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: S6W-09564

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 01 July 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 12 July 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has done on whether the Scotland Reserve's £700 million cap will be breached in the next five years.

The Scotland Reserve provides the Scottish Government with a limited facility to manage the smoothing of all types of spending, assist the management of tax volatility and manage the timing of expenditure between financial years. As the cap is not index linked it has remained at £700m since it was implemented in 2017. In real terms it becomes proportionately smaller each year.

Under the terms of the Fiscal Framework the Scottish Government is unable to overspend its budget in a financial year. It must therefore achieve a net underspend each year and these amounts are carried forward within the Scotland Reserve to be utilised in future years.

The balance within the Scotland Reserve following the 2021-22 Provisional Outturn exercise was £650 million . This amount, subject to any adjustments as part of the Final Outturn process, will be drawn down in full to support 2022-23 spending plans as outlined in the Budget. This means the Scotland Reserve balance will be reduced to nil, allowing for an underspend of up to £700m in 2022-23 to be recorded without breaching the Reserve.

Later in the financial year 2022-23 there will be greater certainty around the funding position and spending levels. Financial management will focus on ensuring the Scottish Government achieves a balanced budget without breaching the Scotland Reserve cap. This will take the following into account:

Ensuring sufficient headroom is included in the Scotland Reserve for a net underspend still to be achieved following post year-end accounting and audit adjustments
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Including any targeted carry forward balances to support future financial years. In the recently published Medium Term Financial Strategy there is an assumption of £279 million of funding from the Scotland Reserve being used to support 2023-24 which would be factored into the Scotland Reserve workings. This figure is subject to change as part of the 2023-24 budget as well as any in-year revisions as circumstances change.

This process will then be replicated in financial year 2023-24 with a full draw down of any carry forward amounts in the Scotland Reserve.

Question reference: S6O-01254

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 June 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the review by the Police Service of Northern Ireland into findings by a tribunal of a "sexist culture" in Police Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-08765

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 26 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 10 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether ATMs at retailers’ premises will be exempted from non-domestic rates; how many ATMs will be affected by their removal from the valuation roll, and whether it will consider backdating refunds, in a similar way to that in Wales and England when ATMs were removed from the valuation roll.

The valuation of all non-domestic property, including sites of ATMs, is a matter for the Scottish Assessors who are independent of local and Scottish Government.

We are aware that Assessors have been considering the valuation of ATM sites and recently concluded that in most retail premises it is likely that such sites will be deleted from the Valuation Roll. Assessors are now commencing the process of identifying the ATM sites this will apply to.

Where a property is removed from the Valuation Roll, the ratepayer will be entitled to a refund of any overpaid rates back to the effective date of deletion.

Question reference: S6W-08698

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 May 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 7 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what work it is doing to evaluate rates and thresholds within the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Question reference: S6O-01179

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 June 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its Deposit Return Scheme.

Question reference: S6T-00722

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 16 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what its reaction is to the reported awarding of almost £1 million compensation from Police Scotland to an ex-officer following an employment tribunal ruling of victimisation.

Question reference: S6O-01093

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason a number of written parliamentary questions have not received an answer by ministers within the required timescale.

Question reference: S6O-01078

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 May 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what lessons have been learned regarding the procurement of new ferries.

Question reference: S6W-08153

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 4 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to ensure that local authorities are carrying out home visits for its Super Sponsorship Scheme, for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, fairly, proportionally and equally across Scotland.

The Scottish Government is working closely with local authorities on this work. Guidance for all local authorities supporting displaced people from Ukraine through the Scottish Super Sponsor Scheme and who match through the Homes for Ukraine Scheme has been published: Super Sponsor Scheme and Homes for Ukraine guidance for local authorities .

It is a requirement for all hosts to agree to a home visit by a local authority before a guest is placed with that host, or as soon as a local authority is made aware a person has matched individually.

Question reference: S6W-08152

Asked by: Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 21 April 2022
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 3 May 2022

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to consult hosts within its Super Sponsorship Scheme, for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, as part of its development of the scheme.