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: S5W-21656

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 5 March 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration has been given to including provisions in the Planning (Scotland) Bill to ensure that new (a) housing developments are built with future-proofed broadband connections, and (b) home buyers have a choice in broadband networks when moving into a new housing development.

Through the Reaching 100% Programme, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that each and every premises in Scotland has access to superfast broadband. We would, however, expect new housing developments to be served commercially without the need for public funding and through effective partnership working between planning authorities, developers and telecoms companies, for example, Openreach routinely offers fibre to the premises (FTTP) – for free – on developments of at least 30 properties, with a tariff proposal for smaller developments.

Whilst the Scottish Government is not considering such a requirement in the Planning (Scotland) Bill, where powers are available to us we have already taken action to facilitate improved investment in digital infrastructure. This includes setting out planning policy in relation to telecoms in both Scottish Planning policy (paragraphs 292-300) and in the National Planning Framework (chapter 5).

From January 2017, amendments to the Building (Scotland) Regulations 2004 set a standard for in-building physical infrastructure for high-speed electronic communications networks. This enables easier installation of fibre at any time (on or after completion) and applies to new homes and other buildings.

Telecoms is, however, reserved to the UK Government and, as such, they have recently consulted on introducing new legislation to address issues with new build developments. The Scottish Government will look to ensure Scottish interests are reflected in the development of any legislation, and to understand the implications for any devolved areas.

Question reference: S5W-21537

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses it expects will benefit from its extension of transitional relief for offices in Aberdeen city and Aberdeenshire until the next revaluation.

The following table shows the estimated number of office properties that are eligible for Transitional Relief in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire in each financial year up until the next revaluation by Local Authority. The table should be interpreted as the maximum number of hospitality properties eligible for the relief in a given year. The Scottish Government does not currently hold property level data on those in receipt of Transitional Relief.

Estimated number of office properties eligible for

Transitional Relief by Local Authority 2019-20 to 2021-22

	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Aberdeen City	99	81	66
Aberdeenshire	64	31	23
Total	163	112	89

Note: These estimates have been derived by summing office properties in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire on the valuation roll in 2019 that have experienced a percentage rise in their gross NDR Bill since March 2017 (before the revaluation) above the real-terms transitional relief cap in the relevant year. Adjustments are made to account for properties that are ineligible for Transitional Relief because they were already in receipt of 100% rates relief. Further adjustments are also made to partially account for State Aid limits on the amount of relief a businesses is eligible to receive, however, the full impact of State Aid limits cannot be modelled with the data available. Combined with factors such as ratepayer awareness of the relief means the estimates presented in the table should be treated as a maximum.

Question reference: S5W-21533

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how much business rates relief has cumulatively saved businesses since 2007, broken down by local authority area.

The following table shows how much non-domestic rates relief has saved businesses cumulatively from 2009-10 until 2017-18, based on local authority audited income returns. Local authority breakdowns are not currently available for earlier years.

Local Authority	Rates relief (£m)
Aberdeen City	239
Aberdeenshire	165
Angus	84
Argyll & Bute	86
Clackmannanshire	30
Dumfries & Galloway	104
Dundee City	188
East Ayrshire	78
East Dunbartonshire	63
East Lothian	76
East Renfrewshire	42
Edinburgh, City of	738
Eilean Siar	29
Falkirk	105
Fife	307
Glasgow City	922
Highland	262
Inverclyde	62
Midlothian	69
Moray	59
North Ayrshire	108
North Lanarkshire	248
Orkney Islands	27
Perth & Kinross	150
Renfrewshire	173
Scottish Borders	102
Shetland Islands	38
South Ayrshire	97
South Lanarkshire	235
Stirling	100
West Dunbartonshire	58
West Lothian	151
Scotland	5,906

Source: Local Authority Audited Income Returns.

Note: Reliefs estimates include both the mandatory (i.e. eligible properties are entitled to claiming this) and discretionary (i.e. councils may choose to give it) elements of relief where applicable, but exclude backdated payments of relief, as well as councils' own contributions to reliefs. The Scottish Government funds 100% of mandatory relief and 75% or more of discretionary relief, while councils fund up to 25% of discretionary relief.

Question reference: S5W-21536

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses it expects will benefit from the extension of transitional relief for the hospitality sector, broken down by local authority.

The following table the estimated number of hospitality properties that are eligible for Transitional Relief in each financial year up until the next revaluation by Local Authority. The table should be interpreted as the maximum number of hospitality properties eligible for the relief in a given year. The Scottish Government does not currently hold property level data on those in receipt of Transitional Relief.

