Jackie Baillie

25 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution on 12 September 2017 (Official Report, c. 49), how much the new relief for day nurseries will cost in each of the next four years, and how many (a) properties and (b) businesses it expects will apply.

Answer · Derek Mackay: It is estimated that that the new relief for day nurseries will cost around £7 million per year. More detail on this and the other measures announced in my statement to Parliament on 12 September 2017 will be published in an implementation plan by the end of …

25 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution on 12 September 2017 (Official Report, c. 49), by what date it will announce its position on the changes to reliefs and exemptions that were recommended by the review.

Answer · Derek Mackay: On 12 September, I confirmed that 22 of the 30 Barclay recommendations were accepted and six required further consideration and engagement before the Scottish Government confirms its position. These include reform of charity, empty property and sports club re…

25 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution on 12 September 2017 (Official Report, c. 49), how much the extension of Fresh Start will cost in each of the next four years, and how many properties it expects will apply.

Answer · Derek Mackay: It is estimated that that the extension of the fresh start relief will cost around £2 million per year. More detail on this and the other measures announced in my statement to Parliament on 12 September 2017 will be published in an implementation plan by the …

25 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution on 12 September 2017 (Official Report, c. 49), how much the business growth accelerator will be in each of the next four years, and how many properties it expects will apply.

Answer · Derek Mackay: It is estimated that that the business growth accelerator will cost around £45 million per year. More detail on this and the other measures announced in my statement to Parliament on 12 September 2017 will be published in an implementation plan by the end of …

13 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) on what dates and (b) where it has met Benny Higgins.

Answer · Keith Brown: Scottish Government officials have engaged in discussions with Benny Higgins regarding a Scottish National Investment Bank via telephone calls on 22 August, 29 August, 8 September and held face to face meetings on 1 September and 22 September, both in Edinbur…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement in its Programme for Government, what (a) financial and (b) administrative support it is providing Benny Higgins for the development of the Scottish National Investment Bank, including any seconded staff.

Answer · Keith Brown: A Secretariat of Scottish Government officials will support Benny Higgins in taking this work forward. The Secretariat will provide and coordinate a range of advice and support from across the Scottish Government and from external sources to ensure the approp…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the percentage of jobs growth in each of the last five years that (a) can be attributed to immigration and (b) represents jobs that have been filled by non-UK nationals.

Answer · Keith Brown: Information on jobs growth which can be attributed specifically to immigration is not held centrally. Table 1 shows the total numbers in employment in Scotland, the level of annual change and the annual percentage change. Table 2 shows total numbers of non-…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement in its Programme for Government, by what date it plans to double the number of Scottish Development International staff.

Answer · Keith Brown: Work is well underway to double the number of people working for Scottish Development International in Europe from 20 to 40. The expansion will mean that SDI has a presence in 10 countries in Europe. Precise locations are being based on an assessment of regio…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the change in overall employment has been as a result of self-employment in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Table 1 shows total employment, self-employment, annual change and annual percentage change in Scotland from Mar 1999–Feb 2000 to April 2016-Mar 2017. Apr 2016-Mar 2017 is the most recent Annual Population Survey data available.. Table 1: Total employment an…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been self-employed in each year since 1999, also given as a percentage of the total workforce.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Table 1 shows the overall level of self-employment and as a percentage of the total number of people in employment in each year from Mar 1999–Feb 2000 to April 2016-Mar 2017. Apr 2016-Mar 2017 is the most recent Annual Population Survey data available. Table…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the output gap has been in each year since 1999.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government does not routinely publish figures on the output gap. In the Draft Budget 2017-2018 Devolved Taxes Methodology Report, the Scottish Government published the following estimate and forecast of the output gap in Scotland. 2015-16 201…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many eligible businesses and organisations have received the full benefit of the non-domestic rates 12.5% cap, and how many have not.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Data relating to the relief is not yet known for 2017-18.

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which local authorities have informed it that they do not have the IT capabilities to implement the non-domestic rates 12.5% cap.

Answer · Derek Mackay: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-11240 on 22 September. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the non-domestic rates 12.5% cap, which local authorities are (a) manually issuing the cap and (b) advising businesses to apply for a rebate.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The administrative processes relating to any form or relief is entirely the responsibility of local authorities.

