Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-13344

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much revenue raised by the business rates incentivisation scheme is expected to be retained by each local authority in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-13339

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects to raise from the higher property rate in 2023-24, broken down by industry and business sector.

Table 1 presents the expected gross income from the Higher Property Rate (HPR), after the application of the revaluation Transitional Relief (TR), in 2023-24. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table based on an imputed Valuation Roll based on an incomplete draft Valuation Roll, as used by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts December 2022, and figures are therefore subject to change.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000.

Table 1: Estimated gross income from HPR after revaluation transitional relief in 2023-24 by property class

Property class	Gross HPR income after TR
Shops	19,784,000
Public Houses	791,000
Offices	14,884,000
Hotels	5,074,000
Industrial Subjects	20,316,000
Leisure, Entertainment, Caravans etc.	4,174,000
Garages and Petrol Stations	813,000
Cultural	965,000
Sporting Subjects	267,000
Education and Training	13,973,000
Public Service Subjects	6,196,000
Communications	675,000
Quarries, Mines, etc.	253,000
Petrochemical	3,583,000
Religious	144,000
Health and Medical	4,712,000
Other	2,433,000
Care Facilities	1,558,000
Advertising	98,000
Statutory Undertaking	27,070,000
Not in Use	0
All	127,761,000

Question reference: S6W-13341

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it decided not to reintroduce business rates relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in 2023-24.

The Scottish Government has backed Scotland’s economic recovery with more than £4.7 billion in direct business support since March 2020. This included 100% retail, hospitality, leisure (RHL) and aviation relief in both 2020-21 and 2021-22 uncapped, and 50% RHL relief in 2022-23 capped at £27,500, which expired on 30 June 2022.

We recognise the difficult economic climate and this is why the Scottish Budget 2023-24, announced on 15 December, included a freeze in the poundage – the number one ask of 18 business organisations, and delivering the lowest poundage in the UK for the fifth year in a row. It also proposed a package of reliefs worth £744m including the UK's most generous small business rates relief.

We expect around half the properties in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors to be eligible for 100% Small Business Bonus Scheme relief next year. Properties in these sectors may also be eligible for the transitional relief schemes set out in the Budget.

Question reference: S6W-13340

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many premises will be removed from the higher property rate due to the uplift in the threshold to £100,000 rateable value, broken down by industry sector.

Table 1 presents the number of properties expected to be removed from the higher property rate (HPR) due to the increase of the rateable value threshold to £100,000, before any reliefs are applied. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table based on an imputed Valuation Roll based on an incomplete draft Valuation Roll, as used by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts December 2022, and figures are therefore subject to change.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest 10, with values greater than zero but lower than five displayed as ‘[low]’.

Table 1: Number of properties removed from HPR in 2023-24 due to the threshold increase, by property class

Property class	Properties removed from HPR
Shops	150
Public Houses	20
Offices	90
Hotels	20
Industrial Subjects	150
Leisure, Entertainment, Caravans etc.	40
Garages and Petrol Stations	10
Cultural	[low]
Sporting Subjects	[low]
Education and Training	70
Public Service Subjects	30
Communications	0
Quarries, Mines, etc.	[low]
Petrochemical	[low]
Religious	[low]
Health and Medical	20
Other	10
Care Facilities	30
Advertising	0
Statutory Undertaking	10
Not in Use	0
All	670

Question reference: S6W-13364

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many firms will be eligible for 100% rates relief under the Small Business Bonus Scheme in (a) 2022-23 and (b) 2023-24.

As at 1 July 2022, there were 114,880 properties in receipt of 100% Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) relief and a further 1,140 properties that were in receipt of 100% rates relief as a result of a combined partial award of SBBS relief and another NDR relief – for a total 116,020 SBBS recipients that paid no rates. In 2023-24, due to changes to Rateable Values as a result of the 2023 revaluation and changes to the SBBS relief thresholds announced at the Draft Budget 2023-24, it is estimated that around 106,000 properties will receive 100% relief through SBBS, either solely through SBBS relief or through SBBS relief combined with another NDR relief.

This estimate is based on modelling that underpinned the costing of SBBS relief in Scottish Fiscal Commission’s (SFC) Economic and Fiscal Forecasts December 2022. As noted by the SFC, rateable values were projected and based on an incomplete draft Valuation Roll, and are therefore subject to change.

Question reference: S6W-13342

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties in 2023-24 will be subject to the intermediate property rate, broken down by (a) industry sector and (b) local authority area.

