- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many accounts submitted to it by contractors had not been settled within a 10-day period as at 10 December 2008, also expressed as a percentage of the transactions paid within that period.
Answer
Between 11 November and 10 December, the Scottish Government paid 9,897 transactions within 10 working days. This equates to approximately 61% of transactions paid within the period.
The Scottish Government has established a monitoring process which produces figures on a monthly basis, by calendar month. The latest figures for the calendar month of December 2008 are that 12,032 transactions were paid within 10 working days, equating to 84% of transactions paid within the month.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards achieving the First Minister’s commitment to “building an economy that is the envy of Europe”, as outlined in a speech at Harvard University on 31 March 2008, and what contribution the Small Business Bonus Scheme will make in this area.
Answer
The Scottish Government has defined its purpose as increasing sustainable economic growth. Progress is being made through implementation of the
Government Economic Strategy, which set out seven targets to measure success in delivering the purpose.
The Small Business Bonus Scheme contributes to the purpose by removing or reducing business rates as part of our drive to create an environment in which small businesses can flourish, underpinned by a fair taxation system. By cutting overheads and enabling them to invest more, the scheme is helping to sustain tens of thousands of small businesses.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards turning Scotland into a “Celtic lion” economy, described by the First Minister in a speech at Harvard University on 31 March 2008 as the “defining mission” of the Scottish Government, and what contribution the Small Business Bonus Scheme will make in this area.
Answer
The Scottish Government has defined its purpose as increasing sustainable economic growth. Progress is being made through implementation of the
Government Economic Strategy, which set out seven targets to measure success in delivering the Purpose.
The Small Business Bonus Scheme contributes to the purpose by removing or reducing business rates as part of our drive to create an environment in which small businesses can flourish, underpinned by a fair taxation system. By cutting overheads and enabling them to invest more, the scheme is helping to sustain tens of thousands of small businesses.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets have been set in relation to the First Minister’s commitment to “building an economy that is the envy of Europe” and to turning Scotland into a “Celtic lion” economy as outlined in a speech at Harvard University on 31 March 2008, and how success in this area will be measured.
Answer
The Scottish Government has defined its purpose as increasing sustainable economic growth. The purpose lies at the heart of the economic aspirations for Scotland in the First Minister''s speech to Harvard University. A set of seven targets to measure success in delivering the purpose has been set out in the Government Economic Strategy.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has with regard to any funding applications made by Scottish local authorities, or connected bodies, to the Public Works Loan Board since May 2007 and the outcome of any such applications.
Answer
The information requested is not held centrally.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Friday, 09 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what the total costs have been of employing its Communications Officers since May 2007.
Answer
The total employment costs, (which includes staffing and associated running costs), for Communications Officers employed in the Scottish Government Communications Directorate over the period 1
May 2007 to 31
December 2008 are £4,106,157.
Comparative figures for the period 1 May 2006 to 31 December 2007 are £4,327,904.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Monday, 12 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what its estimate is of savings in the Scottish budget as a result of reductions in the official Bank Rate in 2008-09.
Answer
There are no savings because the Scottish Government does not have powers to borrow, and there is therefore no budget line devoted to debt repayment.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive how many accounts submitted to it by contractors had not been settled within a 10-day period as at 10 January 2009, also expressed as a percentage of the transactions paid within that period.
Answer
The Scottish Government monitor payment performance on a monthly basis and information is collated by calendar month. During the month of December 2008, the Scottish Government paid 12,032 transactions within 10 working days. This equates to approximately 84% of transactions paid within the period.
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list meetings that it has had with representatives of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama since May 2007, broken down by date and location.
Answer
Our records show that the following meetings with representatives of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (RSAMD) have taken place since May 2007:
| Date | Location |
| 21 August 2007 | Edinburgh |
| 25 September 2007 | Glasgow |
| 5 October 2007 | Glasgow |
| 24 October 2007 | Edinburgh |
| 17 January 2008 | Edinburgh |
| 5 February 2008 | Edinburgh |
| 6 February 2008 | Edinburgh |
| 19 March 2008 | Edinburgh |
| 28 April 2008 | Edinburgh |
| 22 May 2008 | Edinburgh |
| 24 June 2008 | Edinburgh |
| 16 January 2009 | Glasgow |
- Asked by: George Foulkes, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Labour
-
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 January 2009
-
Current Status:
Answered by John Swinney on 23 January 2009
To ask the Scottish Executive what targets it has set for economic growth over the course of the current spending review period and what progress has been made towards achieving those targets in each quarter since June 2007.
Answer
The top priority of the Scottish Government is increasing sustainable economic growth. In achieving this priority we must address the long-term structural gap between GDP growth performance in Scotland, and both the UK, and the small independent EU countries. The Government Economic Strategy (GES) therefore established two ambitious economic (GDP) growth targets for Scotland. The long-term target is to match the GDP growth rate of the small independent EU countries by 2017. The intermediate target is to raise Scotland''s GDP growth rate to the UK level by 2011.
In the following table annual growth rates to each quarter are presented for Scotland, the UK, and the small independent EU countries over the period 2007 Q3 to 2008 Q2.
Table 1: Annual GDP growth rates, 2007 Q3 to 2008 Q2
| | Annual GDP Growth (4 Quarters on 4 Quarters) |
| Scotland | United Kingdom | Small EU Countries |
| 2007 Q3 | 2.0% | 3.0% | 3.4% |
| 2007 Q4 | 1.8% | 3.0% | 3.2% |
| 2008 Q1 | 1.9% | 2.8% | 2.5% |
| 2008 Q2 | 1.8% | 2.5% | 2.0% |
Source: Scottish Government, ONS, and OECD.
