Dean Lockhart

1 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of figures in its publication, Exports Statistics Scotland 2016, whether it will provide an estimated breakdown of the £15 million fall in real estate activities exports to the rest of the UK.

Answer · Keith Brown: To maintain company confidentiality, we are unable to break this data down below the published industry classification.

1 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of figures in its publication, Exports Statistics Scotland 2016, whether it will provide an estimated breakdown of the £165 million fall in financial and insurance activities exports to the rest of the UK.

Answer · Keith Brown: The latest figures show exports to the rest of the UK from the financial and insurance activities sector down £165 million from the previous year. This was a 2 per cent decrease. Within this sector, exports to the rest of the UK from insurance activities (do…

1 Feb 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of figures in its publication, Exports Statistics Scotland 2016, for what reason there was a £440 million fall in the value of exports to the EU between 2011 and 2016.

Answer · Keith Brown: Between 2011 and 2016 exports to the EU decreased by £440 million, which was a 3 per cent decrease. During this period, a number of economic factors, including the downturn in the oil and gas sector and the aftermath of the financial crisis weighed on EU gro…

31 Jan 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Stirling Smith Art Gallery and Museum is facing possible closure.

24 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the progress that is being made in appointing a new chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, and by what date the new chief executive will (a) be announced and (b) take up the role.

Answer · Keith Brown: The position was advertised on 17 November 2017 with applications required to be submitted by 5 January 2018. The recruitment process to recruit a Chief Executive takes approximately 6 months to complete subject to the successful candidate's notice period.

23 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-13738 by Derek Mackay on 18 January 2018, how much tax revenue will be generated by the large business rates supplement in 2018-19, broken down by business sector.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Non- domestic (business) rates data is not held by business sector. Data on estimated net liability by property type for 2018-19 is shown in the following table. Large Business Supplement income estimates for 2018-19 by property type. Property Type Net LBS…

22 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school pupils in each local authority area have been taught in composite classes in each of the last five years.

Answer · John Swinney: The Scottish Government does not collect information on secondary school class sizes.

22 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary school teaching positions have been vacant for more than two months in each of the last three years.

Answer · John Swinney: Information on the number of teaching vacancies was collected in 2016 and 2017 as part of the teacher workforce planning process. The September 2016 collection showed that there were 75 secondary posts vacant for more than three months. An improved survey m…

22 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the impact of staff shortages on secondary school pupils' attainment.

Answer · John Swinney: We remain committed to maintaining teacher numbers nationally, and ensuring that we have the right number of teachers, with the right skills, in the right places, to educate our young people. The Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland published on 12 Dece…

18 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government under what circumstances it would be no longer obliged to repay the full amount of financial transactions funding to the Treasury.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The Statement of Funding Policy sets out the arrangements between Devolved Administrations and HM Treasury for managing financial transactions capital. As part of compliance with this, the Scottish Government agrees an annual repayment profile with HM Treasur…

16 Jan 2018 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on progress with the proposed Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government remains fully committed to a City Region Deal for Stirling and Clackmannanshire and we have been leading engagement with the city region partners and the UK Government throughout the process. We remain engaged in discussion with the U…

11 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the (a) initial and (b) annual administration costs will be to businesses of the proposed income tax bands.

11 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional tax revenue from business rates will be generated in 2018-19 from the increase in the poundage rate, broken down by sector.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The estimated additional non-domestic rates income for 2018-19 in respect of the annual increase to the poundage rate, broken down by property type, is shown in the following table. Property type Estimated additional NDR income (£m) Advertising 0.1 Care …

10 Jan 2018 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to encourage more young people into apprenticeships.

9 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much tax revenue it expects will be generated by the large business rates supplement in 2018-19, broken down by local authority.

