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 573 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S5O-01095

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 May 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the findings of phase 2 of the enterprise and skills review.

Question reference: S5O-01043

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will implement the recommendations in the Audit Scotland report, Principles for a digital future, when taking forward its R100 contracts.

Question reference: S5W-09133

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action is taken should a business liable for non-domestic rates fail to submit updated accounting or other relevant information to valuation officials.

Question reference: S5W-09077

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has entered into discussions with international credit rating agencies in relation to Scottish debt issued by it or on its behalf.

Question reference: S5W-09075

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had in relation to which international credit rating would be assigned to Scottish debt issued by it or on its behalf.

Scottish Government has had the power to issue debt since 1 April 2015 when the Scotland Act 1998 (Variation of Borrowing Power) Order 2015, approved by the UK Parliament in March 2015, gave Scottish Ministers the power to borrow through the issue of bonds, extending the arrangements set out in Scotland Act 2012.

This increases the range of options available and the Scottish Government will evaluate these and will in due course take a responsible decision on which method or methods to use based on the prevailing economic conditions.

The Scottish Government has made no approaches to international credit rating agencies to seek an international credit rating, which is advisable before the issue of bonds. However, meetings between officials and the ratings agencies and advisors to discuss general borrowing, bond issuance and credit rating advice have taken place over the last 3 years.

Question reference: S5W-09076

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the latest indicative international credit rating, in whatever form, would be in respect to Scottish debt issued by it or on its behalf, or guaranteed by it or any of its agencies.

Question reference: S5W-09067

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much will be paid out in business rates relief in 2017-18, broken down by type of relief.

The following table sets out the estimated cost of non-domestic rates relief for 2017-18, broken down by type of relief.

Relief Type	Estimated Relief Cost 2017-18 (£million)*
Small Business Bonus Scheme	224
Charity	203
Empty Property	79
Disabled Persons	63
Transitional Relief	45
Religious	27
Sports Club	14
Rural	5
Renewable and District Heating	2
Enterprise Areas, New Start, Fresh Start	2
Hardship	1
TOTAL	663

* Estimates are rounded to the nearest million (total does not equal the sum of the individual relief figures due to rounding). Outturn figures will be available in due course.

Question reference: S5W-09065

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue raised by the business rates incentivisation scheme was retained by each local authority area in each of the last three financial years.

The additional non-domestic rates raised and retained by individual local authorities in the last three relevant financial years, as a result of the business rates incentivisation scheme, are set out in the following table. The 2012-13 sums were retained for that year only under the original scheme. Following a review no revised scheme was agreed in time for operation in 2013-14 but was subsequently introduced from 1 April 2014. The figures for both 2014-15 and 2015-16 were retained each year until the next non domestic rates revaluation date which was 1 April 2017.

Details of the sums to be retained for 2016-17 will be confirmed following receipt of final audited returns from local authorities later this year.

Local Authority	2012-13 (£m)	2014-15 (£m)	2015-16 (£m)
Aberdeen City Council		0.533	3.371
Aberdeenshire Council	0.189	0.471	0.932
Angus Council			0.071
Clackmannanshire Council	1.232
East Lothian Council	0.544
East Renfrewshire Council	0.173	0.188
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	0.057		0.072
Fife Council	2.484	0.892
Glasgow City Council			1.514
Highland Council	1.296	0.214	0.371
Midlothian Council	0.366
The Moray Council	1.267	0.137	0.016
North Ayrshire Council	0.861
Perth and Kinross Council	0.148
Renfrewshire Council		0.068
Scottish Borders Council	0.385
South Ayrshire Council			0.030

Question reference: S5W-09078

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had in the last three years in relation to any international credit rating, indicative or otherwise, that might be assigned to Scottish debt, in whatever form, issued by it or on its behalf, or guaranteed by it or any of its agencies.

Question reference: S5W-09066

Asked by: Dean Lockhart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 11 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been paid in business rates relief in each of the last 10 years.

	2007-08	2008-09	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17
Non-Domestic Rates Relief Total (£m)	324	389	465	501	542	588	590	607	626	573