Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-31975

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many panel members for children’s hearings there have been in each of the last three calendar years.

Question reference: S6W-32010

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 additional revenue will be raised by the proposal in its 2025-26 draft Budget to increase the higher property rate in 2025-26, broken down by industry sector.

Table 1 shows the estimated net additional income arising from an inflationary increase to the Higher Property Rate to 56.8p, compared to a freeze at 55.9p, 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 additional income arising from the inflationary increase to the Higher Property Rate (£)

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

Property class	Estimated net additional income
Shops	6,300,000
Public houses and restaurants	300,000
Offices	4,400,000
Hotels	1,700,000
Industrial subjects	6,400,000
Leisure, entertainment, caravans, etc.	700,000
Garages and petrol stations	300,000
Cultural	<50,000
Sporting subjects	100,000
Education and training	3,400,000
Public service subjects	1,800,000
Communications	200,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	100,000
Petrochemical	1,000,000
Religious	<50,000
Health and medical	1,300,000
Other	900,000
Care facilities	100,000
Advertising	<50,000
Statutory undertaking	8,600,000
All	37,900,000

Question reference: S6W-32009

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 additional revenue will be raised by the proposal in its 2025-26 draft Budget to increase the intermediate property rate in 2025-26, broken down by industry sector.

Table 1 shows the estimated net additional income arising from an inflationary increase to the Intermediate Property Rate to 55.4p, compared to a freeze at 54.5, 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 additional income arising from the inflationary increase to the Intermediate Property Rate (£)

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

Property class	Estimated net additional income
Shops	1,300,000
Public houses and restaurants	300,000
Offices	1,000,000
Hotels	200,000
Industrial subjects	1,500,000
Leisure, entertainment, caravans, etc.	200,000
Garages and petrol stations	100,000
Cultural	<50,000
Sporting subjects	<50,000
Education and training	400,000
Public service subjects	200,000
Communications	<50,000
Quarries, mines, etc.	<50,000
Petrochemical	<50,000
Religious	<50,000
Health and medical	100,000
Other	100,000
Care facilities	100,000
Advertising	<50,000
Statutory undertaking	100,000
All	5,700,000

Question reference: S6W-31983

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, further to the answer to question S6W-25287 by Lorna Slater on 22 February 2024, whether it will provide an update on what engagement it has had with the UK Government Office for the Internal Market (OIM) regarding its proposals to ban single-use items using powers under the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024.

The Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024 does not grant Scottish Ministers the power to ban single-use items. Section 10 of that Act does provide Scottish Ministers with the power to make regulations to require suppliers of single-use items to charge for specified single use items.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with the OIM and has discussed measures already taken to restrict supply or manufacture single-use items, and will continue to do so in relation to any future policy. However, the OIM has no formal role in approving legislation and the Scottish Government is under no obligation to seek advice on policy development or draft legislation from the OIM.

The Internal Market Act was imposed on the Scottish Parliament without its consent, and radically undermines its powers. Every party in the chamber, barring the Scottish Conservatives, voted for its repeal in October 2023. The new UK Government must now work with the Scottish Government to undo the damage the Act does, and ensure the full restoration of the Parliament’s powers.

Question reference: S6W-32015

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any progress that it has made against the actions set out in the document, Delivering Scotland's Blue Economy Approach.

Delivering Scotland's Blue Economy Approach committed to mainstreaming blue economy thinking across the Marine Directorate and our wider work. To highlight some examples of this, it is evidenced in our approach to marine funding channels where we look to maximise private investment and since 2021, the Marine Fund Scotland has awarded £55 million in grants, enabling £120 million of investment, progressing blue economy outcomes. The Marine and Science Innovation Strategy embeds the Blue Economy Vision, furthering our evidence base, and blue economy outcomes are steering the development of Scotland's new National Marine Plan, influencing stakeholder engagement and how its monitoring and evaluating framework develops, helping to deliver our Vision.

Question reference: S6W-31977

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many panel members for children’s hearings have resigned before their three-year term has been completed in each of the last three calendar years.

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.

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