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: S6O-03346

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on what provision it is making to ensure that all school pupils have access to music tuition.

Question reference: S6W-26267

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 11 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether it plans to make eligibility for business rate reliefs conditional on payment of the real Living Wage, as part of its Fair Work Action Plan, and, if so, which rate reliefs it anticipates will be in scope.

The Scottish Government’s Fair Work Action Plan sets out actions to promote fair and inclusive workplaces across Scotland. We are committed to using all levers at our disposal to extend Fair Work conditionality with clear standards and minimum requirements to cover all forms of Scottish Government support within the limits of devolved competence.

The exploratory action to consider including the use of reliefs does not reflect a definitive position on if and how these can be used. Officials continue to explore, within the limits of devolved competence, if and how these levers can be deployed.

Question reference: S6O-03317

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 April 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its recent consultations with local authorities about community access to the school estate, including sports facilities.

Question reference: S6W-26268

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 3 April 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on whether it plans to make the granting of licence permissions conditional on payment of the real Living Wage, as part of its Fair Work Action Plan, and, if so, which types of licences it anticipates will be in scope.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-21195 on 19 September 2023. In the meantime, we are focussing on the successful implementation of Fair Work First conditionality in public sector grants. 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 .

Question reference: S6O-03260

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken to measure the extent of economic inactivity in Scotland post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Question reference: S6W-25972

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 March 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 18 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment, what the cost would have been in (a) 2021-22, (b) 2022-23 and (c) 2023-24 of bringing the Higher Property Rate into line with that in England, broken down by industry sector.

Table 1 presents the estimated gross cost of setting the Higher Property Rate equal to the Standard Multiplier in England. In England, in all three years, the Standard Multiplier was 51.2p, or 1.3p above the Small Business Multiplier of 49.9p. In Scotland, the Higher Property Rate in all three years was 2.6p above the poundage, which was 49p in 2021-2022 (having been temporarily reduced from 49.8p in 2020-2021 in response to the ongoing impact of COVID-19), and 49.8p in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024. The costs therefore represent the impact of setting the Higher Property Rate at 51.2p instead of 51.6p in 2021-2022, and 52.4p in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.

The figure for 2023-2024 is presented after General Revaluation Transitional Relief is applied. The figures are gross estimates, and are not adjusted for any other relief. Figures are broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 1 October 2021, 1 October 2022, and 1 October 2023, with figures from 30 March 2023 and 1 April 2023 used to calculate General Revaluation Transitional Relief.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated gross cost of reducing the Higher Property Rate to the level of the English Standard Multiplier (51.2p) (£), broken down by property class.

Property class	2021-2022 (£)	2022-2023 (£)	2023-2024 (£)
Shops	3,589,000	10,798,000	8,824,000
Public houses and restaurants	127,000	377,000	317,000
Offices	2,167,000	6,597,000	6,092,000
Hotels	778,000	2,390,000	2,270,000
Industrial subjects	2,863,000	8,658,000	8,709,000
Leisure and entertainment	600,000	1,814,000	1,873,000
Garages and petrol stations	117,000	341,000	312,000
Cultural	145,000	408,000	412,000
Sporting subjects	36,000	113,000	98,000
Education and training	1,918,000	5,707,000	6,229,000
Public service subjects	895,000	2,614,000	2,505,000
Communications	81,000	197,000	303,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	34,000	94,000	95,000
Petrochemical	447,000	1,291,000	1,400,000
Religious	14,000	50,000	50,000
Health and medical	714,000	2,097,000	2,120,000
Other	352,000	1,045,000	1,102,000
Care facilities	207,000	631,000	704,000
Advertising	11,000	34,000	39,000
Statutory undertaking	3,647,000	10,897,000	10,039,000
All	18,743,000	56,152,000	53,493,000

Question reference: S6O-03192

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 March 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which states that the 2024-25 Budget implied a real-terms reduction to health spending.

Question reference: S6W-25586

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 1 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional revenue it estimates will be raised by the Budget decision to increase the Intermediate Property Rate by 6.7% in 2024-25, broken down by industry sector.

Table 1 presents the estimated additional gross income from setting the Intermediate Property Rate (IPR) at 54.5p, compared to keeping the IPR the same as in 2023-24, at 51.1p, after General Revaluation Transitional Relief is applied, in 2024-2025. The figures are not adjusted for any other relief. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 30 March 2023, 1 April 2023, and 1 January 2024.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated gross additional revenue from the intermediate property rate (£), after General Revaluation Transitional Relief, 2024-2025

Property class	Estimated additional gross revenue (£)
Shops	5,058,000
Public houses and restaurants	942,000
Offices	4,179,000
Hotels	850,000
Industrial subjects	5,718,000
Leisure and entertainment	1,105,000
Garages and petrol stations	429,000
Cultural	185,000
Sporting subjects	97,000
Education and training	1,796,000
Public service subjects	1,168,000
Communications	89,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	99,000
Petrochemical	24,000
Religious	192,000
Health and medical	617,000
Other	397,000
Care facilities	1,208,000
Advertising	31,000
Statutory undertaking	337,000
All	24,519,000

Question reference: S6W-25587

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 1 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional revenue it estimates will be raised by the Budget decision to increase the Higher Property Rate by 6.7% in 2024-25, broken down by industry sector.

Table 1 presents the estimated additional gross income from setting the Higher Property Rate (HPR) at 55.9p, compared to keeping the HPR the same as in 2023-24 at 52.4p, after General Revaluation Transitional Relief is applied, in 2024-2025. The figures are not adjusted for any other relief. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 30 March 2023, 1 April 2023, and 1 January 2024.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated gross additional revenue from the higher property rate (£), after General Revaluation Transitional Relief, 2024-2025

Property class	Estimated additional gross revenue (£)
Shops	26,176,000
Public houses and restaurants	1,101,000
Offices	19,370,000
Hotels	6,951,000
Industrial subjects	26,652,000
Leisure and entertainment	5,927,000
Garages and petrol stations	1,085,000
Cultural	1,204,000
Sporting subjects	487,000
Education and training	18,672,000
Public service subjects	8,108,000
Communications	892,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	325,000
Petrochemical	4,624,000
Religious	204,000
Health and medical	6,322,000
Other	3,281,000
Care facilities	2,056,000
Advertising	147,000
Statutory undertaking	35,391,000
All	168,975,000

Question reference: S6W-25588

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 1 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish National Party manifesto commitment, what the cost would be in 2024-25 of bringing the Higher Property Rate into line with that in England, broken down by industry sector.

Table 1 presents the estimated cost of setting the Higher Property Rate at 54.6p (the rate at which in England, the Standard multiplier applying to properties with a rateable value equal to or over £51,000, will be set in 2024-2025), compared to 55.9p, after General Revaluation Transitional Relief is applied, in 2024-2025. The figures are not adjusted for any other relief. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 30 March 2023, 1 April 2023, and 1 January 2024.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated cost of reducing the Higher Property Rate to 54.6p (£), adjusted for General Revaluation Transitional Relief, 2024-2025

Property class	Estimated additional gross revenue (£)
Shops	9,722,000
Public houses and restaurants	408,000
Offices	7,195,000
Hotels	2,581,000
Industrial subjects	9,898,000
Leisure and entertainment	2,199,000
Garages and petrol stations	403,000
Cultural	447,000
Sporting subjects	181,000
Education and training	6,935,000
Public service subjects	3,011,000
Communications	331,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	121,000
Petrochemical	1,718,000
Religious	76,000
Health and medical	2,348,000
Other	1,219,000
Care facilities	764,000
Advertising	55,000
Statutory undertaking	13,141,000
All	62,750,000