- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 7 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13821 by Derek Mackay on 25 January 2018, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding what proportion of the money raised by the proposed new income tax bands it plans to allocate to (a) the introduction of new public services and (b) maintaining current service levels.
Answer
Scottish income tax policy does not include any element of hypothecation. The income tax rates and bands will raise an additional £219 million overall in 2018-19 to support public services, tackle poverty and support Scotland’s economy. The Scottish Government’s spending plans are set out in the 2018-19 Budget document.
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 7 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13938 by Derek Mackay on 30 January 2018, how long after the passing of the Scottish Rates Resolution the cost analysis for implementing and operating the new income tax system will be published.
Answer
HMRC is responsible for producing this analysis and providing a cost estimate. The Scottish Government will share the details with Parliament when it is in a position to do so.
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 7 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14009 by Derek Mackay on 6 February 2018, whether it will provide an update on the meeting with HMRC, and whether any specific arrangements were agreed to ensure that taxpayers and pension providers in Scotland are not disadvantaged in respect of pension relief.
Answer
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14012 by Shona Robison on 6 February 2018, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding the cost of the NHS Anywhere service.
Answer
As per the answer to question S5W-14012, the total cost of the Attend Anywhere service is £362,000.
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what effect the Budget will have on the amount of funding Dundee City Council will raise from non-domestic rates.
Answer
The Budget Bill passed by the Scottish Parliament on 21 February 2018 used the devolved powers of the Parliament to promote a strong, dynamic and inclusive economy including the most attractive system of non-domestic rates in the UK.
The amount of non-domestic rates income collected by Dundee City Council for 2018-19 will depend on various measures confirmed in the context of the Scottish Budget, including the rates poundage, the large business supplement and reliefs such as the Small Business Bonus Scheme, as well as decisions that the council takes in respect of discretionary reliefs.
The level of funding to local authorities is not affected by any variation in the level of non-domestic rate receipts as each council retains every penny on non-domestic rates collected in their own area and the Scottish Government guarantees each council’s formula share of General Revenue Grant plus non-domestic rates Income.
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 6 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-14012 by Shona Robison on 6 February 2018, how many (a) (i) consultations and (ii) meetings the service has had each month, and how this compares with its capacity and (b) virtual meeting rooms the service has had each month, and how many were inactive.
Answer
Data on Attend Anywhere is collected on a quarterly basis. The following table shows the growth generated over the first year of its availability across a number of different local services, covering both health and social care organisations:
| | JAN-MAR | APRIL-JUNE | JULY-SEP | Oct-Dec | 2017 Total |
Consultations (professional – patient/user) | 27 | 106 | 149 | 370 | 652 |
Meetings (staff – staff/guest) | 229 | 393 | 426 | 536 | 1584 |
There is no technical limit on the capacity of the number of consultations that can be offered, or the number of meetings that can be held. For consultations with patients/service users/clients, capacity will be determined by the local service in question and will be down to how many appointments are available, just as they are in the ‘physical’ world.
From Jan – October 2017, NHS National Services Scotland held a national licence to operate/offer 50 active waiting areas to individual services and organisations across health and social care. Due to overwhelming demand from services across the country, this was increased to 200 active waiting areas, covering the period Oct 2017 – Oct 2019. By December 2017, 146 services had established waiting areas with 57 of these currently active (i.e. offering appointments). By December 2017, 146 meeting rooms (which are separate areas of the system for staff use only) had been established, with 52 in active use. There is no limit on the number of meeting rooms that can be established.
As Attend Anywhere continues to be tested in local service delivery pathways, embedded into workflows, and staff become more accustomed to using the system, both the number of active services and the number of consultations offered is expected to grow.
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 6 March 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to attract technology and service companies to Dundee that will provide employment and training in automation.
Answer
Scottish Enterprise is working with foreign investors in the technology industry to bring their projects to Scotland. Over 2016-17 this support has resulted in the creation and protection of over 200 technology jobs in Dundee.
Last year, we launched the £10 million Flexible Workforce Development Fund to better support in-work training through up-skilling or re-skilling of existing employees supporting businesses in Dundee and across Scotland.
We are also encouraging people to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers at an early age through our Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and our Modern Apprenticeships programmes. In particular, our Graduate Level Apprenticeships will support the in-work development of graduates, with initial activity focused on STEM with opportunities in the Engineering, Civil Engineering and Digital sectors.
Our STEM Strategy seeks to connect the STEM education and training offer with labour market need - both now and in the future. We will increase the number of college and university student placements with employers in STEM curriculum areas; increase the numbers of graduate and post-qualification internships offered with STEM employers; and, to complement the approach being taken through the DYW Programme to improve careers and guidance from 3 – 18, we will ensure that college and university students have access to the best advice and guidance about STEM careers.
We are supporting Innovation Centres like CENSIS and DataLab. Through our work on smart cities we are also supporting businesses and cities to take advantage of new technologies and advance their ability to integrate with data and digital.
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 6 March 2018
To what the Scottish Government how much of each city council's funding in 2018-19 will be raised from non-domestic rates, and what effect the Budget will have on this.
Answer
The Scottish Fiscal Commission have forecast 2018-19
Non-Domestic Rate Income to be collected at a national level will amount to
£2,812 million. Details of the actual income collected for 2018-19 at a local authority level, including the city councils, will be confirmed when councils submit their audited non-domestic rates returns in October 2019.
The package of non-domestic rates measures confirmed in the Sottish Budget, which continue to offer the most attractive package of rates reliefs available anywhere in the UK, have been taken into account in the income estimates provide by the Scottish Fiscal Commission.
It is important to recognise that each council retains every penny on non-domestic rates collected in their own area and the Scottish Government continues to guarantee each council’s formula share of the total level of funding to be provided through a combination of General Revenue Grant (GRG) plus Non Domestic Rates Income. In the event that the income from non-domestic rates turns out to be lower than forecast then the Scottish Government will make up any shortfall through the payment of additional GRG.
Council by council comparisons of non-domestic rates income should be interpreted with caution due to the way some individual councils collect rates bills for utilities on a Scotland wide basis.
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 27 February 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it took
of the impact on household incomes when setting the cap on council tax
increases at 3%.
Answer
As I set out in in my reply to S5W-14067 on 6 February 2018, the Scottish Government has capped locally determined increases to council tax in order to protect household incomes whilst providing local authorities the discretion to raise additional funding to support public services.
- Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 02 February 2018
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Current Status:
Answered by Derek Mackay on 27 February 2018
To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the potential impact on the retail sector of setting the higher rate of income tax threshold at £43,430.
Answer
