- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 26 September 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 29 September 2022
To ask the First Minister what support the Scottish Government will make available to the reported 372 members of staff affected by the Arjowigiins papermill at Stoneywood in Aberdeen entering administration.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 29 September 2022
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 September 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the impact will be on its Covid Recovery Strategy of the reduction to the Covid Recovery budget announced on 7 September as part of the emergency budget review.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2022
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 August 2022
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2022
To ask the Scottish Government what further support it will provide to local authorities for the provision of accommodation for refugees in Scotland, in light of reports that suitable housing has been significantly reduced as a result of its Super Sponsor scheme.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 7 September 2022
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many premises currently receive Business Growth Accelerator relief on non-domestic
rates.
Answer
The most recent figures, as of 1 June 2021, are available in Table 2 of the Non-Domestic Rates Relief Statistics 2021 publication, at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-relief-statistics-2021/ .
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding for non-domestic rates relief it has (a) budgeted and (b) allocated to date, in
2022/23.
Answer
Decisions on non-domestic rates reliefs are taken as part of the budget process, using Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts of the total revenues raised net of relief costs. At the 2022-23 Scottish Budget in December 2021, the Scottish Fiscal Commission forecast that the reliefs package would save businesses £802 million. A breakdown of this figure is available in Figure S4.10, at https://www.fiscalcommission.scot/publications/scotlands-economic-and-fiscal-forecasts-december-2021/ .
It is for local authorities to administer non-domestic rates reliefs in accordance with the relevant legislation. Data on non-domestic rates income, including the values of reliefs, is released periodically at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-income-statistics/ .
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 August 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how much businesses in (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire have saved on non-domestic rates as a result of transitional relief in each year since 2015.
Answer
The values of non-domestic rates reliefs, broken down by local authority and relief, are available in Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics, at https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-finance-statistics/#scottishlocalgovernmentfinancialstatistics . The figures can be found in the respective annual publications, in Table 1.16a for 2017-18, and table 2.17a for 2018-19, 2019-20, and 2020-21. Transitional relief was introduced in the Non-Domestic Rates (Transitional Relief) (Scotland) Regulations 2017 and was therefore not available in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of non-domestic rates receipts for each of the last five
years, broken down by local authority.
Answer
The non-domestic rates income figures for each year, broken down by local authority, are available in Scottish Local Government Financial Statistics, at https://www.gov.scot/collections/local-government-finance-statistics/#scottishlocalgovernmentfinancialstatistics . The figures can be found in the respective annual publications, in Table 1.15 for 2016-17 and 2017-18, Table 1.14a for 2018-19 and 2019-20, and Table 2.14 for 2020-21.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has estimated how many retail, hospitality and leisure premises are entitled to 50% relief on non-domestic rates for the first three months of 2022-23.
Answer
At the time of the Scottish Budget, the Scottish Government estimated that up to 30,000 properties would potentially be eligible to claim the Retail, Hospitality, and Leisure relief in 2022-23, subject to a business-level cap on the value of relief.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 10 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government how many premises in (a) Aberdeen City and (b) Aberdeenshire currently receive relief
through the Small Business Bonus scheme and, of those, how many are
receiving the 100% relief rate.
Answer
The most recent figures, as of 1 June 2021, are available in Table 6 of the Non-Domestic Rates Relief Statistics 2021 publication, at https://www.gov.scot/publications/non-domestic-rates-relief-statistics-2021/ .
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 19 July 2022
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Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 3 August 2022
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted a cost benefit analysis of increasing the Basic Property Rate
(poundage) for non-domestic rates from 49p to 49.8p.
Answer
Decisions on non-domestic rates including the Basic Property Rate (poundage) are taken in the round of the Scottish Budget, in the context of other budgetary priorities.
With a poundage of 49.8p, the Scottish Budget 2022-23 delivered a below-inflation increase, ensuring the lowest poundage in the UK for the fourth year in a row and saving ratepayers £40 million compared to an inflationary increase. This ensures that over 95% of non-domestic properties continue to be liable for a lower property tax rate than anywhere else in the UK.