Jeremy Purvis

22 Jan 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost is in terms of its budget of the council tax freeze and the reduction in business rates in the current spending review period.

Answer · John Swinney: The cost of the council tax freeze in 2008-09 is £70 million. A further £70 million is available in each of the next two years to extend the freeze up to 2010-11. The total cost of the council tax freeze over the full spending review period will depend on the…

8 Jan 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-19056 by John Swinney on 6 January 2009, what the cost was of early retirement for employees in the Scottish Government Main in each year between 2005 and 2008.

Answer · John Swinney: The detailed information requested is currently being collated and I will write to the member as soon as the information is available. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 47410).</p>

8 Jan 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what comparative assessment it made of the impact on the Norwegian economy of the Norwegian Government’s most recent budget in order to inform the Scottish Government’s budgetary process.

Answer · John Swinney: In preparing our draft budget for 2009-10, responding to the UK Chancellor''s pre-budget report, and introducing the Budget Bill, the Scottish Government has taken into account a range of factors including the experience of other countries, such as Norway. Ho…

8 Jan 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what comparative assessment it made of the impact on the Irish economy of the Irish Government’s most recent budget in order to inform the Scottish Government’s budgetary process.

Answer · John Swinney: In preparing our draft budget for 2009-10, responding to the UK Chancellor''s pre-budget report, and introducing the Budget Bill, the Scottish Government has taken into account a range of factors including the experience of other countries, such as Ireland. H…

8 Jan 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it made in advance of the publication of its 2009-10 budget bill of how many new private sector jobs would be created as a result of its measures.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government Recovery Programme sets out how the government is using this year''s Budget Bill to support jobs and investment in Scotland in response to the economic downturn. In light of the decisions taken, and in particular the acceleration of ca…

8 Jan 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the economic impact of utilising the Scottish variable rate in reducing income tax.

Answer · John Swinney: A one pence cut in income tax via the Scottish variable rate would reduce the size of the Scottish Government Budget by approximately £400 million. This would need to be funded by direct cuts in public services and infrastructure investment in Scotland. Given…

8 Jan 2009 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on the Scottish economy of the reduction in VAT announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 24 November 2008.

Answer · John Swinney: An assessment by the Scottish Government of the impact on the Scottish economy of the temporary reduction in VAT is available at Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Ref: 338(410.5) SCO2008/10 “ <i >Economic Impact of PBR VAT Cut in Scotland Relative to a …

8 Jan 2009 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will review the operations of Disclosure Scotland with regard to adults who were looked-after children.

Answer · Kenny MacAskill: <i > This PQ was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:</i></p> <p ><a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor0108-01.htm">http://www.scottish.p…

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many retail units were vacant in each of the last two years and what proportion of the total number of retail units this represented, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Jim Mather: Statistics on vacant retail units are not collected centrally.</p>

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many registered second homes there are and what percentage of the total number of homes this represents, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · John Swinney: The following table shows the information requested for both second homes and long-term empty properties. Note that some local authorities are unable to provide a split between second homes and long-term empty properties.</p> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 c…

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been successfully prosecuted for non-payment of business rates in each of the last 24 months.

Answer · Frank Mulholland: There can be no prosecutions for simple non-payment of non-domestic rates, since it is a civil matter.</p>

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the estimated number of Scottish residents who are not domiciled in the United Kingdom for tax purposes.

Answer · John Swinney: Taxation is a reserved matter and the Scottish Executive does not hold this information.</p>

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on external consultancy in each of the last three years.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government financial system reports expenditure on the basis of the budgets approved by Parliament, i.e. on a portfolio basis, with relevant consultancy expenditure included within the spending associated with the delivery of a particular project…

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it has spent on (a) focus groups and (b) opinion polls in each of the last three years.

Answer · Jim Mather: The information requested on (a) focus groups can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. On (b) opinion polls, The Scottish Executive does not routinely commission opinion polls. We follow the standard definition of opinion polls as being a snapshot of pu…

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) media and press officers and (b) special advisers were in its employment on 1 January in each of the last three years.

Answer · John Swinney: The number of special advisers in post on 1 January in the last three years is:</p> <p >2006 “ 11</p> <p >2007 “ 12</p> <p >2008 “ 9.</p> <p >The number (full-time equivalent) of specialist Communications Officers employed by the Scottish Government C…

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many press releases it has issued in each of the last three years.

