Iain Gray

6 Dec 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish all of the (a) official and (b) ministerial correspondence between it and the UK Government concerning the closure of the Renewables Obligation and the associated transitional arrangements.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government has published a letter from the Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Mr Ewing, to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Mr Davey, dated 1 November 2013 concerning the closure of the Renewables Obligation. This c…

18 Nov 2013 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of planning decision appeals from East Lothian it has determined in favour of the developer and how this compares with the national average.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Since the commencement of the Town and Country Planning (Appeals) (Scotland) Regulations 2008 on 3 August 2009. 32 planning appeals have been decided in East Lothian, of which 17 were allowed (53%). In this same period 1135 planning appeals were decided in Sc…

21 Oct 2013 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the costs and processes involved in renationalising the Royal Mail in an independent Scotland and with whom it has consulted.

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much each of the recommendations in its paper, Pensions in an Independent Scotland, would cost to implement in each of the first 10 years of an independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: Annex B notes that the Scottish Government would require access to Department for Work and Pensions models to produce full costings.

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments in its paper, Pensions in an Independent Scotland, that it “would continue with the roll-out of automatic enrolment” in an independent Scotland, (a) whether it will provide details of what body would be set up to administer this and (b) how it would mitigate iss…

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government would work with the UK Government on appropriate transitional arrangements to ensure the continued roll-out of automatic enrolment in an independent Scotland.

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comments in its paper, Pensions in an Independent Scotland, that it would “consider the pension terms of all uniformed services”, what projections it has made of the cost of changes to the terms.

Answer · John Swinney: Public sector pensions policy has been imposed on Scotland with insufficient engagement and consultation. In March 2012 the Scottish Government entered into partnership negotiations on the terms of reformed pension schemes in good faith, requiring the new sch…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Institute for Fiscal Studies comment that “funding the benefits system in the decades ahead may prove somewhat more burdensome for an independent Scotland.”

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Social Protection is currently more affordable in Scotland than the rest of the UK as a proportion of tax revenues and GDP. For example, figures from 2011-12 show that 38% of Scottish tax revenues were spent on social protection, compared with 42% for the UK …

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the Fiscal Commission’s comment that “Scotland’s dependency ratio will increase more rapidly compared to the UK – reflecting the particularly sharp increase in Scotland’s pension age population.”

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Pensions in an Independent Scotland sets out clearly that under 2010-based Office of National Statistics/National Records of Scotland population projections, and without further action being taken, the total dependency ratio in Scotland will rise slightly abo…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the Office for National Statistics national population projections used in its paper, Pensions in an Independent Scotland, suggest the difference will be between Scotland and the rest of the UK in relation to the number of dependents of pensionable age per 1,000 people from 2010 to …

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Updated 2012-based population projections have been produced by the Office of National Statistics and National Records of Scotland since the publication of Pensions in an Independent Scotland. UK-wide dependency ratios are provided in the following table: …

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of whether an independent Scotland would have a structural deficit.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17841 on 5 November 2013. 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…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has asked the Fiscal Commission to consider the affordability of state pensions in an independent Scotland and, if so, whether it will publish the commission’s findings.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Pensions in an Independent Scotland makes clear that expenditure on social protection is currently lower in Scotland as a share of GDP than in the UK as a whole.

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of whether there would be differences in the levels of spending on state and public sector pensions between an independent Scotland and the UK.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Annex B of Pensions in an Independent Scotland explains that the Scottish Government would require access to DWP models to enable production of full costings. However in terms of current spending and affordability of pensions, expenditure on social protectio…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it anticipates that an independent Scotland would have a larger net fiscal deficit than the rest of the UK and, if so, in what year this would happen.

Answer · John Swinney: Over the past five years, it is estimated that Scotland has been in a relatively stronger fiscal position than the UK as a whole to the tune of £12.6 billion. This means that over this period, holding everything else constant, Scotland could have had higher s…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will publish comprehensive costings of the proposals in Pensions in an Independent Scotland in addition to those contained in annex B of the document.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are no current plans for a further publication on pensions and independence.

