Chamber and committees

The following table presents updated estimates of the net liability by Assessors' property classification for 2016-17 and 2017-18. These estimates are based on the valuation roll at October 2016 (2016-17 estimates) and October 2017 (2017-18 estimates).

Large Business Supplement income estimates for 2016-17 and 2017-18 by Assessors' property classification.

Based on the latest returns from local authorities the following table sets out the amount of local discretionary rates relief they have, or plan to, award under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015:

Under the Oral Health Improvement Plan patients will be offered the treatment they need to secure and maintain oral health.

The Plan describes a process of reducing the number of different treatment types from more than 400 to around 100 items. This does not mean a reduction in service provision, but is primarily a simplification exercise.

Prior to the publication of the plan we consulted with both patients and dental professionals and the general feeling was that the current system was very complex, difficult to understand for patients and administratively burdensome for health professionals.

The Plan aims to introduce a clinically evidenced programme of preventive care for adults, which includes a regular Oral Health Risk Assessment and improved periodontal care (gum disease). Our view is that the implementation of this programme will improve the oral health of the general adult population of Scotland.

Further to the answer provided to question SW5-14029 on‎ 31 January 2018, the following table presents updated estimates of the net liability by property type for 2018-19.

Large Business Supplement income estimates for 2018-19 by property type.

In my statement to Parliament on Tuesday 17 April 2018, I set out details of independent reviews that are being carried out by The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) and Grant Thornton UK, into the operation of NHS Tayside’s endowment fund. Details are set out in the Official Report of the meeting of Parliament.

HMRC have recently confirmed that the total operating costs for 2017-18 are £0.5m, this includes those costs related to the rates and bands set by the Scottish Parliament for tax year 2018-19. HMRC and SG continue to work on refining costs for 2018/19 but do not expect these to exceed the previous estimate of £2m.

I can confirm that both the contributable amount of non-domestic rate income and the amount to be distributed to councils (the distributable amount) in respect of 2018-19 were set out and published in the 2018-19 Draft Budget on 14 December 2017 and played no part in subsequent negotiations or the final budget approved by Parliament.

Each local authority already retains all the money collected for non-domestic rates income in it's area and this is not sent to the Scottish Government. Rather, each local authority advises the Scottish Government through the use of returns how much they have collected for each year. This information is used to determine the amount of grant that is paid to each council to ensure each council receives it's total level of funding set out in the local government settlement.

In order to protect public spending the Scottish Government had previously stated its intention to address the non-domestic rate account deficit over a number of years, and set out a plan in the Draft Budget 2018-19 (Table 10.17) to do so by the end of 2018-19.

My response to S5W-14953 set out that the 3% cap allows Councils to raise up to £77 million additional funding this year whilst ensuring the maximum annual increase for a Band D property is less than £37.50. On the basis of these calculations, the Scottish Government considers the 3% cap to provide the best way of achieving our combined objectives of protecting household incomes and delivering additional revenues for public services.