Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-31997

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it estimates will be raised by the intermediate property rate in 2025-26, and how much has been raised by it in each year since its introduction, broken down by industry sector.

The Intermediate Property Rate was introduced from 1 April 2020. It 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, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024 it was charged at 51.1p; in 2021-2022 this was 50.3p; in 2024-2025 increased in line with inflation to 54.5p, and in 2025-2026 it is planned to increase in line with inflation to 55.4p.

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, 2024-2025 and 2025-2026) 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.

Table 2 shows the total estimated net income from the Intermediate Property Rate since 2020-2021. Net figures for 2023-2024 are not available due to the absence of property-level reliefs data. Figures for 2025-2026 are estimated using reliefs data from 1 June 2024, with a calculation for General Revaluation Transitional Relief based on rateable values. The net estimates include adjustments for reliefs, as well as in-year adjustments such as reductions due to proposals or appeals and write-offs.

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, but may not necessarily accurately reflect the actual use of a property.

Figures are based on the Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 October 2024 in each financial year, for 2025-2026 this is based on the Valuation Roll of 1 October 2024. 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 income from the Intermediate Property Rate since 2020-2021, by property class (£)

Source: Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 October in each year (1 October 2024 for 2025-2026)

Property class	2020-2021	2021-2022	2022-2023	2023-2024	2024-2025	2025-2026
Shops	73,900,000	73,500,000	76,000,000	77,000,000	81,600,000	82,800,000
Public houses and restaurants	14,000,000	13,700,000	14,100,000	14,500,000	15,500,000	15,800,000
Offices	58,500,000	57,400,000	59,100,000	62,800,000	66,700,000	67,600,000
Hotels	12,300,000	12,100,000	12,300,000	13,400,000	14,300,000	14,800,000
Industrial subjects	71,000,000	69,600,000	71,800,000	86,200,000	92,500,000	93,900,000
Leisure, entertainment, caravans, etc.	13,900,000	13,800,000	14,300,000	16,600,000	18,100,000	18,500,000
Garages and petrol stations	5,600,000	5,400,000	5,200,000	6,600,000	7,500,000	7,700,000
Cultural	2,600,000	2,300,000	2,500,000	2,800,000	3,400,000	3,400,000
Sporting subjects	600,000	500,000	600,000	1,500,000	1,700,000	1,800,000
Education and training	26,300,000	25,400,000	25,700,000	27,400,000	29,000,000	29,500,000
Public service subjects	17,000,000	16,000,000	16,200,000	17,700,000	19,000,000	19,200,000
Communications	900,000	1,100,000	800,000	1,300,000	1,500,000	1,500,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	1,500,000	1,200,000	1,100,000	1,600,000	1,800,000	1,900,000
Petrochemical	300,000	300,000	300,000	400,000	300,000	300,000
Religious	2,400,000	2,400,000	2,600,000	3,000,000	3,200,000	3,300,000
Health and medical	8,200,000	7,900,000	8,100,000	9,500,000	10,100,000	10,200,000
Other	5,800,000	6,200,000	6,200,000	6,000,000	6,500,000	6,600,000
Care facilities	16,700,000	16,600,000	16,900,000	18,500,000	19,100,000	19,300,000
Advertising	400,000	500,000	500,000	500,000	600,000	600,000
Statutory undertaking	4,300,000	4,300,000	4,500,000	5,300,000	5,600,000	5,800,000
All	336,100,000	330,100,000	338,700,000	372,400,000	398,200,000	404,500,000

Table 2: Estimated net income from the Intermediate Property Rate since 2020-2021, by property class (£)

Source: Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 October in each year (1 October 2024 for 2025-2026); local authorities’ billing information from 1 July 2020, 1 June 2021, 1 July 2022, and 1 June 2024

Property class	2020-2021	2021-2022	2022-2023	2023-2024	2024-2025	2025-2026
Shops	5,600,000	30,900,000	69,000,000	[not available]	79,000,000	82,700,000
Public houses and restaurants	400,000	3,000,000	13,100,000	[not available]	15,400,000	16,200,000
Offices	47,100,000	45,800,000	47,800,000	[not available]	58,100,000	60,700,000
Hotels	300,000	1,900,000	11,100,000	[not available]	13,300,000	14,100,000
Industrial subjects	63,500,000	63,100,000	67,400,000	[not available]	88,200,000	92,200,000
Leisure, entertainment, caravans, etc.	900,000	2,600,000	8,200,000	[not available]	11,100,000	11,700,000
Garages and petrol stations	2,400,000	3,100,000	5,300,000	[not available]	7,500,000	7,900,000
Cultural	200,000	300,000	600,000	[not available]	1,000,000	1,000,000
Sporting subjects	100,000	200,000	400,000	[not available]	800,000	900,000
Education and training	22,200,000	21,800,000	22,500,000	[not available]	25,300,000	26,400,000
Public service subjects	9,500,000	9,100,000	10,500,000	[not available]	12,600,000	13,200,000
Communications	800,000	1,100,000	1,100,000	[not available]	1,500,000	1,500,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	1,400,000	1,200,000	1,200,000	[not available]	1,800,000	1,900,000
Petrochemical	300,000	300,000	300,000	[not available]	300,000	300,000
Religious	600,000	500,000	500,000	[not available]	500,000	600,000
Health and medical	6,000,000	5,900,000	6,000,000	[not available]	7,700,000	8,100,000
Other	3,800,000	4,100,000	4,300,000	[not available]	5,300,000	5,600,000
Care facilities	1,300,000	2,000,000	2,600,000	[not available]	3,000,000	3,200,000
Advertising	400,000	500,000	500,000	[not available]	600,000	600,000
Statutory undertaking	3,700,000	3,100,000	3,200,000	[not available]	4,000,000	4,300,000
All	170,400,000	200,500,000	275,600,000	[not available]	337,000,000	353,100,000