Answer · Derek Mackay: Aberdeen City 11.8 Aberdeenshire 5.0 Angus 1.1 Argyll & Bute 1.6 Clackmannanshire 0.7 Dumfries & Galloway 1.8 Dundee City 2.9 East Ayrshire 1.2 East Dunbartonshire 0.9 East Lothian 1.0 East Renfrewshire 0.6 Edinburgh, City of 16.0 Eilean Siar 0.3 …

9 Jan 2018 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many commercial properties the large business rates supplement will apply to in 2018-19, broken down by (a) local authority and (b) business sector.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The estimated numbers of properties to which the large business supplement will apply for 2018-19, broken down by property type and by local authority, are shown in the following two tables. Property type Estimated number of properties Advertising 21 Car…

20 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it will cost to (a) implement and (b) administer the proposed new tax bands.

Answer · Derek Mackay: HMRC have estimated annual running costs of between £1.5 and £2m if income tax rates and bands remained the same as the rest of the UK. A more significant divergence between the rates and bands that apply in Scotland when compared to the rest of the UK may le…

20 Dec 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the latest Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts for economic growth.

13 Dec 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce diagnostic waiting times for children with autism.

12 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Department of Health regarding guidance on the use of adrenaline auto-injectors in schools.

Answer · John Swinney: Scottish Government officials participated in a virtual guidance development working group, convened by the Department of Health, to advise on the formulation of their guidance on the use of adrenaline auto-injectors in schools. The working group also held a …

12 Dec 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, what steps (a) it and (b) its agencies take to ensure that all communications that are issued to disabled and vulnerable people are offered in easy-read and alternative accessible formats.

Answer · Jeane Freeman: All communications and content are written in Plain English and designed with the audience and accessibility in mind. The SG aims to adhere to W3C accessibility standards for online content and can offer a range of alternative formats which includes audio; Br…

6 Dec 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to work with the UK Government on the implementation of the UK industrial strategy.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government is committed to working with the UK Government to ensure its Industrial Strategy delivers maximum benefit for Scotland. I have had a number of discussions with BEIS and Scotland Office Ministers and my officials have also been liaising…

29 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its forecast business rates revenue is for 2018-19.

Answer · Derek Mackay: With effect from 2018-19, responsibility for forecasting future non-domestic rates revenue will be the responsibility of the Scottish Fiscal Commission. This forecast will be published in the Scottish Draft Budget for 2018-19 on 14 December 2017.

29 Nov 2017 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it last met NHS Forth Valley and what issues were discussed.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government meets regularly with NHS Forth Valley to discuss matters of interest to the people of Forth Valley.

22 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the announcement by the Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work to the Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Committee on 14 November 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), regarding the creation of a centre for regional inclusive growth, whether it will confirm when ministers agreed …

Answer · Keith Brown: The Centre for Regional Inclusive growth will provide a platform to disseminate analysis on inclusive growth at the local and regional level, share best practice and develop ways to support the use of local and regional data and evidence for inclusive growth …

20 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish an implementation plan for delivering on the recommendations of the Barclay Review of Non-Domestic Rates.

Answer · Derek Mackay: An implementation plan for the Barclay review will be published by the end of the year.

20 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the innovation and investment hubs in (a) Berlin and (b) Brussels will open.

Answer · Keith Brown: The Scottish Government has recently appointed a Head of Hub for Berlin. She took up post on 27 November and we will shortly begin to recruit a second member of staff. The process to recruit an SDI member of staff is also underway. Concurrently we are in the …

15 Nov 2017 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase the number of student teachers.

8 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding Chart 8 in its recently published discussion paper, The Role of Income Tax in Scotland’s Budget, how many taxpayers it predicts will make a behavioural response as indicated by the mid-point estimates for each one of the five approaches set out.

Answer · Derek Mackay: The analysis in Chart 8 of the recently income tax discussion paper uses taxable income elasticities, which estimate the aggregate impact of all different types of behavioural responses on income, and hence tax revenue. They do not seek to quantify the total …

8 Nov 2017 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a complete list of the delivery and other agents that allocate or manage (a) its and (b) EU funding to businesses or enterprises, broken down by how much each agent delivered in each of the last five years.

Answer · Keith Brown: Scottish Government provides a wide range of support to business and enterprise across its own and European funding. To detail all expenditure over the last five years is a very broad request and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost, it is therefor…