Chamber and committees

In referring to “financial assistance to commercial activities” the Equality Impact Assessment is in turn referring to Section 2(1) of the Scottish National Investment Bank Bill and that section mirrors what is provided for in Schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998. In this context “Commercial” refers to business activities that are profit-making or aim to be profit-making, carried out by business associations of various types, that the Bank may be interested in providing financial assistance to.

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 .

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Responsibility for maintaining the Council Tax valuation list in Scotland rests with individual local Scottish Assessors – in this case Dunbartonshire and Argyll & Bute Valuation Joint Board.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The draft implementation plan was published as part of the Scottish Government’s correspondence with the Justice Committee during the consideration of the Bill. This is available at https://www.parliament.scot/S5_JusticeCommittee/Inquiries/J-S5-18-VW-31A-SG.pdf .

This plan will be reviewed and updated by the Scottish Government, working closely with our justice sector partners, on a regular basis.

The power in the Vulnerable Witnesses (Criminal Evidence) (Scotland) Bill to extend the new rule requiring the pre-recording of evidence, and the related draft implementation timetable, covers extension to adult deemed vulnerable witnesses (covering victims of sexual offences, domestic abuse, stalking and trafficking offences) in solemn cases.

Extending further to all vulnerable witnesses was considered during the Bill process but it was not progressed as the proposals already presented an ambitious programme of reform. The pre-recording of evidence of people to whom the new rule does not apply continues to be available and can be considered on a case by case basis.