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: S3W-37204

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 11 November 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will engage with HM Treasury to ensure that any money in end year flexibility at the end of 2010-11 is available to the Scottish Government’s budget in the future.

We have consistently argued for full and unfettered access to end year flexibility (EYF) and will continue to engage with HM Treasury to ensure that Scotland''s interests are fully recognised and protected in whatever new system replaces EYF in 2011-12.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer has offered the devolved governments an alternative means of accessing any planned underspends which are declared in sufficient time to be included in the Treasury''s spring supplementary estimate. A corresponding increase would then be made to the departmental expenditure limit in the following year. This will apply to any underspends declared with effect from the end of 2010-11.

Question reference: S3W-37160

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 28 October 2010
Current Status: Answered by Jim Mather on 9 November 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what support it and its agencies have given the computer games industry since 2007.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the games industry in Scotland. Through Scottish Enterprise we have provided £450,000 in financial support for companies. We have also invested £3 million in the Centre of Excellence for Games Development Education at Abertay University, and helped to fund state of the art facilities in Glasgow and Dundee. The Digital IP Fund, managed by Creative Scotland, was launched in 2009, and since this time has invested £1.4 million in digital media companies.

Question reference: S3O-11794

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 November 2010
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 4 November 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made regarding the Dundee Victoria and Albert Museum project.

The Victoria and Albert at Dundee partnership has made significant progress on developing proposals for the project including an extensive business case and business plan. I congratulate the partnership on the highly successful exhibition in Dundee of the architectural competition and on making the selection of a preferred bidder for the architectural and design work, announced on 3 November 2010. The Scottish Government has provided financial support for these developments. We remain committed to making a significant capital contribution to the project, which I hope to announce following the conclusion of the Spending Review.

Question reference: S3W-36495

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 September 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the increase in each council tax band would be in each local authority if the funding for a council tax freeze was withdrawn.

The setting of the council tax is the responsibility of each local authority. However, the following table illustrates the increase in each council tax band for each local authority if the funding for the council tax freeze was withdrawn. It has been assumed that the council tax would have increased by the equivalent of the £70 million per annum provided by the Scottish Government over the period
2008-11.

Increase in 2010-11 Council Tax Levels if the Council Tax Freeze Money was Withdrawn

	Band A	Band B	Band C	Band D	Band E	Band F	Band G	Band H
Valuation Band Range	Under £27,000	£27,001 to £35,000	£35,001 to £45,000	£45,001 to £58,000	£58,001 to £80,000	£80,001 to £106,000	£106,001 to £212,000	£212,001 and over
Ratio to Band D	6/9	7/9	8/9	1	11/9	13/9	15/9	18/9
Aberdeen City	77.83	90.80	103.77	116.74	142.68	168.62	194.56	233.48
Aberdeenshire	72.17	84.20	96.23	108.26	132.31	156.37	180.43	216.51
Angus	67.81	79.11	90.41	101.71	124.31	146.92	169.52	203.42
Argyll and Bute	74.51	86.93	99.35	111.77	136.61	161.44	186.28	223.54
Clackmannanshire	72.61	84.72	96.82	108.92	133.13	157.33	181.54	217.84
Dumfries and Galloway	66.35	77.41	88.47	99.53	121.65	143.76	165.88	199.06
Dundee City	76.60	89.37	102.13	114.90	140.43	165.97	191.50	229.80
East Ayrshire	75.21	87.74	100.28	112.81	137.88	162.95	188.02	225.62
East Dunbartonshire	72.23	84.26	96.30	108.34	132.41	156.49	180.56	216.68
East Lothian	70.69	82.47	94.26	106.04	129.60	153.17	176.73	212.08
East Renfrewshire	71.22	83.09	94.96	106.83	130.58	154.32	178.06	213.67
Edinburgh, City of	73.94	86.27	98.59	110.91	135.56	160.21	184.86	221.83
Eilean Siar	64.77	75.57	86.36	97.16	118.75	140.34	161.93	194.31
Falkirk	67.68	78.96	90.24	101.52	124.08	146.64	169.20	203.04
Fife	70.72	82.50	94.29	106.08	129.65	153.22	176.79	212.15
Glasgow City	76.73	89.51	102.30	115.09	140.66	166.24	191.81	230.18
Highland	73.56	85.82	98.08	110.34	134.87	159.39	183.91	220.69
Inverclyde	75.78	88.41	101.04	113.67	138.92	164.18	189.44	227.33
Midlothian	76.54	89.29	102.05	114.80	140.32	165.83	191.34	229.61
Moray	71.79	83.76	95.72	107.69	131.62	155.55	179.48	215.38
North Ayrshire	72.87	85.01	97.16	109.30	133.59	157.88	182.17	218.60
North Lanarkshire	69.45	81.03	92.60	104.18	127.33	150.48	173.63	208.36
Orkney Islands	65.59	76.53	87.46	98.39	120.25	142.12	163.98	196.78
Perth and Kinross	73.25	85.45	97.66	109.87	134.29	158.70	183.12	219.74
Renfrewshire	73.67	85.95	98.23	110.51	135.06	159.62	184.18	221.01
Scottish Borders	68.57	79.99	91.42	102.85	125.70	148.56	171.42	205.70
Shetland Islands	66.61	77.71	88.81	99.91	122.11	144.31	166.51	199.82
South Ayrshire	72.99	85.16	97.32	109.49	133.82	158.15	182.48	218.97
South Lanarkshire	69.64	81.25	92.86	104.46	127.68	150.89	174.10	208.92
Stirling	77.35	90.24	103.13	116.02	141.80	167.58	193.36	232.04
West Dunbartonshire	73.56	85.82	98.08	110.34	134.87	159.39	183.91	220.69
West Lothian	71.35	83.24	95.13	107.02	130.81	154.59	178.37	214.05

Question reference: S3W-35646

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 August 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 August 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total cost was of the (a) recent Independent Budget Review Panel chaired by Crawford Beveridge and (b) Independent Budget Review Group chaired by Bill Howat and how much was paid in (i) remuneration and (ii) expenses to the members of each.

