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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1684 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5F-00309

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 26 September 2016
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 September 2016

To ask the First Minister when she will next meet The National Autistic Society Scotland.

Question reference: S5W-02493

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has commissioned on the value and impact of air passenger duty.

The Scottish Government undertook a public consultation between March and June 2016, seeking views on how a Scottish replacement for air passenger duty should be designed and structured to best support our strategic objectives, building on the work of the stakeholder forum which we established in August 2015. Responses to the consultation and an independent analysis of responses have been published on the Scottish Government's website and are available at: https://consult.scotland.gov.uk/fiscal-responsibility/air-passenger-duty

Question reference: S5W-02491

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has commissioned any research since May 2016 on the introduction of a 50p top rate of tax and how this could impact on the country's finances.

The Scottish Government has commissioned no new research since May 2016 into the introduction of a 50p top rate of tax and how this could impact on the country’s finances. In March of this year the First Minister invited the Council of Economic Advisers to consider how, and to what extent, revenue risks associated with differential rates of the additional rate of income tax between Scotland and the rest of the UK can be mitigated. This will contribute to the consideration of the setting of the additional rate of income tax in Draft Budget 2018-19.

Question reference: S5W-02495

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a definition of the (a) investment guarantees and (b) contingent liabilities in the context of the Scottish Growth Scheme that is referred to in its 2016-17 Programme for Government.

Question reference: S5W-02494

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the revenue it will receive from the Apprenticeship Levy will be allocated to the provision of (a) skills and (b) employability support.

Question reference: S5W-02490

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to freeze the basic rate of income tax throughout the fifth parliamentary session.

Question reference: S5W-02492

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how it will provide the “additional investment in high quality public services” that is refered to in its 2016-17 Programme for Government, and whether includes using the tax powers that were made available by the Scotland Act 2016.

As noted in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government 2016-17, the new tax powers delivered by the Scotland Act 2016 will be used to help grow Scotland's economy, promote fairness, and provide additional investment in high quality public services. Specific proposals will be set out in our draft budget 2017-18. Our reforms to the Council Tax will protect household incomes, make local taxation fairer and raise an additional £500 million over the current Parliament which will be provided to head-teachers to invest directly in schools and improve education locally.

Question reference: S5W-02489

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government how its replacement for air passenger duty (APD) will impact on people, broken down by socio-economic class, and how this compares with APD.

Devolution of powers over air passenger duty (APD) provides an opportunity to put in place new arrangements which better support the Scottish Government's objective to boost international connectivity and help generate sustainable growth. The specific impacts associated with the Scottish replacement for APD will be dependent on how a Scottish replacement tax is designed and structured, how our planned 50% reduction in the overall tax burden is implemented and the impact of recent and future changes to UK APD. A Bill to legislate for a replacement APD forms part of the 2016-17 legislative programme and will be introduced to Parliament in due course, along with appropriate impact assessments.

Question reference: S5W-02577

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government what its social advertising budget is for 2016-17.

Question reference: S5W-02488

Asked by: Kezia Dugdale, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 09 September 2016
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 23 September 2016

To ask the Scottish Government whether its replacement for air passenger duty will raise more or less revenue than the existing system.

Devolution of powers over air passenger duty (APD) provides an opportunity to put in place new arrangements which better support the Scottish Government's objective to boost international connectivity and help generate sustainable growth. The Scottish Government is committed to delivering a 50% reduction in the overall burden of air passenger duty by the end of this Parliament, with the reduction beginning in April 2018, and we will work across the Parliament to do so.