Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S4W-25948

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to issue bonds under new borrowing powers devolved on 1 April 2015.

The Scottish Government will continue to evaluate each of the options for capital borrowing and will in due course take a decision on which method or methods to use based on the prevailing economic conditions. A revised fiscal framework and enhanced capital borrowing powers are currently subject to negotiation with the UK Government. Once the detail of the revised fiscal framework is known, and changes to Scottish Government borrowing powers are made clearer, a decision on the timing of any potential bond issue will follow.

Question reference: S4W-25950

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to use new borrowing powers in 2015-16.

Question reference: S4W-25960

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-25734 by John Swinney on 3 June 2015, whether the "near future" means before the summer recess.

Question reference: S4W-25962

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 16 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-25728 by John Swinney on 3 June 2015 and given that transactions may be seasonal, what the monthly breakdown is for the forecast revenue for the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.

Question reference: S4F-02888

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4W-25888

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 15 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will make up the shortfall in discretionary housing payments caused by the Department for Work and Pensions' announced 25% reduction in funding for 2015-16.

<>There has been a 12% reduction (£1.9 million) in the overall funding from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for discretionary housing payments (DHPs) in Scotland in 2015-16. The element of funding for the bedroom tax has not been reduced and the Scottish Government has added a further £35 million in DHP funding to cover all bedroom tax losses in 2015-16. There is no commitment to cover the DWP’s reductions in the other elements of DHP funds i.e. core, local housing allowance and benefit cap.

Question reference: S4W-25889

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 June 2015
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 15 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what assistance it is giving to private sector tenants affected by the so-called bedroom tax.

<>The bedroom tax applies to working age households in the social rented sector. The amount of housing benefit or housing element of universal credit paid to tenants in the private sector is determined by local housing allowance rates. Private sector households experiencing financial hardship may apply to their local authority for a discretionary payment from the Scottish Welfare Fund or for a discretionary housing payment.

Question reference: S4O-04477

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S4W-25821

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 29 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4F-02821 by Nicola Sturgeon on 28 May 2015 (Official Report, c. 20), what assessment has been made of the cost of forestalling in relation to the land and buildings transaction tax and the specific sum sought from the UK Government.

Scottish Government officials continue to work with the UK Government colleagues to estimate the likely impact of forestalling on UK Government revenues from Stamp Duty Land Tax in 2014-15 and on Scottish Government revenues from the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in 2015-16. The Scottish Government’s estimates will be subject to review by the Scottish Fiscal Commission. This analytical work will form the basis of a negotiation and agreement between Scottish and UK Ministers on the additional funding to be transferred to the Scottish Budget in 2015-16.

Question reference: S4W-25785

Asked by: Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 May 2015
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 9 June 2015

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the House of Commons research paper published on 20 May 2015 that found that Scotland received almost £1,600 per head more in public spending than England in 2014-15 as a result of the Barnett formula.

The House of Commons research paper demonstrates the strengths of the Scottish economy. Scotland’s employment rate is higher than the other three countries of the UK, and even when North Sea revenue is excluded, Scotland’s output per head is close to the UK average and ranks third of the 12 UK regions behind only London and the South East. Furthermore, Scotland has generated more tax per head than the UK as a whole in each of the last 34 years.

All parties have signed up to the continuation of the Barnett formula as part of The Smith Commission agreement. The Scottish Government has no control over the operation or design of the Barnett formula but with the current structure of the formula, Scotland has already seen real terms cuts to its fiscal DEL budget of 9 per cent over the five years to 2015-16 and faces the risk of further cuts being announced in the emergency UK budget next month.