Willie Rennie

3 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will revise its white paper on independence after the publication of the final recommendations from the Independent Expert Commission on Oil and Gas.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The white paper will be published this in autumn 2013.

3 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has agreed with the members of the Independent Expert Commission on Oil and Gas that it will consider amendments to its plans for independence once it has received the conclusions from the commission’s work.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The Scottish Government will consider the final report from the Independent Expert Commission in full.

3 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-16521 by John Swinney on 16 August 2013, whether the Independent Expert Commission on Oil and Gas has been asked to consider the Lloyds Banking Group forecast from March 2013.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The commission will consider all evidence and data which has relevance to its remit.

3 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what dates the members of the Independent Expert Commission on Oil and Gas were invited to join the commission.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The members of the commission were finalised following the publication of Maximising the return from Oil and Gas in an Independent Scotland on 23 July 2013.

3 Sep 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Independent Expert Commission on Oil and Gas will publish a report prior to publication of the white paper on independence.

Answer · Fergus Ewing: The commissioners will feed views directly into the White Paper.

2 Sep 2013 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what issues will be discussed at the next meeting of the Cabinet.

7 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on promoting the Chronic Medication Service, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Alex Neil: This information is not held centrally.

7 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have registered with a community pharmacy for the Chronic Medication Service in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Alex Neil: The following table provides data on the number of patients who have registered with a community pharmacy for the Chronic Medication Service (CMS) in the last three years, broken NHS board area. NHS Board CMS Registrations 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 NHS…

7 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on promoting the Minor Ailment Service, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Alex Neil: This information is not held centrally.

7 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the cost is of providing the Minor Ailment Service, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Alex Neil: The following table provides data on the total remuneration and reimbursement costs relating to the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) broken down by NHS board area for 2012-13. NHS Board Cost (£s) 2012-13 NHS Ayrshire and Arran 1,612123 NHS Borders 437,629…

7 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have used the Minor Ailment Service provided by community pharmacists in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Alex Neil: The number of people who access the Minor Ailment Service (MAS) is not available centrally, however, the number of treatments provided can be found in the following table. NHS Board Treatments 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 NHS Ayrshire and Arran 165,582 …

7 Aug 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have registered with a community pharmacy to use the Minor Ailment Service in each of the last three years, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Alex Neil: The following table provides data on Minor Ailment Service (MAS) registrations for the last three years broken down by NHS board area. NHS Board Registrations 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 NHS Ayrshire and Arran 73,220 77,083 82,140 NHS Borders 17,851…

11 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) businesses and (b) internet service providers regarding the introduction of a Scottish internet suffix in an independent Scotland.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government supports the application by Dot Scot Registry (DSR) for the .scot Top Level Domain (TLD) which is a ‘community’ bid intended to be representative of the Scottish online community, including businesses and the wider Scots diaspora. Rese…

11 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish websites and email addresses in an independent Scotland would have to change their internet suffix from .uk to .scot and, if so, what the cost would be.

Answer · John Swinney: The .uk TLD is operated by Nominet and their policies set out that .uk domains available for purchase may be bought by consumers anywhere in the world. When the .scot TLD is established it will be available under specified criteria, agreed with the Internet C…

9 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15750 by John Swinney on 5 July 2013, what analysis it has undertaken of whether, with reference to Figure 4.2 in the Economic Advisory Group report, The Impact of Reducing Corporation Tax on the Northern Ireland Economy, government revenues decline…

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15749 on 5 July 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/parliamentarybus…

9 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15748 by John Swinney on 5 July 2013, whether the output "Government Consumption" from the simulation used to inform its publication, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy, equals government revenues under the assumpti…

Answer · John Swinney: As stated on page seven of the report, “the modelling work is based upon a ‘balanced budget’ analysis, which means that changes in current government expenditure are fully aligned to changes in current tax revenues”.

9 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15746 by John Swinney on 5 July 2013, whether data exist for the annual change in government revenues for each year after a change to corporation tax as set out in its publication, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy…

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answers to question S4W-15478 on 12 June 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/parliamentaryb…

9 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15749 by John Swinney on 5 July 2013, for what reason it has not included government revenues as an indicator with an associated chart setting out the gains and losses over time in its publication, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the…

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15478 on 12 June 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/parliamentarybus…

9 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4W-15749 by John Swinney on 5 July 2013, which notes that “a lower tax rate can reduce revenues”, whether it will quantify the expected reduction in revenues under its model.

