is estimated to be in a relatively stronger budgetary position than the UK as a whole, which gives us fiscal policy choices. In the five years to 2010-11 – the most recent figures – Scotland is estimated to have been in a relatively stronger budget position than the UK as a whole to the tune of £8.6 billion.

The Scottish Government published the discussion paper An Oil Fund for Scotland on 30 July 2009 which set out a range of possible investment strategies for a Scottish Oil Fund. The paper is available from http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/07/28112701/0.

Question reference: S4W-08286

Asked by: John Lamont, MSP for Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 June 2012
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 31 August 2012

To ask the Scottish Executive whether an independent Scotland would have a national insurance fund.

<>At the time of independence, Scotland would continue to have a national insurance fund. An independent Scotland would be able to raise a broad range of taxes, including national insurance, to ensure a fiscally sustainable future. It would be able to make decisions on both tax rates and on expenditure, including on welfare benefits. The publication Government Expenditure and Revenues Scotland (GERS), published in March 2012 and which can be accessed at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2012/03/9525 sets out estimates of public revenues raised in Scotland and public expenditure for Scotland. The figures show that Scotland is estimated to receive 9.3% of UK public spending, but generates 9.6% of UK taxes including a geographic share of North Sea revenues. Based on these estimates, Scotland generated approximately £1,400 more in tax receipts per person in 2010-11 than the average across the UK. Furthermore, over the past five years as a whole Scotland is estimated to have been in a stronger fiscal position than the UK as a whole.