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the use of statistics in Pensions in an Independent Scotland was consistent with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Yes. While the statistics code of practice specifically covers the production of official statistics, Pensions in an Independent Scotland was produced using the principles contained in the code. It was led by Scottish Government analysts who produced the docu…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the Deputy First Minister's statement that it is a “myth that Scotland’s population is somehow uniquely ageing or ageing faster than that of the rest of the UK” (Official Report, c. 22775) is consistent with the statement in the Scottish Government report, Demog…

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Scotland and the UK both face ageing populations, as do all developed countries. However, the position facing each country is different. Updated population projections (2012 based) were released on 6th November 2013. These suggest that the gap between Scotla…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the liability that it would inherit arising from the protection of all rights and entitlements to public service pensions in an independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has set out in its paper ‘Pensions in an independent Scotland’ a clear and unambiguous commitment on the pension responsibilities it will take on under independence. It also recognises that there would be a need for negotiation with th…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has sought legal advice on the operation of cross-border pension schemes in an independent Scotland and, if so, what advice it has received.

Answer · John Swinney: It is the long-standing practice, followed by both the Scottish Government and the UK Government that, the fact and content of any legal advice is not released outwith Government.

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with organisations that operate pension funds that would be considered cross-border in an independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has had discussions with a range of organisations on this issue. These discussions have informed our position on cross-border pension schemes.

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of how it would meet the estimated additional £6 billion in extra benefit expenditure in an independent Scotland between 2026-27 and 2035-36 as a result of not increasing the state pension age to 67 in 2028.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17825 on 9 December 2013. 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…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cost of retaining the savings credit for all pensioners in an independent Scotland.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: Annex B of the report reads: “The estimated cost is £8.5 million in 2016-17, relative to a baseline where Savings Credit is abolished. Total costs will increase over time.”

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government on how the Financial Assistance Scheme would operate in an independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has consistently identified the need for detailed discussions on pensions issues with the UK Government. We are keen for these discussions to start as soon as possible.

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of any additional administration costs arising from changes to the basic state pension in an independent Scotland.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17829 on 9 December 2013. 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…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that there would be additional administration costs arising from policy divergences on the payment of pensions and benefits in an independent Scotland using UK Government infrastructure.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We are clear that transitional arrangements must not prevent the Scottish Government from having the policy flexibility to make any immediate changes to welfare (including pensions) policy, and we welcome the Expert Group on Welfare’s acknowledgement of this.…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what technological requirements have been identified as necessary to deliver a different state pension in an independent Scotland using UK Government IT systems.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17808 on 9 December 2013. 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/parliamenta…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what contingencies it has made to deliver commitments in relation to the (a) state pension age and (b) level of the basic state pension in an independent Scotland if these cannot be delivered using the UK Government IT systems.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-17808 on 9 December 2013. 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…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cost in an independent Scotland of a new single tier state pension (a) without the scheduled rise in pension age to 67 and (b) being initially set at a higher rate that the UK state pension.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: We intend if in government, to appoint an independent commission on the state pension age within the first year of independence. The commission will have a remit to investigate and make recommendations on the appropriate rate of increase of the state pension …

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the (a) capital and (b) running costs of setting up a body to replicate the National Employment Savings Trust in an independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: As stated in our paper on Pensions in an Independent Scotland, it would be for a future Scottish Government to work with the pensions industry in Scotland, and all other stakeholders on the design of a Scottish equivalent of the National Employment Savings Tr…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the (a) capital and (b) running costs of setting up a Scottish Ombudsman service in an independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government has published a paper on Consumer Protection and Representation in an Independent Scotland: Options which considers two options for setting up an efficient and effective Scottish Ombudsman ervice in an independent Scotland: http://www.…

14 Oct 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the (a) capital and (b) running costs of setting up a pensions regulator in an independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: At present, the UK Pensions Regulator and the Financial Conduct Authority share responsibility for regulating pensions in Scotland. Our paper on Pensions in an Independent Scotland and the White Paper Scotland’s Future: your guide to an Independent Scotland c…