Answer · John Swinney: As stated in the answer to S4W-15749, “whilst a lower tax rate can reduce revenues for a given level of profits, by stimulating economic activity, it can grow the tax base which can in turn lead to higher tax revenues. The potential economic benefits from the…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the figure of 0.1% growth in government consumption over the first 20 years following a 3% reduction in corporation tax, as shown in Table 1 on page 12 of its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy, is affected by updating the model to include th…

Answer · John Swinney: The modelling in the report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy, assesses the impact of a policy equivalent to a reduction in the main rate of corporation tax from 23 per cent to 20 per cent.

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what sensitivity analysis it conducted on the figure of 0.1% growth in government consumption over the first 20 years following a 3% reduction in corporation tax, as shown in table 1 on page 12 of its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy.

Answer · John Swinney: The modelling work was implemented with the use of a robust framework of the Scottish economy. The results are based on actual data and parameters informed by empirical evidence.

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4F-01498 by Alex Salmond on 27 June 2013 (Official Report, col. 21751), in which years after implementation would a 3% reduction in corporation tax “increase total tax revenues”.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15478 on 12 June 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/parliamentarybu…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has updated the simulation model used in its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy, to reflect changes in the industries and sectors likely to be responsible for foreign direct investment since the model was first developed.

Answer · John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-16253 on 30 July 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/parliamentarybu…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government from which year data is derived to show the impact on foreign direct investment of a reduction in corporation tax in the simulation model used in its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy.

Answer · John Swinney: The change in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in response to the policy is informed by robust estimates contained in a range of academic studies and empirical evidence. Appendix B of the report referred to in the question provides further detail.

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the change in government consumption would be in each of the first 20 years following a 3% reduction in corporation tax, as shown in the simulation used in its report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy.

Answer · John Swinney: The report referred to in the question provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of reducing corporation tax and outlines the impacts on key economic variables, such as output, employment, investment and government consumption. As outlined in …

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which minister was scheduled to make a visit to China in week commencing 23 June 2013, whether another minister undertook the visit instead and, if so, for what reason.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The only minister confirmed to visit China and Hong Kong in June 2013 was the Minister for External Affairs and International Development. This was announced by the Scottish Government press release on Sunday 23 June 2013.

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason notification of the recent visit to China by the Minister for External Affairs and International Relations was not given to the European and External Relations Committee in advance.

Answer · Humza Yousaf: The protocol between the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government in relation to the handling of committee business states at paragraph 45 that Committee Liaison Officers and or other relevant Scottish Government officials have a general responsibility…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the oral evidence by the Minister for External Affairs and International Development to the European and External Relations Committee on 16 May 2013 (Official Report, col.1200), what steps it has taken to implement the suggestion made by the chief executive of Transport Scotl…

Answer · Keith Brown: At the meeting between the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and the Minister for External Relations and International Development in June it was agreed that the Scottish Government would bring together outline proposals, with input from Scotland’…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the oral evidence given by the Minister for External Affairs and International Development to the European and External Relations Committee on 16 May 2013, what discussions it has had with airlines on establishing direct flights from Scotland to China since the First Minister…

Answer · Keith Brown: At the World Route Development Forum in October 2012 Scottish Government officials met with Air China, Hainan Airlines, Cathay Pacific and China Eastern Airlines. The Minister for External Relations and International Development met the Civil Aviation Adminis…

4 Jul 2013 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S4F-01500 by Alex Salmond on 27 June 2013 (Official Report, col. 21759), whether it will set out (a) the evidence that supports the First Minister's comment that “reduction or elimination [of air passenger duty] would result in additional not less reven…

Answer · Keith Brown: The information requested is contained in “The Economic Impact of Air Passenger Duty” which can be viewed at: http://corporate.easyjet.com/~/media/Files/E/Easyjet-Plc-V2/pdf/content/APD-study-full.pdf. The report was published in February 2013 and was commis…