Craig Hoy

19 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what cumulative savings have been achieved to date through its 10-year programme of public sector reform.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Public Service Reform Programme was established in December 2023. Through the programme we are working to address both the efficiency and effectiveness of services, whilst also working to move the public services system to prioritise prevention.The update…

19 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of its total budget will be absorbed by pay and pensions in (a) 2025-26, (b) 2026-27, (c) 2027-28, (d) 2028-29 and (e) 2029-30.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government estimates that spending on workforce pay, including pensions and employer National Insurance contributions, will be equivalent to 53.4% of the entire Scottish resource budget in 2025-26. That reflects the importance this Government pla…

19 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact that its programme of public sector reform will have on the corporate function headcount of the civil service, including within (a) it and (b) its agencies, in (i) 2025-26, (ii) 2026-27, (iii) 2027-28, (iv) 2028-29 and (v) 2029-30.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The core Scottish Government workforce has been following a strategy to reduce in size since March 2022, to adjust to the budgetary context and the change in the profile of its work following the Covid-19 pandemic. This direction accords with the wider work o…

18 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23524 by Elena Whitham on 11 December 2023, what engagement has taken place with stakeholders, including those representing business and consumer interests; in the event that no engagement has taken place, whether it still plans to consult with stak…

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government remains committed to progressing work on protecting children and young people from exposure to alcohol marketing. Public Health Scotland has been commissioned to undertake a review of the evidence for potential regulation of alcohol ad…

18 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to launch a public consultation on revised proposals on restricting alcohol advertising and promotion.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government remains committed to progressing work on protecting children and young people from exposure to alcohol marketing.Public Health Scotland has been commissioned to carry out a review of the evidence for potential regulation of alcohol adv…

18 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31999 by Shona Robison on 18 December 2024, in light of its answer that it "routinely increases the Local Government budget in-year, including through transfers from other portfolios", for what reason it does not allocate these funds to local govern…

Answer · Shona Robison: Individual policy teams within portfolios routinely allocate funding to local government to deliver our shared priorities. The intended allocations at the start of the financial year are set out in table 4.12 of the 2025-26 Scottish Budget, providing transpar…

18 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32000 by Shona Robison on 18 December 2024, after taking account of the expected in-year transfers and budget revisions considered in its answer, what difference it expects there to be between level 1 funding for each portfolio as stated in its dra…

Answer · Shona Robison: As with all previous years, level 1 funding for each portfolio will be adjusted following the Autumn and Spring Budget Revision to reflect changes in funding and expenditure plans such as in-year transfers between portfolios.The transfers identified in Table …

18 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects to raise from each (a) industry and (b) business sector from the basic property rate in 2025-26.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Table 1 shows the estimated net income from properties liable for the Basic Property Rate in 2025-2026, broken down by property class. The net estimates include adjustments for reliefs, as well as in-year adjustments such as reductions due to proposals or app…

18 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties will be subject to the basic property rate poundage in 2025-26, broken down by (a) industry sector and (b) local authority area.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The number of properties expected to be liable for the Basic Property Rate (BPR) in 2025-2026 before any reliefs are applied is presented in the following tables, broken down in Table 1 by property class, and in Table 2 by council area.Property class is a cla…

17 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32009 by Ivan McKee on 17 December 2024, and in relation to the "inflationary increase" in his response, how it has historically adjusted business rate poundage in relation to inflation since 1999. 

Answer · Ivan McKee: Table 1 shows annual inflation as at September between 1999 and 2024 using the Consumer Price Index (CPI), as well as the annual change in the Basic, Intermediate and Higher Property Rates between 1999-2000 and 2025-2026. The rateable value threshold up to wh…

17 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-32009 by Ivan McKee on 17 December 2024, whether it is accounting for inflation through business rate increases and, if so, what the reason is for taking this approach rather than through changes to rateable value.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The answer to question S6W-32009 shows the additional income arising from the Intermediate Property Rate being set at 55.4p in 2025-26, compared to setting it at 54.5p, keeping rateable values and all other variables constant.Generally, rateable values only t…

17 Dec 2024 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has been made aware of the identity of the police officers investigating Operation Branchform, and, if so, when.

10 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31765 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December 2024, whether it can expand upon its definition of a "light-touch" review.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Every ‘scheduled’ award review carried out by Social Security Scotland is a light-touch review.This means that Social Security Scotland do not require clients by default to provide information again that they already provided, that is not relevant…

10 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31765 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December2024, what steps it has taken to enable and assist people on indefinite Adult Disability Payments to return to the workforce to some degree.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Adult Disability Payment provides financial support to disabled adults to help mitigate the additional costs of being disabled or having a long-term ill health condition so they can lead their lives more independently and fully. It is not an income replacemen…

10 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31765 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December 2024, how many indefinite awards of Adult Disability Payments have been introduced for people, in respect of mental health-related claims, in the last five years.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on Adult Disability Payment applications and caseload, broken down by disability condition. No information on the number of indefinite awards made as a result of Adult Disability Payment applications is…

