- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 28 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions or correspondence it has had with the UK Government regarding Scotland’s contribution to UK international development funds that "improve the lives of people living in extreme poverty" being used to fund a post at the Department for International Development in East Kilbride to communicate the benefits of the union to the Scottish public.
Answer
Like those in other parts of the UK, Scottish taxpayers contribute to the UK Government’s international development work, which is delivered through the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and also a number of other UK Government departments including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Scottish Government’s own £9 million per annum International Development Fund budget, focussed on our seven priority countries including Malawi, comes from the Scottish Consolidated Fund.
The UK Government has not discussed nor raised in correspondence with the Scottish Government the use of UK international development funds to fund a post at the DFID in East Kilbride to communicate the benefits of the union to the Scottish public.
The Scottish Government would be concerned if the salary for a post to communicate the benefits of the union to the Scottish public was to come from the DFID administration budget, when that international development budget itself counts towards the UK Government’s target of spending 0.7% of gross national income on overseas development assistance.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that “the Scotland Bill will fully implement the all-party Smith Agreement which considered what further powers should be devolved to Scotland” as indicated on the Scotland Office website.
Answer
The Scottish Government shares the concerns of the Devolution Further Powers Committee that the Bill in its current form does not fulfil the Smith Agreement. On 8 June 2015 the Scottish Government published amendments which would fully implement the recommendations of the Smith Commission, and these amendments have been discussed with the UK Government. The Scottish Government now expects the UK Government to share with us their proposals for amendments for further discussion between the governments prior to the next stage of the Bill’s passage in the Commons. Progress on these amendments will be required for the Bill to meet the terms of the Smith Agreement.
Full implementation of the Smith Agreement is also reliant on agreement of a fiscal framework between the Scottish and UK governments. Discussion on the fiscal framework is continuing alongside the passage of the Scotland Bill. The Scottish Government has made clear it will only support a legislative consent motion if there is a satisfactory fiscal framework agreed between the Scottish and United Kingdom governments.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the (a) welfare, (b) employment support and (c) Crown Estate provisions in the Scotland Bill fully deliver the Smith Commission agreement.
Answer
Scottish Government does not consider that these provisions in the Scotland Bill fully deliver the Smith Commission agreement. On 8 June 2015 the Scottish Government published amendments to the Bill that would implement Smith Commission recommendations in these specific areas.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions or correspondence it has had with the UK Government regarding the future of HMRC operations in East Kilbride, given the impact on jobs.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not had formal correspondence from HMRC about its operations in East Kilbride. As part of the civil service local arrangements, Scottish Government resourcing works routinely with colleagues across UK departments to ensure that staff displaced from any location are considered for positions in other departments and administrations.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the number of people employed by HMRC in East Kilbride.
Answer
The following information on HMRC employment in Scotland is provided in the Offshore Northern Seas 2014 statistics release on civil service employment. This is not broken down by building or otherwise by location in Scotland.
HMRC – 8960 staff.
HMRC valuation office – 60 staff
Total: 9020 civil servants
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 17 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its contribution to Department for International Development (DfID) funding, what information it has on the number of people employed at DfID in East Kilbride.
Answer
Like those in other parts of the UK, Scottish taxpayers contribute to the UK Government’s international development work, which is delivered through the UK DfID, and also a number of other UK Government departments including the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Scottish Government’s own £9 million per annum International Development Fund budget, focussed on our seven priority countries including Malawi, comes from the Scottish Consolidated Fund.
The Scottish Government does not hold information on staffing numbers at DfID in East Kilbride, other than that which is already available publicly.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions or correspondence it has had with the UK Government regarding HMRC’s report, Building our Future, in relation to the proposed regional centres.
Answer
The Scottish Government has not had formal correspondence from HMRC in this regard. The Scottish Government resourcing team regularly discuss staffing matters through their engagement with the Civil Service Local Co-ordinator Group for Whitehall Departments based in Scotland.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 07 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the cost of the Scotland Office’s publicity campaign to promote the view of the Secretary of State for Scotland that “the Scotland Bill will fully implement the all-party Smith Agreement which considered what further powers should be devolved to Scotland” as indicated on the Scotland Office website.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not have any information on the cost of Scotland Office publicity activity on the Scotland Bill.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by Alasdair Allan on 17 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it gives to local authorities in relation to independent adjudication under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.
Answer
On receipt of a request for referral to independent adjudication, the Scottish Government provides local authorities with the application and a non-statutory guidance document on dispute resolution specifically tailored for education authorities. In addition, the supporting children’s learning code of practice provides guidance on dispute resolution under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.
- Asked by: Linda Fabiani, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2015
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 17 September 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what the annual cost is of servicing each (a) NHS, (b) education and (c) justice portfolio PFI/PPP project in the East Kilbride parliamentary constituency.
Answer
Information relating to PPP/PFI contracts and the associated unitary payments is available from the Scottish Government website under ‘Unitary Payment Charges’ by way of the following link: www.scotland.gov.uk.