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-16255

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4F-01498 by Alex Salmond on 27 June 2013 (Official Report, col. 21751), in which years after implementation would a 3% reduction in corporation tax “increase total tax revenues”.

Question reference: S4W-16252

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what the change in government consumption would be in each of the first 20 years following a 3% reduction in corporation tax, as shown in the simulation used in its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy.

The report referred to in the question provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of reducing corporation tax and outlines the impacts on key economic variables, such as output, employment, investment and government consumption.

As outlined in the report, the increase in both output and employment estimated to be generated by the policy expands the tax base over the long term, leading to an increase in government consumption. Such increases may translate into greater output in sectors such as public administration and education (by 0.4%), higher education institutions (by 0.5%) and other services (by 0.7%), i.e. those in the public sector or those closely linked to it.

Question reference: S4W-16253

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government from which year data is derived to show the impact on foreign direct investment of a reduction in corporation tax in the simulation model used in its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy.

Question reference: S4W-16257

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government how the figure of 0.1% growth in government consumption over the first 20 years following a 3% reduction in corporation tax, as shown in Table 1 on page 12 of its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy, is affected by updating the model to include the current corporation tax rate of 23%, rather than the 2006-07 rate of 30%.

Question reference: S4W-16256

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what sensitivity analysis it conducted on the figure of 0.1% growth in government consumption over the first 20 years following a 3% reduction in corporation tax, as shown in table 1 on page 12 of its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy.

Question reference: S4W-16254

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 30 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has updated the simulation model used in its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy, to reflect changes in the industries and sectors likely to be responsible for foreign direct investment since the model was first developed.

Question reference: S4W-16231

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 30 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government when it will make a decision regarding the application by Grundon Waste Management to build an industrial incinerator in Perth, now that it has received recommendations from its reporter.

Question reference: S4W-16429

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) businesses and (b) internet service providers regarding the introduction of a Scottish internet suffix in an independent Scotland.

The Scottish Government supports the application by Dot Scot Registry (DSR) for the .scot Top Level Domain (TLD) which is a ‘community’ bid intended to be representative of the Scottish online community, including businesses and the wider Scots diaspora. Research was conducted in 2008 prior to the formation of DSR which showed strong demand for TLD associated with a Scottish online identity. The DSR bid is supported by the Scottish Government and includes declarations of support from a wide range of companies, organisations and individuals.

Question reference: S4W-16428

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 29 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish websites and email addresses in an independent Scotland would have to change their internet suffix from .uk to .scot and, if so, what the cost would be.

The .uk TLD is operated by Nominet and their policies set out that .uk domains available for purchase may be bought by consumers anywhere in the world. When the .scot TLD is established it will be available under specified criteria, agreed with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and users can decide whether to purchase the domain as an addition or alternative to other available internet domains.

Question reference: S4W-16249

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Friday, 05 July 2013
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 24 July 2013

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the oral evidence by the Minister for External Affairs and International Development to the European and External Relations Committee on 16 May 2013 (Official Report, col.1200), what steps it has taken to implement the suggestion made by the chief executive of Transport Scotland in April 2013 to engage directly with airlines on a direct route from Scotland to China.

At the meeting between the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the Minister for External Relations and International Development in June it was agreed that the Scottish Government would bring together outline proposals, with input from Scotland’s airports, in the interests of promoting a direct service between Scotland and China. These proposals will be passed to the main Chinese airlines by the CAAC. In addition, a Task Force including representation from Scotland and China will be brought together to develop the proposals further.