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-20029

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what progress it has made on bringing forward proposals to reform local government finance in the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S4W-20032

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has contributed to funding the council tax freeze, broken down by year.

Question reference: S4W-20031

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what the average increase will be for each council tax band when the council tax freeze ends.

Question reference: S4W-20030

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether the council tax freeze will remain in place for the remainder of the current parliamentary session.

Question reference: S4W-20034

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 13 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the council tax freeze to be sustainable.

Question reference: S4W-19979

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what options it has considered regarding the division of state-owned assets in an independent Scotland using a form of so-called sterlingisation.

Question reference: S4W-19978

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government what estimates it has made of the initial debt of an independent Scotland.

An independent Scotland’s share of the UK national debt, and our share of UK national assets, including the Bank of England, would be part of a negotiated settlement between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Scotland’s Future sets out two possible scenarios for Scotland’s share of UK national debt: a population share, and a share based on Scotland’s historic contribution made to the UK’s public finances.

Scotland’s Future shows that under either option, Scotland would have a lower debt to GDP ratio than the UK as a whole upon independence in 2016-17.

Question reference: S4W-19977

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 03 March 2014
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 12 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government, if an independent Scotland did not achieve a currency union with the rest of the UK, whether it would pay Scotland's share of the UK debt and, if so, what the timescale for repayment would be.

The Scottish Government position is to retain Sterling within a formal monetary union with the rest of the UK.

The first report of the Fiscal Commission Working Group in February 2013 set out the range of viable currency and monetary models for a country of Scotland’s size and economic strength, and concluded that a formal sterling area is the best option for Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom in the event of Scottish independence. This position was re-stated following their recent meeting on 6 March 2014.

Scotland's Future set out that upon independence Scotland will accept a fair share of the existing UK debt. The amount of the debt that we accept will be subject to negotiations. We will also be entitled to a fair share of UK assets.

Under any realistic scenario, Scotland’s projected share of the UK debt as a percentage of Scotland’s GDP will be less than the debt of the rest of the UK expressed in the same terms.

Question reference: S4W-19712

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 3 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities would control a scheme to offset the so-called bedroom tax in the event that the discretionary housing payments cap is not removed and, if so, how funds for this would be allocated, broken down by local authority.

Question reference: S4W-19711

Asked by: Margaret McDougall, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 February 2014
Current Status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 3 March 2014

To ask the Scottish Government when it would implement a scheme to offset the so-called bedroom tax in the event that the discretionary housing payments cap is not removed.