Chamber and committees

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W -23163 on 29 May 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

In addition to traditional measures of financial performance, the Bank will measure societal value through a range of indicators, aligned to the National Performance Framework, covering the economic, social and environmental impact of its activity.

I refer the member to the answer to S5W-23163 on 29 May 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx .

Initial capitalisation of the Bank will be provided through Financial Transactions, a form of capital budget allocated by HM Treasury to the Scottish Government which can only be deployed as loans or equity investment for activities undertaken by a non-public sector body. Financial Transactions can be provided to social enterprises, third sector and cooperatives. For example, Financial Transactions have been used to fund housing provision by affordable housing providers, like housing associations.

The Scottish Government is providing an initial £490 million of capital in the form of Financial Transactions through the £150 million Building Scotland Fund (over 2018-21) and a further £340 million (over 2019-21) for other pre-cursor Bank investments. These commitments were announced in the 2018-19 draft budget. Further capitalisation of the Bank will be made from future Scottish budgets.

UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax forms are returned on a company-by-company basis, with one tax return for all their business in the UK. There is therefore no historic data on APD receipts or passengers paying APD in Scotland.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) produces an illustrative forecast of Scotland's share of UK APD revenues.This uses Civil Aviation Authority departing passenger survey data and UK GDP growth and inflation forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility to estimate the number of passengers exempt from the tax and to calculate the tax paid by the remaining chargeable passengers.

The most recent illustrative forecast was set out in the SFC’s December 2018 Scotland's Economic and Fiscal Forecasts (Table 3.43 - p149) : http://www.fiscalcommission.scot/publications/scotlands-economic-and-fiscal-forecasts/scotlands-economic-and-fiscal-forecasts-december-2018/ .

Note that the 2017-16 Figure for APD is not classed as outturn data, it is an estimate of the Scottish share of tax receipts.

Updated forecasts are due to be published on 30 May 2019.

The introduction of Air Departure Tax in Scotland has been deferred until the issues raised in relation to the Highlands and Islands exemption have been resolved. In the interim the current UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates and bands continue to apply in Scotland, and HMRC will continue to administer and collect APD across the UK.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission produced an illustrative forecast of Scotland's share of UK APD revenues in December 2018. The forecast for the fiscal year 2019-20 was £312 million, and for 2020-21 was £322 million.

Updated forecasts are due to be published on 30 May 2019.

The introduction of Air Departure Tax (ADT) in Scotland has been deferred until the issues raised in relation to the Highlands and Islands exemption have been resolved. In the interim the current UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates and bands continue to apply in Scotland, and HMRC will continue to administer and collect APD across the UK. There will be no impact on the Scottish Budget and no Block Grant Adjustment for APD while the introduction of ADT in Scotland is deferred.

Only once the devolution of the tax is complete, and ADT is collected in Scotland by Revenue Scotland, will APD be 'switched off' and the Block Grant will be reduced every year to reflect the transfer of this power to the Scottish Government. This 'Block Grant Adjustment' (BGA) will be based on the forecast UK Government receipts in Scotland in the year prior to devolution of that tax and an indexation mechanism using growth in UK Government APD revenue growth per head.

There is a global climate emergency and we are acting accordingly. We acted immediately on the Committee for Climate Change advice with amendments to the Bill to set a net-zero target for 2045 and increase the targets for 2030 (to 70%) and 2040 (90%). We will update the Climate Change Plan within 6 months of the Bill receiving Royal Assent. This Scottish Government, will be placing climate change at the heart of everything we do and I can confirm that it will be at the core of our next Programme for Government. Policy reviews will feed into the process of development of the Programme for Government and the update to the Climate Change Plan.

Following updated advice from the UK Committee on Climate Change on 2 May, the Scottish Government acted immediately by lodging amendments to our Climate Change Bill to set a net-zero emissions target for 2045 and increase the targets for 2030 and 2040. The Scottish Government is now reviewing a range of policies, across our whole range of responsibilities, to ensure that we do all we can to support the public sector, businesses, communities and individuals to meet our shared climate responsibilities. We have taken the difficult decision that reducing Air Departure Tax is no longer compatible with more ambitious climate targets.

The Scottish Government believes in fair taxation policy for all individuals and businesses. Responsibility over corporation tax is reserved to Westminster. The Scottish Government therefore has no power to legislate in this area but we urge the UK Government to include consideration of environmental impacts, as part of its tax policy-making.