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in each year since it was established, how many people have sought help from the Transition Training Fund; how many have been helped, broken down by sector, and what its budget has been.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: Skills Development Scotland (SDS), who administer the Transition Training Fund (TTF) on behalf of Scottish Government, provide up to date information on the funds’ performance on a weekly basis. This can be accessed from the following website https://transiti…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has commissioned on automation and its impact on Scotland's labour market and economy.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is currently considering external research around automation and its impact on Scotland’s labour market and economy. However, we continue to monitor the emerging evidence base. Technological change, and issues such as automation, will…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement in its Programme for Government, when the six export partnership pilots will be established; how the locations will be decided; what the budget will be for each pilot, and how many staff each will employ.

Answer · Keith Brown: We are working closely with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce to deliver up to six local/regional export partnerships. Together with the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and Scottish Development International we are currently considering proposals from a number …

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people have been employed at Scottish Development International in each year since it was established.

Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-03966 on 16 November 2016, which provided totals for SDI's workforce each year from 2011-12 to 2015-16. The total for SDI's workforce for 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 are not available due to organisational Records …

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement in its Programme for Government, what the timescale is for Benny Higgins to develop the remit, governance, operating model and approach to managing financial risk for the Scottish National Investment Bank.

Answer · Keith Brown: We expect the work led by Benny Higgins to develop detailed proposals for the remit, capitalisation, governance, operating model, regulatory timeline and financial risk management to report by February 2018. The Terms of Reference for this work have been publ…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement in its Programme for Government, when the Scottish National Investment Bank will be launched; what its budget will be, and how many staff it will employ.

Answer · Keith Brown: Benny Higgins Chief Executive Officer of Tesco Bank, has agreed to lead work on developing an Implementation Plan for the Scottish National Investment Bank. This work is due to be completed by February 2018 and will consider the optimum governance structure, …

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement in its Programme for Government, when the manufacturing service will be launched; what its budget will be; how many staff it will employ, and how long it will run for.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Manufacturing 4.0 service will be delivered by the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS) and the Digital Transformation team within Scottish Enterprise. These teams include around 40 practitioners in total. A pilot has already commenced with ei…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will include fintech within its growth sectors.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Scottish Government is committed to the development of Scotland’s fintech sector and is working in partnership with the industry to support and promote Scotland as a fintech centre and create an environment that will allow Scotland's fintech community to …

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement in its Programme for Government, when the Unlocking Ambition Challenge will be launched; what its budget will be, and how long it will run for.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: "Scotland CAN DO; Unlocking Ambition" is a highly ambitious project to accelerate the achievement of high potential entrepreneurs, including those seeking wider societal impact. At present discussions are on-going with agencies and private sector partners to…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has given CivTech in each year since it was established.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The funding for the CivTech® programme in each year is as follows: 2015-16 (Jan – March) 2016-17 2017-18 £ £ £ Total 45,000 677,000 1,200,000

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the type of income that was received by self-employed people in each year since 1999.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Official sources of data on income for Scotland come from the HMRC Survey of Personal Incomes dataset and the DWP Family Resources Survey dataset. HMRC data provides information on individual incomes that are liable to income tax, including self-employment i…

12 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) Scottish Enterprise and (b) Highlands and Islands Enterprise regarding the timing of the publication of its annual report.

Answer · Paul Wheelhouse: The Enterprise and New Towns (Scotland) Act 1990 (as amended) sets out the process and duty placed on Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to report annually and Scottish Ministers to lay before Parliament a copy of such reports. The Sco…

11 Sep 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action is being taken by the police to deal with antisocial behaviour at Helensburgh Central train station.

7 Sep 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-10472 by Jamie Hepburn on 25 August 2017, for what reason the information is not held centrally, and where this information is held.

Answer · Jamie Hepburn: Scottish Government spending data are primarily held by directorate and by UN Function of Government category (COFOG). There are a number of public bodies that contribute to labour market training in Scotland, including Skills Development Scotland; the Scotti…

22 Aug 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many significant case reviews of social work services have been carried out in each year since 1999; how many recommendations have been (a) made and (b) implemented, and how many of the recommendations focused on a need for better support for (i) social workers and (ii) families, als…

Answer · Mark McDonald: The Care Inspectorate has been the repository for significant case reviews for children and young people, since 2015. Significant case reviews were not collated before this, although the effectiveness of the response to significant case reviews findings withi…

22 Aug 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on commissioning boards independent of local authorities to carry out an external analysis of the significant case reviews of social work services.

Answer · Mark McDonald: A significant case review is a multi-agency process for establishing the facts of, and learning lessons from, a situation where an individual has died or been significantly harmed. It is not restricted to the delivery of social work services but rather consid…