Parliamentary questions

Jeremy Purvis

909 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

11 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it estimates the non-domestic rates income for 2011-12 will be, broken down by the amount received from businesses paying (a) the poundage rate at 43.3p, (b) the large business supplement, (c) the large retail supplement, (d) the 50% small business bonus, (e) the 25% small business b…

Answer · John Swinney: The information requested is given in the following table using updated income estimates except that the actual poundage rate of 42.6p for 2011-12 has been used rather than a rate of 43.3p. A poundage rate of 43.3p would double count the large business supple…

11 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what business poundage rate assumptions it used to calculate the non-domestic rates income for 2011-12 at £2,179.5 million.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government''s estimate of distributable non-domestic rate income for 2011-12 in the Draft Budget 2011-12 is £2,170.5 million. The £2,179.5 million figure published in the Draft Budget includes an additional £9 million for other Annually Managed E…

11 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the total non-domestic rates income would be in 2011-12 if the poundage rate were increased by 3% from 2010-11 and how this differs from the estimate in Scotland’s Spending Plans and Draft Budget 2011-12.

Answer · John Swinney: The estimated non-domestic rates income in the Draft Budget 2011-12, published on 17 November 2010, was based on a then anticipated inflationary uplift in the poundage rate of 2.5 per cent. The increase in revenue resulting from a 3.0 per cent uplift in the p…

11 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what level of retail price index it used when calculating non-domestic rates revenue for 2011-12 as set out in Scotland’s Spending Plans and Draft Budget 2011-12.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government is committed to the Scottish poundage rate not rising above the English poundage rate during the current Scottish Parliament. The calculations underpinning the Draft Budget 2011-12, published on 17 November 2010, were based on a then a…

11 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what processes are in place to address delays in repayments of non-domestic rates by local authorities.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government engages regularly with a range of ratepayers and business organisations on the operation of the business rates system. As part of that engagement, at a rate payers forum meeting on 16 December 2010 involving a range of rat…

11 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what processes are in place to assess the timeliness of local authorities’ repayment of non-domestic rates.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-38707 on 20 January 2011. 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/Apps2/Busines…

11 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what length of time would constitute prompt repayment of non-domestic rates, as referred to in Local Government Finance Circular No. 15/2010.

11 Jan 2011 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it publishes comparisons of non-domestic rates repayments broken down by local authority area.

23 Dec 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of looked after children entered into a higher education course in the last year.

Answer · Adam Ingram: The School Leavers Destination Publication (1 December 2010) indicates that 2.1% of school leavers, identified as being Looked After during their final year at school, were in higher education approximately three months after leaving from the academic year 20…

12 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36987 by Michael Russell on 11 November 2010, within what budget it aims to keep the set-up costs of the Scottish Education Quality and Improvement Agency.

Answer · Michael Russell: Set up costs will be met from within the Education and Lifelong Learning budget as published in Scotland''s Spending Plans and Draft Budget 2011-12 on 17 November 2010.

11 Nov 2010 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Executive to what extent it has reduced the impact of regulation on the farming community since it came into office.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I am sure the member is aware that most of the regulation that impacts on Scotland''s farmers and land managers comes from Europe and under the terms of the Scotland Act Scottish Ministers must implement relevant EU rules. The Scottish Government…

9 Nov 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many distinction award holders there are following the 2010 awards round.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: There are 578 distinction award holders following the 2010 awards round. This is exactly the same number as in 2009 due to my decision earlier this year to freeze the number of distinction awards awarded in 2010. This decision resulted in a savin…

29 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has an estimate of the proportion of spend on NHS distinction awards that relates to pension contributions.

Answer · Nicola Sturgeon: As stated in my reply to your question S3W-35339 on 9 August 2010, information relating to the proportion of spend on NHS Distinction Awards that specifically relates to pension contributions is not available. The overall budget for distinction awards was fro…

29 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are award or bonus schemes available to public sector workers, other than the NHS distinction award scheme, in which payment is added to the recipient’s pension on retirement.

