Parliamentary questions
Jackie Baillie
9,397 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26467 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, what the implications are for projects transferring to the new structure and, other than the schools referred to in the response, which projects will transfer.
Answer · John Swinney: The intention is that all hub design-build-finance-maintain projects signed after the introduction of ESA10 in September 2014 will transfer to the new structure. Details about all projects in the hub programme are available on the Scottish Futures Trust websi…
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26471 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, which of the capital projects that it has announced without firm timings are to be funded by the hub design-build-finance-maintain programme, which is subject to time delays.
Answer · John Swinney: Detailed information about all projects being delivered through the hub programme is available on the Scottish Futures Trust website at: www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk.
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what (a) independent legal and (b) financial advice regarding the Eurostat changes to the classification of capital projects (i) it and (ii) the Scottish Futures Trust has taken in each year since 2010.
Answer · John Swinney: Legal and financial advice has been sought at various stages since 2010 by procuring authorities on projects and by the Scottish Futures Trust.
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26458 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, when the meeting with the Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator was arranged.
Answer · John Swinney: The answer given to question S4W-26458 contained an error. The meeting referred to was held on 23 June 2015; this was arranged on 5 June 2015.
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-26456, S4W-26457 and S4W-26460 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, in light of control by the public sector being reduced from 40% to 20%, how the new structure will reinforce strong public sector representation.
Answer · John Swinney: The public sector will hold a 20% stake in hub projects, split evenly between the Scottish Futures Trust and the procuring authority. The public interest will be represented by the Scottish Futures Trust on the boards of directors of the project companies est…
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26461 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, which projects where capital contributions are no longer being made are affected and, in these cases, what the unitary payments (a) were before and (b) are expected to be now.
Answer · John Swinney: A list of projects where capital contributions are no longer being made is provided in the following table. Unitary payments for these projects will be confirmed when contracts are signed. Health Design, Build, Finance and Maintain (DBFM) Projects Project N…
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26450 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, for what reason it has not carried out an assessment of project costs or inflation impacts on the delayed projects.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer given to question S4W-27757 on 27 October 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentaryb…
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26450 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding how much it paid Pinsent Masons for advice and consultancy services.
Answer · John Swinney: Pinsent Masons was appointed by the Scottish Futures Trust and not the Scottish Government.
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26543 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, whether it will publish details of the limited contractual adjustments made for each project.
Answer · John Swinney: Publication of contracts would be a matter for relevant procuring authorities.
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26468 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, in light of the reported public interest in the matter, whether it will publish the advice.
Answer · John Swinney: The relevant legal advice was provided on a confidential basis.
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answers to questions S4W-26469 and S4W-26470 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, whether the private sector can invest subordinated debt beyond its 60% shareholding.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer given to question S4W-26469 on 31 July 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusi…
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26441 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, whether all projects with a financial close date of after September 2014 have been affected by the Eurostat change.
Answer · John Swinney: Project timetables can be affected by a wide range of factors. Twelve hub projects are considered to be in a position where they would be likely to be able to move to financial close now should current classification issues be resolved. Other hub projects in …
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26449 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, when it will provide an assessment of the additional costs.
Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer given to question S4W-27757 on 27 October 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at: www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentaryb…
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26452 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, whether it will provide details of each project expected to have a financial close in each month from July 2015 to March 2016.
Answer · John Swinney: Detailed information about all projects being delivered through the hub programme is available on the Scottish Futures Trust website at: www.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk.
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-26442 by John Swinney on 31 July 2015, whether it will provide details of all of the projects delayed for each year, also broken down by (a) the length of delay and (b) what the additional cost will be.
Answer · John Swinney: The length and cost for projects of any delay will only be known when contracts are signed.
27 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-24246 by John Swinney on 2 February 2015, how many other projects did not reach financial close in 2014-15, and whether it will provide an update for 2015-16.
Answer · John Swinney: The information provided in the answer given to question S4W-24246 in relation to eight hub projects that had been due to reach financial close by 31 March 2015 remains up to date. In relation to 2015-16, the Scottish Government has already advised Parliamen…
26 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings it has had with representatives of Anglian Water in the last year and what was discussed.
Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government held one meeting with Anglian Water Business in the past year, on 24 February 2015. The discussion regarded Anglian Water Business’ intentions for implementing the contract and how these would be supported by their business structure.
26 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the (a) legal and (b) other advice it has received regarding the £350 million contract for the supply of water to the public sector.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-27746 on 26 October 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentary…
26 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the (a) Water Industry Commissioner and (b) EU officials regarding the £350 million contract to supply water for the public sector.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-27746 on 26 October 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentary…
26 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the key differences were between the bids from Anglian Water and Scottish Water for the £350 million contract for the supply of water to the public sector.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-27746 on 26 October 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentary…
26 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it experienced problems with the tendering process for the £350 million contract for the supply of water to the public sector and, if so, what.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-27746 on 26 October 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentary…
26 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what compensation Anglian Water will receive if it is not awarded the £350 million contract for the supply of water to the public sector.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-27746 on 26 October 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentar…
26 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which company was the lead bidder in the tendering process for the £350 million contract for the supply of water to the public sector.
Answer · Keith Brown: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-27746 on 26 October 2015. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentaryb…
26 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government for what reason there has been a nine-month delay in announcing the name of the company that it is awarding the £350 million contract to for the supply of water to the public sector and, in light of the deadline being 30 September 2015, whether it will (a) extend the deadline or (b) conf…
Answer · Keith Brown: There is no such contract for the supply of water to the public sector. Scottish Water currently delivers 96.5% of all mains water in Scotland and will continue to do so once this contract is awarded. The contract in question is for water billing services and…
24 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what budget is available to advertise the Scottish rate of income tax in light of the comment of Charlotte Barbour of the Institute of Chartered Accountants to the Finance Committee on 23 September 2015 that "there may be restrictions on the budget for advertising the change and question…
Answer · John Swinney: HMRC is responsible for the implementation of the Scottish rate of income tax. In the UK Government’s Third Annual Report on the Implementation and Operation of Part 3 (Financial Provisions) of the Scotland Act 2012, the breakdown of the estimated costs for t…
24 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how and (b) when it will advertise the level that the Scottish rate of income tax has been set at to (i) taxpayers and (ii) employers.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government will propose a Scottish rate of income tax for the consideration of the Scottish Parliament within its draft budget for 2016-17.
24 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government (a) how and (b) when it will advertise the coming into force of the Scottish rate of income tax to (i) taxpayers and (ii) employers.
Answer · John Swinney: It is the responsibility of HMRC to implement the Scottish rate of income tax. HMRC have provided an outline of its communications strategy for the Scottish rate of income tax to the Finance Committee.
24 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the risk of being unable to identify all Scottish taxpayers by April 2016.
Answer · John Swinney: It is the responsibility of HMRC to identify the Scottish taxpayer population as part of its implementation programme for the Scottish rate of income tax. The Scottish Government is represented on HMRC’s project and programme boards. The level of risk associ…
24 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will set the Scottish rate of income tax.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government will propose a Scottish rate of income tax for the consideration of the Scottish Parliament within its draft budget for 2016-17.
24 Sep 2015 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will reconsider the decision not to show the Scottish rate of income tax separately on P60s and payslips in light of evidence submitted to the Finance Committee.
Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish rate of income tax will be clearly shown on an individual’s annual tax summary to provide transparency for all Scottish taxpayers while minimising the impact on employers. I set out the rationale for this decision in my letter of 9 June 2015 to …