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Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-24117

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 December 2023
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 29 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates will be raised by the intermediate property rate in (a) 2024-25, and (b) in each year since its introduction, broken down by industry sector.

The Intermediate Property Rate (IPR) was introduced from 1 April 2020. The IPR applied to properties with a rateable value above £51,000, up to £95,000 until 31 March 2023, and to properties with a rateable value above £51,000 and up to £100,000 from 1 April 2023. In 2020-2021 and 2022-2023, and 2023-2024 the IPR was charged at 51.1p, in 2021-2022 this was 50.3p, and in 2024-2025 it will increase in line with inflation to 54.5p.

Table 1 shows the total estimated gross income since 2020-2021. This is the total gross bill (net of General Revaluation Transitional Relief in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025) charged to properties with a rateable value between £51,001 and £95,000 up to 2022-2023, and between £51,001 and £100,000 from 2023-2024 onwards, as noted above. These figures are broken down by property class; property class is a classification used by Scottish Assessors to describe the type of property, and does not necessarily accurately reflect the use of a property. The Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors.

Figures are based on the Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 October in each financial year, for 2024-2025 this is based on the Valuation Roll of 1 October 2023. Figures are gross of all reliefs, except for the General Revaluation Transitional Relief in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. Figures are rounded to the nearest £100,000.

Table 1: Estimated gross IPR income (£) since 2020-2021 (after General Revaluation Transitional Relief in 2023-2024 and 2024-2025)

Property class	2020-2021 (at 51.1p)	2021-2022 (at 50.3p)	2022-2023 (at 51.1p)	2023-2024 (at 51.1p)	2024-2025 (at 54.5p)
Shops	73,900,000	73,500,000	76,000,000	76,900,000	81,500,000
Public houses	14,000,000	13,700,000	14,100,000	14,400,000	15,500,000
Offices	58,500,000	57,400,000	59,100,000	62,700,000	66,900,000
Hotels	12,300,000	12,100,000	12,300,000	13,400,000	14,600,000
Industrial subjects	71,000,000	69,600,000	71,800,000	85,800,000	92,000,000
Leisure, entertainment, caravans etc.	13,900,000	13,800,000	14,300,000	16,500,000	17,900,000
Garages and petrol stations	5,600,000	5,400,000	5,200,000	6,500,000	7,100,000
Cultural	2,600,000	2,300,000	2,500,000	2,800,000	3,000,000
Sporting subjects	600,000	500,000	600,000	1,500,000	1,600,000
Education and training	26,300,000	25,400,000	25,700,000	27,300,000	29,100,000
Public service subjects	17,000,000	16,000,000	16,200,000	17,600,000	18,700,000
Communications	900,000	1,100,000	800,000	1,300,000	1,400,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	1,500,000	1,200,000	1,100,000	1,600,000	1,800,000
Petrochemical	300,000	300,000	300,000	400,000	400,000
Religious	2,400,000	2,400,000	2,600,000	3,000,000	3,200,000
Health and medical	8,200,000	7,900,000	8,100,000	9,400,000	10,000,000
Other	5,800,000	6,200,000	6,200,000	6,000,000	6,500,000
Care facilities	16,700,000	16,600,000	16,900,000	18,500,000	19,500,000
Advertising	400,000	500,000	500,000	500,000	500,000
Statutory undertaking	4,300,000	4,300,000	4,500,000	5,200,000	5,700,000
All properties	336,100,000	330,100,000	338,700,000	371,300,000	396,900,000

Question reference: S6O-02921

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 December 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with Scottish Mountain Rescue teams regarding mountain safety this winter.

Question reference: S6F-02642

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 December 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 14 December 2023

To ask the First Minister whether the Scottish Government will commit to any reform of Scotland’s planning regulations in order to generate growth, as recommended by CBI Scotland in a statement on 7 December.

Question reference: S6O-02822

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 30 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is in relation to employment-based routes to teacher training.

Question reference: S6W-22296

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 October 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 15 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what employment-based routes are available to students who wish to enter the teaching profession.

The Scottish Government supports the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) to offer a part-time PGDE Primary programme. UHI plan to extend this to their PGDE Secondary programmes. The Scottish Government has had discussions with universities about the need for flexibility in delivery of ITE programmes and will continue to engage with them on this issue.

The Scottish Government’s Teaching bursary scheme provides bursaries of £20,000 for career changers wishing to undertake a one year PGDE in hard to fill STEM subjects. These are Physics, Maths, Technical Education, Computing Science, Chemistry and Home Economics. The scheme has recently been extended to include Gaelic as a secondary subject, and Gaelic medium across all secondary subjects and in primary.

Additionally, the Strategic Board for Teacher Education, which is made up of a range of key education stakeholders, is considering issues around the recruitment and retention of teachers in Scotland in detail.

Question reference: S6O-02739

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 16 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Transport Scotland about motorway gantry signage ahead of winter.

Question reference: S6O-02692

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 01 November 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 November 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the winter COVID-19 vaccination programme.

Question reference: S6T-01598

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 October 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the statement issued by COSLA that the handling of the recent announcement about the council tax freeze undermined the spirit and the letter of the Verity House Agreement.

Question reference: S6O-02611

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 5 October 2023

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that the V&A Dundee has generated £304 million for the Scottish economy over the last five years, whether it will be pursuing any further joint projects with UK institutions.

Question reference: S6F-02404

Asked by: Liz Smith, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 28 September 2023

To ask the First Minister what action the Scottish Government is taking in response to reports of widespread contamination at many of Scotland’s outdoor swimming sites.