Question reference: S6W-31993

Asked by: Craig Hoy, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects to raise from each (a) industry and (b) business sector from the higher property rate in 2025-26.

Table 1 shows the estimated net income from properties liable for the Higher Property Rate in 2025-2026, broken down by property class. The net estimates include adjustments for reliefs, as well as in-year adjustments such as reductions due to proposals or appeals and write-offs.

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, but may not necessarily accurately reflect the actual use of a property.

Figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000, and may not sum due to rounding.

Table 1: Estimated net income from the Higher Property Rate in 2025-2026, by property class (£)

Source: Scottish Assessors’ Valuation Roll as at 1 October 2024; local councils’ billing information as at 1 June 2024

Property class	Estimated net income from the Higher Property Rate
Shops	398,600,000
Public houses and restaurants	17,700,000
Offices	279,000,000
Hotels	108,400,000
Industrial subjects	405,900,000
Leisure, entertainment, caravans, etc.	47,200,000
Garages and petrol stations	16,900,000
Cultural	2,900,000
Sporting subjects	6,800,000
Education and training	217,600,000
Public service subjects	114,400,000
Communications	12,500,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	5,100,000
Petrochemical	64,000,000
Religious	1,500,000
Health and medical	85,200,000
Other	59,800,000
Care facilities	3,900,000
Advertising	2,400,000
Statutory undertaking	542,200,000
All	2,392,000,000

Question reference: S6W-31955

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available for those in rural areas, who would like to access telehealth appointments but lack the digital skills to do so.

In addition to the answer provided to question S6W-31954 on 17 December 2024, Near Me video consulting access has been expanded into local community hubs and libraries, providing additional accessibility and support from staff for people who wish to access services in this way. An information resource is available here for patients to understand where they can go to get additional support to attend a Near Me appointment.

In addition, in 2022 the Digital Health and Care Innovation Centre (DHI), secured a £5 million investment from Moray Growth Deal to establish a Rural Centre of Excellence for Digital Health and Care Innovation. This seeks to address health and care issues across rural areas including understanding of skills requirements and local capabilities.

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

Question reference: S6W-32027

Asked by: Maurice Golden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is still committed to implementing a Deposit Return Scheme in Scotland by October 2027, in light of the reported announcement by the Welsh Government that it will no longer seek to participate in the planned UK-wide approach to this scheme.

The UK Government’s decision to remove glass from its own scheme and refusal to agree a full Internal Market Act exclusion for Scotland’s own scheme meant we were left with no choice but to delay our scheme last year.

Scotland’s scheme would have been operational in 2024 and would already be improving our recycling rates, however, the Internal Market Act prevented us from moving forward with a deposit return scheme as intended.

Urgent action is needed from the UK Government to repeal the Internal Market Act and restore the full powers of devolved Parliaments.

Until then, the UK scheme remains the only practical option available to Scotland. The Scottish Government is committed to seeing it delivered by October 2027 and will continue to work to that end. We opened applications for a DRS scheme administrator alongside England and Northern Ireland at the start of December.

Question reference: S6W-31926

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether an environmental report has been conducted into the impact of the closure of the Queensferry Crossing due to risks of falling ice.

No specific environmental report has been undertaken in relation to the impact of the closure of the Queensferry Crossing due to risks of falling ice. However, a detailed investigation has been undertaken by Transport Scotland, which tested solutions and mitigation measures for ice accretion on the Queensferry Crossing. This has been subject to a detailed review by a Peer Review Panel of experts from around the world on ice accretion on major bridges.

The investigation discounted physical measures such as heating of cables or mechanical removal of ice, due to impracticality and cost. Measures taken forward include bridge instrumentation, advanced weather forecasting and regular cleaning of cables. The conclusion of the investigation was that when ice accretion occurs, the best mitigation measure is to divert traffic onto the Forth Road Bridge until the risk from falling ice has passed.

Question reference: S6W-32024

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what impact the reported £13.3 million reduction in the budget of the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) that has been proposed in the 2025-26 draft Budget could have on the operation of SCTS, including from what areas of this operation this reduction will be met.

The prior year 2024-25 Budget comparator figures are based on the latest in-year budget numbers which were revised at the Autumn Budget Revision. The 2023-24 Scottish Budget comparator figures reflect the outturn numbers for that year.

It is not the case that the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) budget has been reduced by £13.3m. The SCTS budget is subject to revision and adjustment via the Scottish Government Autumn Budget Revision (ABR) and Spring Budget Revision (SBR) processes, as such a direct comparison with the published comparator figures does not provide a true reflection of SCTS 2025-26 budget position. Compared to the opening 2024-25 budget, an additional £11.5m Resource funding and £2m Capital funding has been provided to the SCTS.

In addition to the funding allocation in the Budget Bill, the SCTS receives income primarily from civil court fees and retained fines; in-year funding from the Scottish Government related to non-baseline areas that are still highly variable such as the recently devolved tribunals; and through the Recovery, Renewal and Transformation (RRT) budget, receives additional funding to increase criminal court capacity and take forward a range of initiatives to improve service delivery and realise longer term efficiencies.

In the 2023-24 Budget Bill, SCTS was allocated £147.6m, following the adjustments at ABR and SBR the final year outturn figure was £191.1m.

In the 2024-25 Budget Bill SCTS was allocated £165.9m, following the adjustment at ABR the revised budget was £190.3m. A further revision will take place at SBR and will be published in January 2025.

The 2025-26 allocation to SCTS is £177.0m, in addition SCTS will receive RRT funding of £20.3m and, as in previous years, additional in year funding to cover non-baseline costs.

Question reference: S6W-31969

Asked by: Katy Clark, MSP for West Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to compensate businesses on the Isle of Arran for any losses that they have incurred as a result of delayed and cancelled ferries.

Scottish Ministers appreciate the particular challenges faced by island communities as a result of delayed and cancelled ferries.

Recognising the distinct challenges of hospitality business on Islands, the Scottish Budget announced we will continue to offer 100% relief in 2025-26 for hospitality businesses located on islands as defined by the Islands (Scotland) Act 2018, and in prescribed remote areas, capped at £110,000 per business.

The Scottish Budget also announced a freeze to the Basic Property Rate in 2025-26, delivering the lowest such rate in the UK for the seventh year in a row, and supporting a package of reliefs in 2025-26 worth an estimated £731 million. This includes maintaining the Small Business Bonus Scheme which remains the most generous relief of its kind in the UK.

Question reference: S6W-31954

Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what it is doing to develop training programmes to support digital literacy and telehealth usage.

Digital inclusion, of which literacy is one component, is being prioritised as part of the national Digital Health and Care Strategy and associated delivery plan. In March 2023, the Scottish Government launched the £2m Digital Inclusion Programme. Delivered through SCVO, it has developed a framework to support digital inclusion to enable people to access digital services across health and social care. The programme has funded projects in remote and rural areas (see map), supported provision of devices and developed Digital Champions Training to support local literacy advice and support.

The Scottish Government also recently published the Digital and Data Capability Framework to support the development of digital capabilities for everyone working in health and social care in Scotland. The framework identifies the skills, knowledge and behaviours that are essential for the workforce and will be used to improve individual and team learning requirements.

Near Me video consulting was recently highlighted in the Audit Scotland report as a good practice example of supporting inclusive service development. As part of our national digital skills commitment, the Near Me Team have worked in collaboration with NHS Education Scotland (NES) to produce resources, including two video consulting modules on the TURAS learning platform for professionals.

Question reference: S6W-31958

Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working to prevent closures of the Queensferry Crossing, in light of reports after recent periods of cold weather that traffic could be diverted to the Forth Road Bridge as soon as an ice forecast is received, to prevent ice falling from its cables onto vehicles.

Ice accretion is a world-wide problem affecting cable-stayed bridges in colder climates, and there is currently no effective solution for preventing it completely. While closures of the Queensferry Crossing due to ice accretion cannot be prevented entirely, we have taken forward research, which led to enhanced management procedures being developed. Now, when there is a risk of falling ice, a 6-point plan is implemented by our Operating Company BEAR Scotland. The plan includes enhanced patrols; heightened focus on prevailing weather conditions; increased data & intelligence gathering; pre-laying of traffic management and enhanced stakeholder communications.

Investment has been made to improve our capability to predict ice accretion. For example, new ice and climate sensors were installed on the bridge in August 2020. These, together with improved bespoke weather forecasts, have helped deliver early warning of conditions conducive to ice accretion. In addition, infrastructure improvements have recently been completed, which will allow traffic to be diverted onto the Forth Road Bridge more quickly.

Question reference: S6W-31959

Asked by: Paul Sweeney, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will engage with the Ministry of Defence on its plan to tender for two new floating docks for submarine maintenance at Faslane, and establish the feasibility for these docks to be constructed in whole or part at Scottish shipyards, such as Ferguson Marine.

The Scottish Government will interact with the UK Government and Ministry of Defence to support the opportunity for any significant contracts with the potential to provide ongoing employment opportunities for shipyards and fabrication businesses in Scotland.

There are several Scottish yards that possess the capabilities and specialist workforce skills needed to deliver this kind of infrastructure project, and we would encourage the MOD to utilise those resources. It is of course a commercial matter for each business to bid for work, however we would support any bid that ensured the work is delivered in Scotland.

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