The estimated total cost of the Independent Budget Review Panel, chaired by Crawford W Beveridge CBE, which published its report on 29 July 2010, was as follows:

	£
Members'' remuneration:	NIL
Members'' expenses:	approximately £2,000
Costs of design, printing, publication, launch and media support:	approximately £22,000
Total:	approximately £24,000

Note: final costs have yet to be processed, and the figures provided represent a best estimate as at the date of this answer.

The total cost of the Budget Review Group, chaired by Bill Howat, of which the report was released on 24 May 2007, was as follows:

	£
Members'' remuneration:	£124,629.60
Members'' expenses:	£9,676.92
Costs of design, printing, publication, launch and media support:	NIL
Total cost:	£134,306.52

Note: No printing, publication or launch costs were incurred. The report of the Budget Review Group, completed in July 2006, was released following the change of administration in May 2007 as a web-only publication.

In the case of each review, all Scottish Government staff costs were met from within existing resources. Time incurred by Scottish Government staff in providing secretariat and technical support for each of the two review process was not separately quantified.

Question reference: S3W-35586

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 August 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 August 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s decision to continue with the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions by 0.5% from 2011 will be to (a) each NHS board, (b) each local authority and (c) the remainder of the Scottish block grant in each year from 2011-12.

The calculation of the impact of the 1% employers NIC increase across the whole public sector is a complex one and unfortunately we cannot split the cost of the NIC increase down to each local authority and NHS board as the basis of our calculation has been on the staffing levels across individual sectors. Our current best estimate is that the 1% increase in NIC will cost the Scottish Government around £50 million a year from 2011-12 after taking account of the increase in the NIC threshold.

Therefore the estimated additional costs for each sector across the Scottish public sector are in the order of £18 million for NHS, £26 million for local government, £5 million for the police and fire services and £0.5 million for the Scottish Government Administration Budget.

Question reference: S3W-35587

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 August 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 26 August 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what estimates have been made of the impact on the Scottish economy of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s decision to continue with the increase in employers’ national insurance contributions by 0.5% from 2011 and how much this is expected to remove from the Scottish economy.

The UK Government''s plans will increase the overall UK tax burden by £18 billion in 2011-12. This includes increasing both employee and employer national insurance contribution rates by 1%. Whilst the impact on employers will be partly offset by the accompanying increase in the employer national insurance threshold, the rise is still projected to cost the Scottish public sector £50 million next year. By raising staff costs for firms across Scotland the higher contribution rate could threaten jobs at a time when the Scottish labour market and the economic recovery remain fragile.

Question reference: S3O-11006

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what representation it has made to the Israeli Government following the Israeli boarding of the flotilla delivering aid to Gaza.

Question reference: S3W-35025

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 1 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the financial results were of the accelerated capital programme undertaken in 2009-10.

The accelerated capital programme is a central element in the Government''s Economic Recovery Plan, helping to support over 5000 jobs in the Scottish Economy. In 2009-10, £292.5 million of capital spending was accelerated from this year''s Budget.

In 2009-10, £292.5 of capital spending was delivered through the accelerated capital programme, representing 100% of planned spend.

As part of the programme:

local authorities invested £90 million to accelerate a range of capital spending programmes across 32 local authorities;

the Scottish Government invested £24.5 million to deliver road improvements and enhanced park-and-ride facilities to cut congestion;

£18.6 million was provided for infrastructure improvements for colleges and universities, and

Scottish Enterprise accelerated £30 million of investment in key projects to deliver wider benefits to the Scottish economy.

Details of the outturn capital spend in each portfolio are shown in the following table:

Portfolio	Programme	Annual Budget	Outturn	Variance
Finance and Sustainable Growth	Major and Smaller Roads Schemes	23.9	23.9	0.0
	Strategic Park and Ride	5.0	5.0	0.0
	Enterprise Agencies	30.0	30.0	0.0
F&SG Total		58.9	58.9	(0.0)
Health and Wellbeing	Affordable Housing Investment Programme	10.0	10.0	0.0
	Housing and Regeneration - Fuel Poverty	5.0	5.0	0.0
	Town Centre Regeneration Fund	60.0	60.0	0.0
	NHS	50.0	50.0	0.0
H&W Total		125.0	125.0	0.0
Education and Lifelong Learning	Further and Higher Education	18.6	18.6	0.0
E&LL Total		18.6	18.6	0.0
Local Government	Local Authorities including Schools Estate	90.0	90.0	0.0
LG Total		90.0	90.0	0.0
Total Capital Acceleration		292.5	292.5	(0.0)

Question reference: S3O-10713

Asked by: Joe FitzPatrick, MSP for Dundee West, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 27 May 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total number of NHS Tayside staff will be in 2011 compared with 2007.

There are no definitive figures available yet. NHS Tayside are in the process of developing their future workforce profile in discussion with staff side representatives and have made clear there will be no redundancies. The latest figures available from Information Services Division, National Services Scotland show that the number of staff employed by NHS Tayside has increased by 537 from 2007 to 2009.