Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-39082

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 30 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the economic impact of hybrid and remote working policies on city centre economies, and whether it will publish any such data.

The Scottish Government has conducted an evidence review on hybrid working to support decisions on hybrid expectations for its own staff but has not undertaken analysis on the economic impact of hybrid and remote working policies on city centre economies.

The Scottish Government regularly monitors evidence on the prevalence of home or hybrid working through our publication of data from the Office for National Statistics Business Insights and Conditions Survey(BICS). The most recent iteration of data on home or hybrid working (for 19 May to 1 June 2025) indicated that 13.8% of businesses in Scotland are using or intend to use increased homeworking as a permanent business model, rising to 68.5% of businesses in the Information & Communication sector. Around 4 out of 5 businesses (79.6%) that are using or intending to use increased homeworking are doing it because it improves staff wellbeing, while 43.9% indicated that it offered them the ability to recruit from a wider geographical pool in the UK, and 34.4% indicated it supported improved productivity.

Around two thirds of businesses (65.5%) indicated they were not using or intending to use increased home working as a permanent businesses model going forward, with 84.9% of these businesses giving the reason that homeworking is not suitable for their business.

Question reference: S6W-39263

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 6 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38588 by Richard Lochhead on 17 June 2025, whether it will provide comparative data for each year since 2015.

Question reference: S6W-38898

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the current total economic cost associated with autistic adults is, and what percentage of this figure is a result of underemployment or unemployment.

We do not hold the specific information requested. However, a 2018 report suggested that, in financial year 2013-14, the total economic cost associated with autistic adults in Scotland was £2.1 billion. Of this, £884 million, or 41.6%, was attributed to productivity loss, a metric which could be interpreted as representing underemployment and/or unemployment.

Scotland’s Census 2022 provides data on the number of people aged 16-64 who were unemployed in 2022, and reported having ‘one or more learning disability, learning difficulty or developmental disorder’. This includes autistic adults, but is not specific to them.

In 2016, we committed to halving the Disability Employment Gap. Our 2018 publication, A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan, outlined the initial steps towards achieving this goal by 2038. Several of these actions have since been incorporated into our refreshed Fair Work Action Plan: Becoming a Fair Work Nation by 2025, published in December 2022. This refreshed plan aims to improve employment opportunities for individuals facing a structural barriers to the labour market, with input from disabled people and their representative organisations.

Question reference: S6W-38794

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 3 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have used or are seeking to use their powers under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to adjust non-domestic rates, broken down by financial year.

All local authorities have used their powers under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to adjust non-domestic rates.

Table 1 shows relief awarded under section 3A of the Local Government (Financial Provisions etc.) (Scotland) Act 1962, as inserted by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, by local authority. Since 1 April 2023, relief for unoccupied properties (often referred to as Empty Property Relief) has been devolved to individual councils. To aid interpretation, local relief awards for 2023-2024 therefore also show the value of local reliefs excluding reliefs for unoccupied properties. Figures are presented to the nearest thousand and may not sum due to rounding.

[a] This negative figure is due to a correction to previously reported figures.

[b] These figures are currently unavailable due to software issues.

Data sources: Non-domestic rates income audited returns for 2016-2017 to 2022-2023. For 2023-2024, the latest available data (whether from the notified return, in the case of 12 councils, or audited return, for 20 councils) was used, though for all except one, the audited did not differ from the notified return.

Table 1: Local relief awards by council area, 2016-2017 to 2023-2024, £000

Council area	2016-2017	2017-2018	2018-2019	2019-2020	2020-2021	2021-2022	2022-2023	2023-2024 (all local reliefs)	2023-2024 (excluding reliefs for unoccupied properties)
Aberdeen City	0	1,740	0	0	0	0	0	3,776	0
Aberdeenshire	0	2,140	0	39	23	-33 [a]	0	2,810	0
Angus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	920	0
Argyll & Bute	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	876	0
Clackmannanshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	414	0
City of Edinburgh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	16,817	0
Dumfries & Galloway	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,241	0
Dundee City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,293	0
East Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	939	0
East Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	276	0
East Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	625	0
East Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	142	0
Falkirk	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,270	0
Fife	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4,880	0
Glasgow City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	24,885	0
Highland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,197	0
Inverclyde	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	309	0
Midlothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	678	0
Moray	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	484	0
Na h-Eileanan Siar	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	74	0
North Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,646	0
North Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,881	0
Orkney Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	[b]	[b]
Perth & Kinross	124	0	30	0	0	0	0	1,155	0
Renfrewshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,548	0
Scottish Borders	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,284	0
Shetland Islands	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	143	0
South Ayrshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1,498	0
South Lanarkshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2,365	0
Stirling	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	229	0
West Dunbartonshire	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	245	0
West Lothian	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3,062	0
Scotland Total	124	3,880	30	39	0	-33	0	80,962	0

Green Freeport relief is available for properties within the tax sites of Green Freeports in Scotland from the date of tax site designation, which was in 2024-25 for both Green Freeports. Local authorities will deliver this relief under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 powers and will be reimbursed by Scottish Government for any awards of this relief.

Investment Zone relief for properties within tax sites of Investment Zones in Scotland will be delivered under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 powers, in a similar manner to the Green Freeport relief.

Question reference: S6W-38902

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 20 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 1 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how many small and medium-sized businesses have returned to their pre-COVID-19 pandemic profit levels, and how the value of those businesses compares with pre-pandemic levels.

Data is available on the share of SME employers that report a profit. These estimates, sourced from the Small Business Survey, are shown in Table 1. In 2019, 78% of SME employers in Scotland reported generating a profit, this fell to 70% in 2020, with the latest data for 2023 putting the share back at 78%.

