Chamber and committees

It is the responsibility of HMRC to identify the Scottish taxpayer population as part of its implementation programme for the Scottish rate of income tax. The Scottish Government is represented on HMRC’s project and programme boards.

The level of risk associated with the identification of Scottish taxpayers is monitored and managed as part of the ongoing programme and project management procedures in place for the implementation of the Scottish rate of income tax by HMRC.

It is the responsibility of HMRC to implement the Scottish rate of income tax. HMRC have provided an outline of its communications strategy for the Scottish rate of income tax to the Finance Committee.

The Scottish Government will propose a Scottish rate of income tax for the consideration of the Scottish Parliament within its draft budget for 2016-17.

Scottish Government is meeting all the costs of HMRC’s implementation programme for the introduction of the Scottish rate of income tax, which includes those associated with communications and publicity related activity.

As outlined in the Draft Budget in 2015-16, we plan to use up to £304 million of borrowing to maximise our infrastructure investment in 2015-16. The borrowing will support the overall capital infrastructure programme rather than be allocated on an individual project basis.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4O-04551 on 9 September 2015 which is available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/report.aspx?r=10070

We are discussing a number of issues through the negotiating of a fiscal framework and I will give an update in due course.

The Joint Exchequer Committee has met on 7 July, 4 September and 23 September 2015. The Joint Exchequer Committee will continue to meet with the intention of reaching agreement on Scotland’s fiscal framework during the autumn.

There are a wide range of oil price forecasts. For example, HM Treasury publishes a monthly summary of independent oil price forecasts for 2016. In the latest publication, the highest oil price forecast is $80 and the lowest is $51.3. 

This time last year the majority of independent forecasters did not predict current oil prices. However, industry is now embracing change and taking action to become more competitive in a lower price environment.

The Scottish Government has also taken action. The First Minister launched the Energy Jobs Taskforce in January 2015 to deliver a co-ordinated response to the issues being faced by the industry, with partners working across the sector both to maintain jobs and to mitigate the potential impact of any losses. 

The Energy Jobs Taskforce has engaged directly with more than 1,700 individuals and over 100 companies to better help those affected move forward into new employment, new ventures, training or education. 

The taskforce progress report was published on 17 September 2015 and provides a summary of the progress to date and the key activities delivered by taskforce members and their respective organisations. The report is available at the following link: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0048/00485317.pdf

The Policy Memorandum published alongside the Scottish Fiscal Commission Bill summarises the policy changes which the Scottish Government has made to the Bill prior to introduction to address issues raised by respondents to our consultation on the Scottish Fiscal Commission.

In particular, the Bill provides for an additional function which allows the Scottish Fiscal Commission to prepare such other reports as it considers appropriate. This change in policy is intended to further strengthen the legislative safeguards for the structural and operational independence of the commission by allowing the commission the freedom to determine its own programme of work.