10 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-31765 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 10 December2024, how many indefinite awards of Adult Disability Payments are currently ongoing (a) overall and (b) for mental health-related claims only.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on Adult Disability Payment applications and caseload, broken down by disability condition. No information on the number of indefinite awards made as a result of Adult Disability Payment applications is…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional revenue will be raised by the proposal in its 2025-26 draft Budget to increase the higher property rate in 2025-26, broken down by industry sector.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Table 1 shows the estimated net additional income arising from an inflationary increase to the Higher Property Rate to 56.8p, compared to a freeze at 55.9p, by property class. The net estimates include adjustments for reliefs, as well as in-year adjustments s…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional revenue will be raised by the proposal in its 2025-26 draft Budget to increase the intermediate property rate in 2025-26, broken down by industry sector.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Table 1 shows the estimated net additional income arising from an inflationary increase to the Intermediate Property Rate to 55.4p, compared to a freeze at 54.5, by property class. The net estimates include adjustments for reliefs, as well as in-year adjustme…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, after taking account of the expected in-year transfers and budget revisions, what difference there will be between local government funding provided in 2024-25 and 2025-26.

Answer · Shona Robison: As outlined in Table 4.12 of the Scottish Budget, on a like with like basis, the Local Government Settlement will be £15,035.2 million following the conclusion of the Spring Budget Revision 2025-26 compared with £14,027.1 million following the con…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) assessment it has made and (b) consultation it has carried out regarding what behavioural responses might arise in response to the proposed decision to freeze three of the income tax bands in its draft Budget 2025-26.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government relies on independent forecasts produced by the Scottish Fiscal Commission in arriving at policy decisions on Income Tax. These forecasts include the impact of any possible behaviour change that may result from policy decisions.The imp…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will increase the local government budget through in-year transfers in 2025-26 and, if so, (a) to what extent and (b) from what other budget areas.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government routinely increases the Local Government budget in-year, including through transfers from other portfolios. The anticipated transfers for 2025-25 are as shown in Table 4.12 of the Scottish Budget and indicate that at least £1,438…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it reportedly only gave the Scottish Fiscal Commission an eight-day notice period of its plans regarding the future in Scotland of the two-child cap on benefits.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government keeps a range of measures under consideration as it develops and finalises its Budget. Final decisions are communicated with the Scottish Fiscal Commission (SFC) as soon as is practicable. The Scottish Fiscal Commission is undertaking …

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it gave to passing on business rates relief to retail and leisure businesses in its draft Budget 2025-26.

Answer · Ivan McKee: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-31994 on 12 December 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committ…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it is proposing to increase the public service reform and community empowerment budget by almost 600% in its draft Budget 2025-26.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Our Public Sector Reform (PSR) programme is making a vital contribution to improving outcomes and achieving sustainable public finances in the longer term. We have set out a clear programme of PSR to Parliament, with a strong focus on the data, levers and wor…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the level 4 tables that were published in conjunction with its draft Budget 2025-26 budget, for what reason it considers "£1.5 billion of ABR transfers processed" to be an "explanation of significant changes from previous year".

Answer · Shona Robison: The Level 4 tables that were published with the draft Budget 2025-26 provide a summary of the changes from the previous year but it is not practical to list the full detail of all the changes associated with the Local Government Settlement, particularly where…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what representations it received regarding reintroducing business rates relief for the retail sector in 2025-26.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government has received representations from retail representative organisations including the Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Grocers’ Federation and others through correspondence, and meetings with Ministers including the New Deal fo…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it reportedly opted not to reintroduce business rates relief for the retail and leisure sectors in 2025-26, unlike in England.

Answer · Ivan McKee: It was not possible to fund all the Scottish Government’s priorities in the budget but, despite the financial challenges, the budget continues to support businesses and communities with a competitive non-domestic rates regime including the reintroductio…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties in 2025-26 will be subject to the intermediate property rate, broken down by (a) industry sector and (b) local authority area.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Table 1 shows the number of properties liable for the Intermediate Property Rate by property class as at 1 October 2024. Table 2 shows the number of properties liable for the Intermediate Property Rate by council area as at 1 October 2024.The Scottish Governm…

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates will be raised by the intermediate property rate in 2025-26, and how much has been raised by it in each year since its introduction, broken down by industry sector.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Intermediate Property Rate was introduced from 1 April 2020. It applied to properties with a rateable value above £51,000, up to £95,000 until 31 March 2023, and to properties with a rateable value above £51,000 and up to £100,000 …

5 Dec 2024 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects to raise from each (a) industry and (b) business sector from the higher property rate in 2025-26.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Table 1 shows the estimated net income from properties liable for the Higher Property Rate in 2025-2026, broken down by property class. The net estimates include adjustments for reliefs, as well as in-year adjustments such as reductions due to proposals or ap…