Answer · John Swinney: The information sought is set out in the following table.</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=120 valign=top > <p >&nbsp;</p> </td> <td valign=top > <p align=center >2006</p> </td> <td valign=…

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its employees took early retirement in each of the last three years.

Answer · John Swinney: The number of employees who took early retirement within Scottish Government Main which covers the core directorates, some agencies and associated departments is as follows:</p> <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <thead> <tr > <td width=71…

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much it spent on (a) publicity and (b) advertising in each of the last three years.

Answer · John Swinney: The term publicity has been interpreted to mean the Scottish Government''s central marketing communications work. I refer the member to the Scottish Government website which shows the marketing spend for all advertising campaigns in the financial years 2005-0…

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has held with the (a) Federation of Small Businesses and (b) Confederation of British Industry about providing safeguards for small to medium-sized enterprises during the credit crunch.

Answer · Jim Mather : Both the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and CBI Scotland are represented on the Scottish Government''s National Economic Forum, which discussed the economic situation at its last meeting on 8 October 2008.</p> <p >Senior members of CBI Scotland attend…

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to safeguard small to medium-sized enterprises.

Answer · Jim Mather: The over-riding purpose of the Scottish Government is to increase sustainable economic growth. This purpose remains unchanged. In the current economic climate we will redouble our efforts to help every business, irrespective of size, endure and grow.</p> <p …

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that low-income communities have access to credit.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: Credit unions and community development finance institutions offer low cost credit. We provide a range of support through our social economy funding streams, and have recently announced that we will ring-fence £250,000 within the Third Sector Enterprise Fund …

15 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that support is given to low-income households facing debt problems.

Answer · Stewart Maxwell: We are providing £1 million to Citizens Advice to increase the capacity of face-to-face debt advice services, in response to the current economic difficulties. We are supporting, with nearly £400,000 of funding, a campaign, with the charity the Money Advice T…

11 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive for what reasons the Scottish Futures Trust was rejected, in favour of public procurement in design and build, as a funding mechanism for the construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing.

Answer · John Swinney: Since its inception, SFT has provided guidance on value for money and delivery options in relation to the Forth replacement crossing project and this role will continue.</p> <p >The Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change, in his contributi…

11 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what role the Scottish Futures Trust will play in the construction of (a) the new Forth bridge and (b) other projects in the Scottish Transport Project Review, broken down by project.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) is already actively engaged with Transport Scotland as sponsors of a number of major projects including the Forth Replacement Crossing. SFT will continue to provide expert advice to Transport Scotland, as it does to other part…

11 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much the Forth Replacement Crossing is estimated to cost on completion, including VAT.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The estimated outturn cost at 2016 prices is between £1.7 billion and £2.3 billion including VAT.</p>

11 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive who will bear the risk of any cost overruns on the construction of the Forth Replacement Crossing.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: The contract will be procured by means of a fixed price design and build contract which provides the lowest risk and most secure form of achieving the project on time and to budget. Where the ownership of specific risks is assigned in the contract, any cost o…

11 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive on what basis the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Climate Change concluded that the Forth Replacement Crossing is ahead of schedule, as indicated by him on the BBC Good Morning Scotland programme on 11 December 2008.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: We are on target to achieve the 2016 opening date for the Forth Replacement Crossing. The decisions on the Forth Replacement Crossing announced to the Parliament on 10 December 2008 have removed a number of uncertainties which had otherwise been factored into…

11 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what kind of contract will be awarded for the building of the new Forth Replacement Crossing; whether the costs of the new crossing will be capped and, if so, at what level.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: A fixed price design and build contract will be adopted for the construction of the Forth Replacement crossing.</p> =''fon

11 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive which Strategic Transport Projects Review projects will not be taken forward if the Scottish Government does not receive a £2 billion increased capital budget from HM Treasury.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18815 on 8 January 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at <a href="http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2…

11 Dec 2008 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list of Strategic Transport Projects Review projects ordered by priority.

Answer · Stewart Stevenson: Delivering the Forth Replacement Crossing is the strategic priority for Scotland. Alongside this, we will also deliver further rail interventions such as the Edinburgh to Glasgow Improvements Programme and improvements to the Highland Main Line.</p> <p >The …