- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase the local government budget through in-year transfers in 2025-26 and, if so, (a) to what extent and (b) from what other budget areas.
Answer
The Scottish Government routinely increases the Local Government budget in-year, including through transfers from other portfolios. The anticipated transfers for 2025-25 are as shown in Table 4.12 of the Scottish Budget and indicate that at least £1,438.3 million of resource and £25 million of capital will be transferred into the General Revenue and General Capital grants at the 2025-26 Autumn or Spring Budget Revisions. Further funding outwith the Local Government Settlement is outlined in Table 4.15 and paid directly by the relevant portfolio.
As with all previous years, any unanticipated transfers in year will also be given effect at the relevant budget revision and processed in the Local Government Finance Order 2026-27.
As outlined in Tables 4.12 and 4.15, it is anticipated that most Scottish Government portfolios will transfer additional funding to Local Government in 2025-26.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when the scheduling for the R100 scheme will be confirmed to provide specific forecast dates for properties.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s Reaching 100% (R100) programme is delivered through three key strands of activity – the over £600 million R100 contracts (North, Central and South), the R100 Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (R100 SBVS) and continued commercial coverage which includes emerging technologies such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite connections.
Our address checker at www.scotlandsuperfast.com shows the most recent digital connectivity plans and timescales for residential and business properties across Scotland that are scheduled to receive an improved broadband connection via the R100 contracts. It is not possible to show digital connectivity timescales for the R100 SBVS as this is a demand-led scheme, which means it is up to eligible property owners or residents to decide whether they wish to secure a connection in this way.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the level 4 tables that were published in conjunction with its draft Budget 2025-26 budget, for what reason it considers "£1.5 billion of ABR transfers processed" to be an "explanation of significant changes from previous year".
Answer
The Level 4 tables that were published with the draft Budget 2025-26 provide a summary of the changes from the previous year but it is not practical to list the full detail of all the changes associated with the Local Government Settlement, particularly where that detail is already available to the Scottish Parliament.
The specific details of the £1.5 billion of Local Government transfers processed at the Autumn Budget Revision 2024-25 are published in Schedule 3.1 of the Autumn Budget Revision 2024-25: supporting document.
The Finance and Public Administration Committee recommended that the Budget (Scotland) Act 2024 Amendment Regulations 2024, which give effect to the Autumn Budget Revision, should be agreed at their meeting on 12 November 2024. The regulations were subsequently approved by the Scottish Parliament on 4 December 2024.
- Asked by: Murdo Fraser, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what measures in its draft Budget 2025-26 reflect the statement by the First Minister on 22 May 2024, in which he stated that one of his "priorities is to grow Scotland’s economy".
Answer
The Draft 2025-26 Budget invests in the long-term prosperity of Scotland’s people, places and businesses.
The expanded package puts money firmly behind the Programme for Government’s priorities for economic growth, investing:
- over £321 million for the enterprise agencies, a rise of £14 million compared to the 2024-25 Budget. This will facilitate their work to help businesses to start and scale, develop new products and enter new markets, and positively impact on their communities;
- a further £200 million (net) to the Scottish National Investment Bank as it continues to create jobs, support innovation and attract investment across the country;
- over £214 million made available to deliver sustainable and inclusive economic growth across every region in Scotland through the City and Region Deals programme this year;
- a new fund of £2 million for VisitScotland to promote Scotland’s connectivity, internationally and to encourage visitors to consider lesser-known destinations, and a revitalised and expanded Rural Tourism Infrastructure Fund (RTIF), which will provide critical economic support to tourist hotspots across the country;
- over £2 billion in Scotland’s colleges, universities and skills system in recognition of their contribution to driving economic growth and to help ensure businesses have access to a skilled workforce;
- a £34 million uplift for culture to improve the resilience and sustainability of our cultural sector’s contribution to growing our economy;
- £15 million to fund the Government’s Enterprise Package to expand support for female entrepreneurs, boost the economic impact of universities, and to develop of business clusters in advanced manufacturing and deeptech; and
- over £7 billion investment in our total infrastructure package, almost tripling our investment in offshore wind to £150 million and investing £100 million for the continued rollout of our digital connectivity programmes across Scotland.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 06 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with VisitScotland regarding the impact of new pylon infrastructure on tourism.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31641 on 5 December 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether an economic impact assessment has been conducted into the impact of the closure of the Queensferry Crossing due to risks of falling ice.
Answer
No specific economic impact assessment has been carried out in relation to closures of the Queensferry Crossing due to the risk of falling ice. A range of estimates exist for the daily impact of the Queensferry Crossing being closed but vary depending on whether the closure is known in advance and there is no clear linear relationship between short and longer closures.
- Asked by: Pam Duncan-Glancy, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on subsidising teacher training in each financial year since 2010-11.
Answer
Initial Teacher Education is fully funded by the Scottish Government, for those students within the controlled subject numbers.
The following table shows funding for publicly funded student places provided by the Scottish Government to providers of Initial Teacher Education and students since 2010-11, based on academic years.
This funding covers tuition fee, student support and teaching grant for activity in addition to the baseline funding provided by Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) and the Scottish Funding Council (SFC). The student support element assists students to overcome financial barriers to engaging in higher education.
Academic Year | Total (£) |
2024-25 | 14,161,699 |
2023-24 | 13,999,830 |
2022-23 | 16,490,301 |
2021-22 | 14,622,262 |
2020-21 | 15,747,780 |
2019-20 | 15,561,246 |
2018-19 | 13,881,039 |
2017-18 | 13,963,750 |
2016-17 | 11,025,505 |
2015-16 | 9,251,940 |
2014-15 | 7,157,020 |
2013-14 | 5,616,380 |
2012-13 | 3,629,799 |
2011-12 | 2,495,655 |
2010-11 | 2,971,110 |
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on the launch of the MV Glen Rosa in 2024.
Answer
The Scottish Government did not allocate any separate direct funding for the launch of the MV Glen Rosa. All related costs and resource decisions were made independently by Ferguson Marine.
- Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) assessment it has made and (b) consultation it has carried out regarding what behavioural responses might arise in response to the proposed decision to freeze three of the income tax bands in its draft Budget 2025-26.
Answer
The Scottish Government relies on independent forecasts produced by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in arriving at policy decisions on Income Tax. These forecasts include the impact of any possible behaviour change that may result from policy decisions.
The impact of Income Tax policy decisions taken at the 2025-26 Scottish Budget on taxpayers and households is presented in the following publications:
Regarding consultation, in advance of the Scottish Budget, the Scottish Government conducts annual research on public attitudes to tax.
This research also includes information on where people find information on tax and their knowledge of the tax system. The information which has been collected is available online: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2025-26-pre-budget-engagement-summary/pages/1/
This year, we also conducted a broad programme of business engagement on tax policy, used to inform the Tax Strategy, which gave businesses the opportunity to express their views regarding behavioural responses to Scottish Income Tax policy.
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 18 December 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what powers Historic Environment Scotland has to ensure that consultations are sought prior to any emergency demolition of listed buildings, so that the minimum works needed are carried out to make a dangerous building safe.
Answer
In the context of unauthorised work and listed buildings, Historic Environment Scotland’s role is advisory. Historic Environment Scotland has no legal powers in relation to enforcement and listed buildings in general, nor in ensuring that consultation occurs or that the minimum works needed to make a dangerous building safe are carried out. Legal powers related to enforcement and listed buildings lie with the planning authority and, in some circumstances, Scottish Ministers.
