Chamber and committees

The people of Scotland should have the right to choose the future of their country. The Scottish Government believes the time to make that choice is when the terms of withdrawal from the EU are clear and can be judged against the challenges and opportunities of becoming an independent country.

The Scottish Government's longstanding policy and commitment has been membership of the European Union. That remains our position.

Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) estimates the contribution of revenue raised in Scotland towards the goods and services provided for the benefit of Scottish residents under the current constitutional arrangements. It is a National Statistics publication, which means that it has been independently assessed by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure that it meets the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) estimates the contribution of revenue raised in Scotland towards the goods and services provided for the benefit of Scottish residents under the current constitutional arrangements. It is a National Statistics publication, which means that it has been independently assessed by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure that it meets the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. It has held this status since 2005. As the UK Statistics Authority was not established until 2007, and did not assess GERS until 2010, in previous years the assessment of its status was made by the then Scottish Executive.

Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (GERS) is produced by Scottish Government Statisticians in accordance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics and has been independently assessed by the UK Statistics.

Publication of the Interim and Final Reports and the payment of travelling expenses to members of the Independent Review amounted to just under £4,500.

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

Only one serving clinician has resigned from the group and the Scottish Government was made aware of his resignation on 1 March. The Chair of the Review announced the resignation to the remaining members of the Review at its meeting on 6 March.

The Scottish Government’s policy is for membership of the European Union. In advance of an independence referendum the government will set out how Scotland’s relationship with Europe will be secured.

The Scottish Government’s policy is for membership of the European Union. Once the terms of Brexit are clear the people of Scotland should have a choice on their future through a referendum on independence.

An independent Scotland’s contributions to the budgets of international organisations would be agreed as part of the membership process for each organisation. In respect of the EU, it is likely that as a relatively prosperous Member State, an independent Scotland would continue to be a net financial contributor to the EU budget.