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-16642

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether funding from the latest round of the CashBack for Communities programme has been fully committed and, if so, when this was announced and how much has been secured since then for the next round of payments.

All funding available to the CashBack for Communities programme has been fully committed. No specific announcement has been made.

Due to the way in which the cashback programme is funded, it is inherently difficult to forecast when new monies will become available. Money surrendered under the Proceeds of Crime legislation is paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund on a monthly basis by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Scottish Court Service.

At Spring Budget Review, based on the level of receipts that have been surrendered to the Scottish Consolidated Fund a budget is set to cover Cashback for Communities programme expenditure incurred within that financial year to date, along with a forecast of outstanding payments up to the end of the financial year. The information for the current financial year will be part of the 2013-14 Spring Budget Revision and the relevant document is due for publication in early February 2014. Management is required throughout the year to match commitment made with recoveries.

Question reference: S4W-16648

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been recovered in Scotland under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 following (a) drugs seizures, (b) fraud cases, (c) breaches of fishing quota regulations and (d) the sale of (i) counterfeit or stolen goods and (ii) contraband tobacco, and how much from each has been allocated to the CashBack for Communities programme in year since 2007-08.

Information on the type of offence which money recovered under the Proceeds of Crime legislation relates to, is not held centrally. Information on the value and offence associated with confiscation orders is available on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service website at:

http://www.copfs.gov.uk/foi/responses-we-have-made-to-foi-requests/467-proceeds-of-crime-act-2002.

A financial overview of investment in the CashBack for Communities Programme is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/public-safety/17141/cashback/CashBack-Finance.

Question reference: S4W-16645

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when the CashBack for Communities programme will next consider applications for funding.

The Scottish Government allocates available funds to large national partner organisations, which are responsible for running projects across Scotland. All funding currently available to the programme has been committed. As part of this Government’s commitment to develop the CashBack for Communities programme we will be discussing future CashBack funding opportunities with partner organisations and others in the autumn.

Question reference: S4W-16644

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when the most recent criminal assets that funded the latest round of the CashBack for Communities programme were recovered.

Money surrendered under Proceeds of Crime legislation is paid into the Scottish Consolidated Fund on a monthly basis by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and Scottish Court Service.

At Spring Budget Review, based on the level of receipts that have been surrendered to the Scottish Consolidated Fund a budget is set to cover CashBack for Communities programme expenditure to date, along with a forecast of outstanding payments up to the end of the financial year. The information for the current financial year will be part of the 2013-14 Spring Budget Revision and the relevant document is due for publication in early February 2014.

Question reference: S4W-16647

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been recovered in Scotland under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and how much of this has been allocated to the CashBack for Communities programme in each year since 2007-08.

The amount of cash and other assets recovered in Scotland under Proceeds of Crime legislation is available on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal website at:

http://www.crownoffice.gov.uk/media-site/media-releases/137-first-ten-years-of-proceeds-of-crime-act-nets-more-than-80-million.

The CashBack from Communities programme is funded entirely from the proceeds of crime obtained under the Act. A breakdown of the monies invested through the programme is available at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Justice/public-safety/17141/cashback/CashBack-Finance.

Question reference: S4W-16643

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 08 August 2013
Current Status: Answered by Kenny MacAskill on 4 September 2013

To ask the Scottish Government until when funding from the latest round of the CashBack for Communities programme is fully committed.

Question reference: S4W-16315

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on (a) whisky producers and (b) other manufacturers if they were required to pay import duties during an independent Scotland's negotiations for membership of the World Trade Organization.

Question reference: S4W-16351

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what broadcasting licence fees and charges would apply 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.

Question reference: S4W-16372

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of independence on cross-border sleeper services that are subsidised by the UK Government and the Scottish Government.

There will be no impact on cross border sleeper services. There are no cross-border sleeper services subsidised by the UK Government. The Scottish Government is responsible for letting, managing and providing on-going funding for the Caledonian Sleeper franchise, therefore there will be no impact to these services. The UK Government provided a one-off contribution to the upgrade of the Caledonian Sleeper service, which was matched by the Scottish Government. However on-going costs are being, and will continue to be, met by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S4W-16374

Asked by: Alison McInnes, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 August 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact that independence would have on plans for high-speed rail services between London and Scotland and the associated cost to Scotland.