Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government will bring forward our proposals for the future of local taxation, as the Commission on Local Tax Reform also encouraged all political parties to do, before the end of the parliamentary term.

Although the funding of education is a matter for individual local authorities, the Scottish Government continues to prioritise the protection of teacher numbers as a central part of our priority to raise attainment in education.

We are determined to create a world class education system which ensures that all of Scotland’s children and young people have a fair chance to flourish. Closing the attainment gap in educational outcomes is key to our ambition of creating a fairer Scotland and the 2016-17 Draft Budget plans will help achieve that.

The UK Government’s continued austerity programme has reduced Scotland's public finances and the financial context created by the damaging cuts of the UK Government mean that all public organisations must operate more efficiently to protect public services.

As a percentage of total revenue expenditure, next year’s reduction in local authority budgets in Scotland is two per cent. While I do not pretend that this is easy for any council to handle, Scotland's councils are able to address these challenges from a strong base. This is because in recent years local government funding has been rising in Scotland.

Within the local government finance settlement, we are committed to making sure councils have the right number and highest quality of teachers in our schools. That is why we have invested a further £51 million to maintain teacher numbers across Scotland for another year – as well as funding for probationer placements. Over and above the local government settlement we are providing £33 million to raise attainment right across Scotland, including focused support for children from our most disadvantaged communities.

Our ambition to create a fairer Scotland goes hand in hand with our efforts to tackle inequality. We are determined to dismantle the barriers which prevent under-represented groups from participating fully in daily and public life.

Currently, the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to introduce mandatory targets or quotas to achieve increased diversity of political representation in Scotland.

Therefore we are working with representatives from the women’s movement – including Women 50:50 – the disability movement, and minority ethnic and LGBTI communities to identify how we can address their under-representation in politics and in public life. An initial meeting took place in November 2015 and a second meeting is scheduled for February 2016.

We have provided funding from the Equality Fund and the Community Empowerment Fund to support disabled people to participate in politics. The Access to Politics for Disabled People project will offer a programme of direct, practical (non-financial) support to disabled candidates standing for any party or as independent in the 2016 election, to prospective candidates for the 2017 local government elections. The project will be run by Inclusion Scotland, on a pilot basis until March 2016.

This builds on previous work commissioned by the Scottish Government (both delivered by Inclusion Scotland) to explore barriers to elected office for disabled people, and how to address them. This included a pilot parliamentary internship scheme which aimed to open up access to politics for disabled people, and increase employability.

The Scottish Government is working in close partnership with Coalition for Racial Equality and Rights to develop a new race equality framework for Scotland, which will set out the government’s approach to promoting race equality and tackling racism and inequality between 2016 and 2030.

The framework will set out how the Scottish Government will work in partnership with its agencies and other key stakeholders to address a wide range of opportunities for progress in six key areas of work, including participation and representation. The Scottish Government is considering a specific action to increase diversity of political representation for inclusion in the framework.

It will be for an incoming administration later this year to decide upon future spending plans. However, if re-elected in May 2016, this government's commitments include real terms increases in the NHS budget and real terms protection to the frontline police resource budget for the duration of the next parliamentary session.

The Draft Budget 2016-17 provides a full breakdown of portfolio budgets, including Education and Lifelong Learning, in both cash and real terms.

The Oil and Gas Analytical Bulletin in June 2015 did not contain Scottish Government oil price forecasts. All oil price forecasts reported in the bulletin were produced by the Office for Budget Responsibility as part of their March 2015 economic and fiscal outlook.

There is a cash reduction in the total DEL resources available to the Scottish Government in 2015-16 compared to 2016-17, taking into account the HM Treasury allocation and factors such as the reduction in the ring fenced non-cash DEL budget that covers the costs of student loans and the addition in 2015-16 of resources carried forward by the Scottish Government through the budget exchange arrangements.

As I set out in my 2016-17 Draft Budget statement to Parliament on 16 December 2015, the Scottish Government will bring forward plans for reform of the present council tax, reflecting the principles of the Commission on Local Tax Reform’s report; enter into a consultation with local government about the possible future assignation of a proportion of income tax receipts, thereby giving local authorities an incentive to boost economic growth in their areas; and launch a review of the non-domestic rates system in Scotland, before the end of the current parliamentary term.

As I announced to the Parliament on 16 December 2015, the Scottish Government will set out its intentions with regard to income tax ahead of the dissolution of Parliament at the end of March 2016. This is, however, subject to reaching an agreement with the UK Government on a new fiscal framework to support the Scotland Bill 2015.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-29237 on 22 January 2016. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx.