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Further to the response given by Miri McAllan MSP, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.

Further to the response given by Miri McAllan MSP, in a particularly challenging fiscal landscape, the Scottish Government has had to take difficult decisions to deliver balanced and sustainable spending plans for the 2024-25 financial year.

The UK Autumn Statement was a worst-case scenario for Scotland. Our block grant funding, derived from the UK Government’s spending decisions, has fallen by 1.2 per cent in real terms since 2022-23 and our capital spending power is due to contract by almost 10 per cent in real terms over five years.

The Scottish Government has prioritised funding for front line services in the 2024-25 Scottish Budget and this has required making difficult decisions. Despite these challenges, the Budget will increase frontline NHS investment by over half a billion pounds, uprate benefits by over £1 billion and to spend almost £2.5 billion on our public transport network. The total budget for the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio increased by £47.7 million in 2024-25, which is a £27.9 million (0.6%) reduction in real terms using GDP deflators published in November 2023

A significant proportion of the expenditure in the Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio is legally and contractually committed, and I have ensured that those commitments are met in full in this budget as well as allocating funding to support critical maintenance and renewal expenditure to ensure that the people of Scotland have access to a safe and reliable transport system. This has been compounded by continuing high inflation, which has further reduced our room for manoeuvre.

As Miri McAllan MSP indicated, the Equalities and Fairer Scotland Budget Statement and Carbon Assessment were published alongside this Budget. These impact assessments not only analyse the budget and the impact of the decisions contained in it, they also consider the process of making those decisions, and how we make sure the needs of all people are actively considered. The Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition portfolio was actively engaged in the analysis and production of these assessments.

Grant funding to support Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science (STACS) / University of Glasgow commenced in 2021 and has continued on an annual basis since that date.

As a condition of the funding support the Scottish Government agreed with Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science a commitment to publish annual progress reports which are published on their website where updates and activity are regularly posted. The first year’s report is publicly available on the STACS website and they will be publishing a year 2 update report in the summer of 2024.

The annual report for 2022-23 is available at: https://issuu.com/stacshq/docs/stacsannualreport .

Transport Scotland is currently undertaking a 12 week consultation with stakeholders – including communities and ferry operators – on this and other elements noted in the Islands Connectivity Plan. Timescales for implementation will be considered in due course following that engagement.

Table 1 presents the estimated cost of setting the Higher Property Rate at 54.6p (the rate at which in England, the Standard multiplier applying to properties with a rateable value equal to or over £51,000, will be set in 2024-2025), compared to 55.9p, after General Revaluation Transitional Relief is applied, in 2024-2025. The figures are not adjusted for any other relief. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. 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.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 30 March 2023, 1 April 2023, and 1 January 2024.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated cost of reducing the Higher Property Rate to 54.6p (£), adjusted for General Revaluation Transitional Relief, 2024-2025

Table 1 presents the estimated additional gross income from setting the Higher Property Rate (HPR) at 55.9p, compared to keeping the HPR the same as in 2023-24 at 52.4p, after General Revaluation Transitional Relief is applied, in 2024-2025. The figures are not adjusted for any other relief. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. 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.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 30 March 2023, 1 April 2023, and 1 January 2024.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated gross additional revenue from the higher property rate (£), after General Revaluation Transitional Relief, 2024-2025

Table 1 presents the estimated additional gross income from setting the Intermediate Property Rate (IPR) at 54.5p, compared to keeping the IPR the same as in 2023-24, at 51.1p, after General Revaluation Transitional Relief is applied, in 2024-2025. The figures are not adjusted for any other relief. This is broken down by property class, as the Scottish Government does not hold property-level data on industry sectors. 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.

This table is based on the valuation roll as at 30 March 2023, 1 April 2023, and 1 January 2024.

Figures in this table are rounded to the nearest £1,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated gross additional revenue from the intermediate property rate (£), after General Revaluation Transitional Relief, 2024-2025

I refer the member to the answer to questions S6W-25404 and‎ S6W-25405 on 27 February 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-25590 on 1 March 2024. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers .

The announcement in the Scottish Budget 2024-25 signalled the Scottish Government’s intent to explore the reintroduction of a Public Health Supplement for large retailers in advance of the next Budget.

In line with the New Deal for Business the Scottish Government is committed to engaging early retail representatives and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that any impact of any proposals on business is fully understood. Exploratory discussions with business organisations have already started and will continue alongside engagement with other relevant stakeholders.