Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-15829

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 18 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted on the potential economic impact of altering the present 3% cap on council tax.

Question reference: S5W-15779

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 18 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on increasing the proportion of revenue raised through the Business Rates Incentivisation Scheme that is retained by local authorities.

The Business Rates Incentivisation Scheme(BRIS) reward for local authorities has been set at 50 per cent and recognises that the Scottish Government continues to carry the full risk of a reduction in Non-Domestic Rates income by ensuring each council receives it's formula share of the total level of funding provided through a combination of General Revenue Grant plus Non-Domestic Rates Income.

The Scottish Government currently has no plans to change the reward shares under the scheme, however Local authorities will continue to retain every penny of non-domestic rates collected in their own area.

Question reference: S5W-15683

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, how many people receive regular dental check-ups, broken down by NHS board; how this compares with each of the last five years, and what assessment it has made of how the updated Oral Health Improvement Plan might impact on this.

The following table shows the number of patients by NHS Board for the last five years who received at least one NHS dental check-up each year.

Number of patients; by NHS Board of practice, year of examination(s) and number of check ups within the year (1 or more)
	Year of examination(s)
NHS Board	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Ayrshire & Arran	166,344	167,605	168,727	170,657	168,494
Borders	44,877	45,309	47,487	48,061	45,554
Dumfries & Galloway	61,795	62,235	63,662	63,382	62,576
Fife	139,757	145,461	148,683	151,446	150,688
Forth Valley	124,461	127,385	130,521	133,063	133,525
Grampian	187,855	201,130	209,375	215,008	214,653
Greater Glasgow & Clyde	480,308	488,311	493,024	501,212	501,741
Highland	98,641	103,127	101,535	103,282	103,697
Lanarkshire	255,959	260,906	264,817	264,343	262,795
Lothian	354,471	363,022	372,801	379,093	378,195
Orkney	3,759	6,002	6,517	6,961	7,843
Shetland	5,407	5,457	4,794	5,774	5,112
Tayside	188,912	188,637	189,986	191,196	191,098
Western Isles	6,906	6,346	5,748	5,321	5,262
Scotland	2,106,386	2,158,167	2,194,933	2,225,579	2,218,085

Source: ISD Scotland, MIDAS. Data extracted April 2018
1 Check-ups are defined in the Statement of Dental Remuneration as items 1a, 1b, 1c & 47
2 Some patients may have been seen in more than one NHS Board within the year, therefore the Scotland figures may differ from the combined total

The present arrangements allow dentists to see patients with six months between courses of treatment, although patients on average receive a check-up once a year. The Oral Health Improvement Plan is proposing that the frequency of check-ups will be based on the dentist’s clinical judgement of the patient’s oral health. This means that some patients may be seen more frequently than six months if they have poor oral health, others may not need to be seen as often.

Question reference: S5W-15684

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 18 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, how many people receive dental check-ups at frequency periods of eight months or less, broken down by NHS board; how this compares with each of the last five years, and what assessment it has made of how the updated Oral Health Improvement Plan might impact on this.

The following table shows the number of patients by NHS Board for the last five years who received two NHS dental check-ups within eight months.

Number of patients examined twice within 8 months; by NHS Board of practice and year of examination(s)
	Year of examination
NHS Board	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Ayrshire & Arran	94,003	97,279	98,340	102,569	103,513
Borders	21,594	23,240	24,172	26,727	26,304
Dumfries & Galloway	34,507	36,354	36,988	38,081	38,000
Fife	78,334	84,596	89,973	93,731	94,138
Forth Valley	71,257	75,351	78,451	81,966	83,043
Grampian	92,159	103,336	116,698	124,880	129,795
Greater Glasgow & Clyde	236,959	246,993	252,991	265,986	272,715
Highland	39,923	43,654	43,644	45,586	49,480
Lanarkshire	125,962	132,014	135,422	139,710	140,208
Lothian	209,343	219,615	226,804	235,652	237,009
Orkney	309	1,028	2,654	2,690	3,573
Shetland	751	665	567	925	1,494
Tayside	114,234	115,632	117,427	119,554	120,063
Western Isles	998	851	684	702	563
Scotland	1,120,077	1,180,319	1,224,493	1,278,399	1,299,601

Source: ISD Scotland, MIDAS. Data extracted April 2018
1 Check-ups are defined in the Statement of Dental Remuneration as items 1a, 1b, 1c & 47
2 Some patients may have been seen in more than one NHS Board within the year, therefore the Scotland figures may be less than the combined total

The present arrangements allow dentists to see patients with six months between courses of treatment, although patients on average receive a check-up once a year. The Oral Health Improvement Plan is proposing that the frequency of check-ups will be based on the dentist’s clinical judgement of the patient’s oral health. This means that some patients may be seen more frequently than six months if they have poor oral health, others may not need to be seen as often.

Question reference: S5W-15803

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15289 by Derek Mackay on 21 March 2018, in light of the Barclay Review stating that it expects revaluations in Scotland and England to be aligned until at least 2025, for what reasons it plans not to pursue such a policy, and what plans it has to introduce a distinct approach if alignment is not maintained beyond 2021.

Question reference: S5W-15802

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 April 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-15289 by Derek Mackay on 21 March 2018, in light of the cabinet secretary confirming that ministers have accepted the Barclay Review’s recommendation regarding increasing the frequency of revaluations to once every three years, whether it will implement this as soon as possible, as recommended by the review.

Question reference: S5W-15614

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how being assigned VAT revenues raised in Scotland from 2019-20 will influence its economic policy making; what steps it is taking to ensure that it will maximise these revenues, and how much it expects to collect, broken down by sector.

Question reference: S5W-15585

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 17 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the First Minister will meet China Ocean Engineering Shanghai Co (COES) on her visit to China, and whether she will promote Dundee as an attractive city and deep water port for foreign investment.

Question reference: S5W-15581

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many claims have been received for repayment of the Additional Dwelling Supplement in each month since it was introduced, and what (a) the average time taken is to make repayment in each month, (b) proportion of repayments take longer than the average and (c) the maximum time taken each month is to settle a claim.

Question reference: S5W-15582

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 3 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many claims for repayment of the Additional Dwelling Supplement have been fully processed within (a) 10 and (b) 11 to 21 days, and how many have taken longer.

Chamber and committees