Table 1: Taking into account all sources of income in the last financial year, did you generate a profit or surplus? – SME Employers - Scotland

Business Response	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Yes	78%	70%	74%	82%	78%
No	17%	24%	21%	15%	19%
Don't know	4%	5%	5%	3%	2%
Refused	1%	1%	[low]	1%	1%
Scotland	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%

Source: Small Business Survey Scotland

Notes:

1.SMEs are Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, that is businesses with fewer than 250 employees.

2.Some shorthand is used in this table: [low] = values between 0 and 0.5.

3.Totals may not sum due to rounding.

Data is also available on private sector SME turnover. These estimates, sourced from the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR), are shown in Table 2. Note that there is an approximate two-year lag associated with the turnover data on the IDBR so, for example, the turnover data extracted from the IDBR in March 2024 is for 2022. The data in Table 2 puts SME turnover at £143.5 billion in 2022, which is 19% above the pre-pandemic level (£120.5 billion in 2019). However, it’s important to note that the turnover values are not adjusted for inflation. In terms of the SME share of private sector turnover; this fell to around 40% in the pandemic but has since returned to around 42% in the latest years for which data are available.

Table 2: SME turnover – Scotland

IDBR Extract Date	Approx. Turnover Date	SME Turnover (£m)	SME share of private sector turnover
Mar 2019	2017	116,708	41.5%
Mar 2020	2018	119,998	41.2%
Mar 2021	2019	120,515	40.3%
Mar 2022	2020	110,593	40.2%
Mar 2023	2021	122,872	42.4%
Mar 2024	2022	143,491	41.7%

Source: Inter-Departmental Business Register, Businesses in Scotland: 2024 - gov.scot

Notes:

1.Excludes central and local government.

2.SMEs are Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, that is businesses with fewer than 250 employees.

3.Turnover for Financial and Insurance Activities businesses are not available on a comparable basis. Totals exclude turnover of such businesses.

4.Turnover values are in current prices, they are not adjusted for inflation.

Question reference: S6W-38795

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 1 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage more local authorities to consider and utilise their existing powers under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to adjust non-domestic rates.

The original policy intent of the powers under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 was to support local decision making around non-domestic rates reliefs. Local authorities are independent bodies, and it is for local authorities themselves to consider whether to use those powers. However, the Scottish Government includes information on these powers in its non-domestic rates relief guidance issued to local authorities annually, and routinely works with councils and the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation to ensure those powers are clearly understood.

Question reference: S6W-38793

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 1 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what powers local authorities have under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to reduce non-domestic rates, and when any such powers came into effect.

Under Part 11 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, local authorities have very broad powers to reduce or remit any non-domestic rates bill for a property in their area. This part of the Act came into force on 31 October 2015.

Before using these powers, the local authority must take into consideration the council’s expenditure and income, as well as the interests of council tax payers. The local authority must also ensure that any use of the powers complies with obligations including those under the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and other international commitments.

Question reference: S6W-38700

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 27 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many care homes have closed in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (a) local authority area and (b) how many residents were affected by any closures.

In regards to part A of the question, there is no definitive list of closed care homes. The Care Inspectorate publish information relating to ‘Service Cancellations and Registrations’ in their quarterly statistical reports. The most recent version was published on 9 May 2025, which can be accessed via the following link:

https://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/publications-statistics/182-statistics-and-data/statistics/quarterly-statistical-reports

This includes “care home services for older people, children & young people, mental health, alcohol & drugs misuse, learning disabilities and respite services.” The number of services that have been cancelled are available in the cancelled services column in the publication table.

It is important to note that in some cases the services listed as cancelled may have been re-registered under a different business name and care service number.

This data does not provide a breakdown to local authority or regional level, this is not available.

As regards part B of the question, no data is available on the number of residents affected by cancelled services. For more information we would suggest contacting Health and Social Care Partnerships to request this data for each area.

Question reference: S6W-38644

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) business management teachers there are and (b) schools do not currently offer the subject, broken down by local authority.

Data on full-time equivalent (FTE) secondary teachers by main and other subject taught is available in the Teacher Census Supplementary Statistics, here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/teacher-census-supplementary-statistics/

Information is not held on the subjects offered by individual schools as schools may be able to offer a subject even if they do not have a teacher for that subject in the staff census, for example through school-school or school-college partnerships.

Question reference: S6W-38701

Asked by: Jamie Greene, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent through public procurement in each of the last five years, broken down by (a) supplier location and (b) how much went to (i) small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and (ii) larger enterprises.

Using the data published from the ‘Annual Report on Procurement Activity in Scotland’ the following table provides spend from the last available five years, broken down by supplier location and size. These figures are derived from the Scottish Procurement Information Hub - Scottish Government’s spend analytics shared service.

Public Procurement Spend : Supplier Location and Supplier Size Spend

Financial year	Total Spend	Spend within Scotland	Spend not registered within Scotland	Total SME spend	Total Large spend
2022-2023	£16.6 billion	£8.9 billion	£7.7 billion	£7.1 billion	£7.9 billion
2021-2022	£16 billion	£8.9 billion	£7.1 billion	£6.4 billion	£8.1 billion
2020-2021	£14.5 billion	£8.3 billion	£6.2 billion	£5.5 billion	£7.2 billion
2019-2020	£13.3 billion	£7.4 billion	£5.9 billion	£5.4 billion	£6.3 billion
2018-2019	£12.6 billion	£6.9 billion	£5.7 billion	£5.2 billion	£5.9 billion

Supplier location is based on the registered invoice postcode of the supplier. Supplier size is based only on number of employees where known. SMEs are defined as those with fewer than 250 employees. Due to incomplete or unavailable supplier invoice data; employee size cannot be accurately determined for some spend resulting in the SME and Large Spend totals being less than the total spend figure.

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