Answer · John Swinney: Non-consolidated performance related payments do not count towards an employee''s pensionable pay. Different staff groups are covered by different pension arrangements. Each set of pension scheme regulations determine what elements of pay are pension…

29 Oct 2010 · Written Question

Answer · John Swinney: For bodies covered by Scottish Ministers'' public sector pay policy, the Senior Civil Service, police and teachers, there are no such award or bonus schemes. As well as the NHS Scotland Distinction Awards Scheme, the NHS operates a system of discret…

28 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the cost will be to (a) it and (b) local government in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14 and (v) 2014-15 with regard to the (A) Certification of Death (Scotland) Bill, (B) Double Jeopardy (Scotland) Bill, (C) Forced Marriage etc. (Protection and Jurisdiction) (Sc…

Answer · John Swinney: In accordance with Standing Order 9.3.2 all the bills highlighted by the member were accompanied by a Financial Memorandum on introduction. Each memorandum sets out the best estimates of the administrative, compliance and other costs to which the provisions o…

18 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to its press release of 14 October 2010 on the replacement of Learning and Teaching Scotland and HM Inspectorate of Education with the new Scottish Education Quality and Improvement Agency, whether it will provide details of the “less bureaucracy, less red tape and [with] more re…

Answer · Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to questions S3W-36986 and S3W-36988 on 11 November 2010. 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.…

18 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be any non-voluntary redundancies through the replacement of Learning and Teaching Scotland and HM Inspectorate of Education with the new Scottish Education Quality and Improvement Agency.

Answer · Michael Russell: Scottish Ministers have given a commitment of no compulsory redundancies for the period of this spending review until March 2011 and this policy applies to both HM Inspectorate of Education and Learning and Teaching Scotland staff. We expect that any necessar…

18 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual running costs of the new Scottish Education Quality and Improvement Agency will be, broken down by category of expenditure.

Answer · Michael Russell: The detail of annual running costs of the new agency will be confirmed once the necessary business architecture is in place and operational structures are finalised. Further and detailed work will be carried out between now and the end of the ye…

18 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the set-up costs of the new Scottish Education Quality and Improvement Agency will be, broken down by category of expenditure.

Answer · Michael Russell: Detailed work is currently underway between now and the end of the year to identify future savings and also to identify any initial transitional costs. The aim will be to keep such costs to a minimum and within budget where possible.

18 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much net saving per annum it expects to make through replacement of Learning and Teaching Scotland and HM Inspectorate of Education with the new Scottish Education Quality and Improvement Agency.

Answer · Michael Russell: The prime reason for establishing the new agency is to ensure that we have the best possible national structure in place to support and challenge our education system. Nonetheless, the creation of the new organisation provides an excellent opport…

7 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been carried out regarding how many rural jobs have been created as a result of Scotland Rural Development Programme payments since the programme’s inception.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: A mid-term evaluation of the Scotland Rural Development Programme is underway and will estimate the number of jobs created. The findings from the evaluation will be published on the Scottish Government website when available, expected to be early 2011. <…

7 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the fertiliser market for agriculture operates in a manner that is fair for businesses.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: The fertiliser market is subject to the normal regulatory and competition regimes, and driven by world supply and demand of nitrogen, phosphates and potash. Fertiliser prices in Scotland are dependent on currency exchange rate movements, which have also resul…

7 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive whether the holiday rights outlined in Agricultural Wages in Scotland: Fifteenth Edition: A Guide for Workers and Employers can be passed directly from grandparent to grandchild.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: No. The rights outlined in the guide apply to all agricultural workers covered by the wages order and are not assignable to any other party.

7 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the future of the Scottish Agricultural Wages Board.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to the answer to question S3O-7682 on 3 September 2009. The answer to the oral parliamentary question is available on the Parliament''s website, the official report of which can be viewed at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/…

7 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much capital has been approved for Scotland Rural Development Programme funding in the Scottish Borders in each year since the programme’s inception.

Answer · Richard Lochhead : <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td nowrap valign=top >   </td> <td valign=top > Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation </td> <td valign=top > F…

7 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how many Scotland Rural Development Programme funding approvals have been made in each year since the programme’s inception.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: <table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 > <tr > <td nowrap valign=top >   </td> <td valign=top > Food Processing, Marketing and Co-operation </td> <td valign=top > Forestry Chal…

7 Oct 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what the average amount of approved funding for the Scottish Borders under the Scotland Rural Development Programme has been in each year since the programme’s inception.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Elements of the Scotland Rural Development Programme are governed by different rules and eligibility criteria. It should be noted that, for Land Managers Options (LMO) and Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS), money is applied for and paid on an eligibil…

30 Sep 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive what it understands is meant by the ambassadorial role of the chief executive of Scottish Development International.

Answer · John Swinney: The ambassadorial role of the Chief Executive of Scottish Development International covers the requirement to represent Scotland at the highest levels internationally and, working with other public and private sector organisations, to play a leading role in t…

30 Sep 2010 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Executive how much was paid to Hudson Global for the (a) original and (b) second recruitment process for the appointment of the chief executive of Scottish Development International that took place between August and September 2010.

Answer · John Swinney: Hudson Global has been paid £10,869 (including VAT) for each executive search activity relating to the recruitment exercise for the chief executive of Scottish Development International to date. There will be a further payment on project completion.