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.

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Question reference: S5W-13455

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 21 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether Dundee City Council reportedly having the lowest level of usable reserves in Scotland, as a percentage of income, is detrimental to the long-term financial stability of the council.

Scottish Government’s policy towards local authorities’ spending is to allow local authorities the financial freedom to operate independently. It is the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and the level of usable reserves. Decisions on the use of reserves are rightly the responsibility of individual local authorities to take where it is prudent and sustainable to do so.

Dundee City Council have an extra £18.9 million to support services in 2017-18 which equates to an additional 6.3 per cent on 2016-17.

Question reference: S5O-01634

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it undertook with HMRC regarding any potential negative impact of diverging tax bands and rates from the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S5W-13144

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason NHS Grampian is the worst performing board regarding the 18-week referral to treatment standard.

During 2017 NHS Grampian has experience a range of whole system challenges which have had an impact on the 18-week referral to treatment standard.

The Scottish Government has provided significant funding to NHS Grampian in 2017-18, more than £8 million, to support improvements. We continue to work closely with NHS Grampian to recover and stabilise its services and waiting times performance, and retain an absolute focus on patient centred care at all times. As performance for each component part of the patients pathway improves, so too will 18-weeks RTT compliance.

Question reference: S5W-13146

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 19 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that the third of NHS Grampian patients who are waiting for treatment are seen as quickly as possible.

Question reference: S5W-13157

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 December 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 14 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the use of public funds and resources by NHS Grampian to (a) fund a recruitment trip to Australia and (b) commission a delegation from the United States-based Institute for Healthcare Optimization to help reduce waiting times.

The Scottish Government supports NHS Health Boards in their efforts to ensure that they have the right staff in place to meet the healthcare needs of the local population. This includes searching globally, where appropriate, to recruit at all levels.

Record levels of investment has been delivered in the NHS under this Government, with over 3000 more whole-time equivalent nursing and midwifery staff in post, as compared with 5 years ago. Equally, NHS Grampian's resource budget has increased by over £315 million since 2006-07, which has supported the recruitment of over 800 staff, including clinical and nursing staff. Nevertheless, it is recognised that Health Boards in the north and north east of Scotland are facing workforce challenges.

In November 2017 NHS Grampian undertook an exercise in Australia to recruit nurses and midwifes and to promote NHS Scotland as a place to work, with specific emphasis on the north of Scotland and Grampian. As a result, the Board has confirmed that 20 nurses have accepted of posts within NHS Grampian.

Whole System Patient Flow Improvement is a Scottish Government programme. The Institute for Healthcare Optimisation has been commissioned through the Official Journal of the European Community procurement process to take forward a workstream of the programme. This required a team from Boston to visit a number of Boards across NHSScotland, including Grampian. All such visits were funded by the Scottish Government.

Question reference: S5O-01585

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 December 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 December 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how it will compensate for decreasing levels of landfill tax revenues as the amount of waste to landfill decreases.

Question reference: S5W-12799

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 29 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, when modelling behavioural responses in relation to the five taxation proposals outlined in the discussion paper, The Role of Income Tax in Scotland’s Budget, whether a distinction was made between potential taxpayers moving within the UK and moving abroad for the purposes of avoiding different rates of taxation and, if so, what weighting was given to each type of behaviour.

Analysis of behavioural impacts from a tax change incorporate a number of different behaviours, including cross border migration. The Scottish Government’s modelling follows the standard approach adopted by HMRC and other fiscal institutions. Assumptions about taxpayers’ responsiveness are informed by research undertaken by respected institutions, such as the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the International Monetary Fund. This is outlined in detail in Annex A of the discussion paper. It can be found here: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0052/00527052.pdf

Question reference: S5W-12798

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 17 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 28 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to incorporations when modelling behavioural responses in relation to the five income tax proposals outlined in the discussion paper, The Role of Income Tax in Scotland's Budget.

Question reference: S5W-12712

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 22 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much it would cost to (a) administer and (b) implement each of the proposals set out in its paper, The Role of Income Tax in Scotland’s Budget.

HMRC have estimated annual running costs of between £1.5 and £2m if income tax rates and bands remained the same as the rest of the UK. A more significant divergence between the rates and bands that apply in Scotland when compared to the rest of the UK may lead to an increase in costs of up to £5m. Separate estimates of how much it would cost to administer each of the proposals set out in "The role of income tax in Scotland's Budget" have not been made.

HMRC estimate total implementation costs of between £20m and £25m for the Scottish Rate of Income Tax, with a further £2.6m for the Scotland Act 2016 income tax powers. These costs are required to implement the income tax powers devolved to the Scottish Parliament in Scotland Acts 2012 and 2016, and are independent of the rates and bands the Scottish Parliament sets.

Question reference: S5W-12651

Asked by: Bill Bowman, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 November 2017
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 21 November 2017

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will cost to buy out the contract between NHS Tayside and Indigo Park Services UK Ltd for the parking facilities at Ninewells Hospital.

Due to value for money issues and the need to prioritise patient care, there are no current plans to buy out the contract between NHS Tayside and Indigo Park Services UK Ltd for the parking facilities at Ninewells Hospital. However speculating on the potential cost of a buyout is unhelpful as it would undermine the Scottish Government's negotiating position should we choose to pursue this option at a later stage.