The number of properties expected to be liable for the Intermediate Property Rate (IPR) in 2023-24 before any reliefs are applied is presented in the below tables, broken down in Table 1 by property class, and in Table 2 by local authority. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property. The Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors.

These tables are based on an imputed Valuation Roll based on an incomplete draft Valuation Roll, as used by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts December 2022, and figures are therefore subject to change.

Figures in these tables are rounded to the nearest 10, with values greater than zero but lower than five displayed as ‘[low]’.

Table 1: Number of properties liable for IPR in 2023-24 by property class

Property class	Properties with a gross IPR liability
Shops	2,120
Public Houses	420
Offices	1,800
Hotels	370
Industrial Subjects	2,380
Leisure, Entertainment, Caravans etc.	470
Garages and Petrol Stations	190
Cultural	90
Sporting Subjects	30
Education and Training	730
Public Service Subjects	500
Communications	30
Quarries, Mines, etc.	50
Petrochemical	10
Religious	90
Health and Medical	260
Other	190
Care Facilities	510
Advertising	20
Statutory Undertaking	150
Not in Use	0
All	10,400

Table 2: Number of properties liable for IPR in 2023-24 by local authority

Local authority	Properties with a gross IPR liability
Aberdeen City	830
Aberdeenshire	450
Angus	120
Argyll & Bute	140
Clackmannanshire	60
Dumfries & Galloway	220
Dundee City	320
East Ayrshire	160
East Dunbartonshire	110
East Lothian	140
East Renfrewshire	60
City of Edinburgh	1,510
Na h-Eileanan Siar	50
Falkirk	200
Fife	540
Glasgow City	1,660
Highland	590
Inverclyde	80
Midlothian	170
Moray	150
North Ayrshire	170
North Lanarkshire	500
Orkney Islands	40
Perth & Kinross	270
Renfrewshire	320
Scottish Borders	180
Shetland Islands	60
South Ayrshire	170
South Lanarkshire	430
Stirling	190
West Dunbartonshire	120
West Lothian	390
Scotland	10,400

Question reference: S6W-13343

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 December 2022
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 5 January 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates will be raised by the intermediate property rate in 2023-24, broken down by industry sector.

Table 1 presents the expected gross income from the Intermediate Property Rate (IPR), after the application of the revaluation Transitional Relief (TR), in 2023-24. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. Property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property.

This table is based on an imputed Valuation Roll based on an incomplete draft Valuation Roll, as used by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts December 2022, and figures are therefore subject to change.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000.

Table 1: Estimated gross income from IPR after revaluation transitional relief in 2023-24 by property class

Property class	Gross IPR income after TR (£)
Shops	1,761,000
Public Houses	341,000
Offices	1,487,000
Hotels	308,000
Industrial Subjects	1,957,000
Leisure, Entertainment, Caravans etc.	377,000
Garages and Petrol Stations	153,000
Cultural	68,000
Sporting Subjects	17,000
Education and Training	639,000
Public Service Subjects	412,000
Communications	29,000
Quarries, Mines, etc.	34,000
Petrochemical	8,000
Religious	70,000
Health and Medical	218,000
Other	149,000
Care Facilities	431,000
Advertising	13,000
Statutory Undertaking	120,000
Not in Use	0
All	8,590,000

Question reference: S6O-01689

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 December 2022
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2022

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its public consultation regarding the Scottish Aggregates Levy.

Question reference: S6W-12227

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on tobacco control overall in each year since 2017-18.

Local Authorities undertake tobacco control through tobacco sales enforcement and tobacco and electronic cigarette control.

The Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. As such, the vast majority of funding is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on tobacco control, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The Scottish Government has increased local government funding by over £1 billion in 2022-23, a real terms increase of 6.3 per cent, despite a 5.2 per cent real terms reduction in the overall Scottish Budget.

Question reference: S6W-12228

Asked by: Alexander Stewart, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 November 2022
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 November 2022

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent on smoking cessation promotional campaigns via (a) media and (b) social media each year since 2017-18.

The Scottish Government publishes an annual report on marketing spend in each financial year, which can be found at https://www.gov.scot/collections/marketing-spend/ .

The Scottish Government ran a smoking cessation campaign in 2017-2018. The costs for this campaign totalled £370,978.50. The total media spend for this campaign was £253,352.78 across TV, radio, digital and outdoor advertising. The digital advertising included £23,252 on Facebook advertising in support of the campaign. No other social media advertising was used as part of the campaign.

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