Estimated number of hospitality properties eligible for

Transitional Relief by Local Authority 2019-20 to 2021-22

	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Aberdeen City	134	123	105
Aberdeenshire	80	59	38
Angus	23	16	9
Argyll & Bute	304	248	136
Clackmannanshire	26	16	13
Dumfries & Galloway	51	34	21
Dundee City	35	19	14
East Ayrshire	17	7	4
East Dunbartonshire	2	0	0
East Lothian	38	21	9
East Renfrewshire	11	5	4
Edinburgh, City of	636	442	319
Eilean Siar	18	15	9
Falkirk	47	36	21
Fife	93	53	26
Glasgow City	199	136	101
Highland	398	208	123
Inverclyde	13	11	6
Midlothian	17	8	4
Moray	55	31	20
North Ayrshire	24	14	6
North Lanarkshire	10	6	4
Orkney Islands	15	10	9
Perth & Kinross	127	71	62
Renfrewshire	32	23	15
Scottish Borders	50	33	19
Shetland Islands	36	24	13
South Ayrshire	62	35	19
South Lanarkshire	29	14	12
Stirling	136	117	92
West Dunbartonshire	6	4	3
West Lothian	22	18	13
Scotland	2,746	1,857	1,249

Note: These estimates have been derived by summing all hospitality properties on the valuation roll in 2019 that have experienced a percentage rise in their gross NDR Bill since March 2017 (before the revaluation) above the real-terms transitional relief cap in the relevant year. Adjustments are made to account for properties that are ineligible for Transitional Relief because they were already in receipt of 100% rates relief. Further adjustments are also made to partially account for State Aid limits on the amount of relief a businesses is eligible to receive, however, the full impact of State Aid limits cannot be modelled with the data available. Combined with factors such as ratepayer awareness of the relief means the estimates presented in the table should be treated as a maximum.

Question reference: S5W-21534

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government how many businesses in each local authority area will be exempt from business rates in 2019-20.

The Scottish Government does not make forecasts of the number of properties that will be exempt from non-domestic rates in future years. The table below presents the estimated number of properties exempt from non-domestic rates in 2018-19. Exempted properties include those receiving 100% rates relief, and properties with a zero rateable value. Non-domestic properties that are not listed on the Valuation Roll, such as agricultural processing facilities, are not included in the following table.

Updated information for 2019-20 will be available in autumn 2019.

Local authority	Properties
Aberdeen City	2,900
Aberdeenshire	8,900
Angus	3,800
Argyll & Bute	6,000
Clackmannanshire	800
Dumfries & Galloway	7,200
Dundee City	3,300
East Ayrshire	2,800
East Dunbartonshire	1,400
East Lothian	2,300
East Renfrewshire	1,000
Edinburgh, City of	9,900
Eilean Siar	1,800
Falkirk	2,700
Fife	8,800
Glasgow City	14,800
Highland	12,000
Inverclyde	1,300
Midlothian	1,500
Moray	3,200
North Ayrshire	3,400
North Lanarkshire	5,300
Orkney Islands	2,000
Perth & Kinross	6,200
Renfrewshire	3,400
Scottish Borders	5,900
Shetland Islands	1,600
South Ayrshire	3,200
South Lanarkshire	4,700
Stirling	3,400
West Dunbartonshire	1,600
West Lothian	3,100
Scotland	140,200

Source: Assessors' Valuation Roll, Local Authority Billing information.

Question reference: S5W-21535

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 07 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of how much the cap on the increase in the rates poundage in Scotland will save businesses, broken down by local authority.

For 2018-19 we limited the inflationary increase in the non-domestic rates (NDR) poundage to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rather than the Retail Price Index (RPI) as had previously been the case. In 2019-20 we have gone further by limiting the inflationary increase in the poundage to less than CPI (2.1% compared to 2.2%). The estimated overall saving to businesses in 2019-20 as result of this decision is £35.2 million, relative to the baseline where the Scottish Government would have uprated the poundage by RPI. The following table provides a breakdown by local authority of the estimated saving based on the latest NDR income reported by local authorities on their 2018-19 Mid-Year Estimate returns.

Local authority	£m
Aberdeen City	3.1
Aberdeenshire	1.5
Angus	0.3
Argyll & Bute	0.4
Clackmannanshire	0.2
Dumfries & Galloway	0.6
Dundee City	0.7
East Ayrshire	0.4
East Dunbartonshire	0.3
East Lothian	0.3
East Renfrewshire	0.2
Edinburgh, City of	4.5
Eilean Siar	0.1
Falkirk	0.9
Fife	1.9
Glasgow City	4.4
Highland	1.8
Inverclyde	0.2
Midlothian	0.4
Moray	0.5
North Ayrshire	0.5
North Lanarkshire	1.3
Orkney Islands	0.1
Perth & Kinross	0.7
Renfrewshire	1.4
Scottish Borders	0.5
Shetland Islands	0.3
South Ayrshire	0.5
South Lanarkshire	4.2
Stirling	0.6
West Dunbartonshire	1.1
West Lothian	1.1
Scotland	35.2

Source: Local Authority Mid-Year Estimate Income Returns.

Question reference: S5O-02915

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 February 2019
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 27 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Interim Recommendations Report by the Working Group on Maintenance of Tenement Scheme Property.

Question reference: S5O-02874

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to increasing pay for local councillors.

Question reference: S5O-02811

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 January 2019
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the citizens' basic income pilot schemes.

Question reference: S5O-02767

Asked by: John Mason, MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 January 2019
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 16 January 2019

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to the decline in kestrel numbers in Scotland.