Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-15458

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it conducted an evaluation of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Time for Compliance) Regulations 2016 (a) after one year or (b) at any other time since its introduction; whether it will publish this; which stakeholders it invited to be part of this process and how this was decided, and whether feedback was sought from anyone who had submitted a freedom of information request to the bodies impacted by the regulations.

Evaluation of The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Designation of Persons as Scottish Public Authorities) Order 2016 was undertaken around a year after the Order came into effect with all newly designated public authorities. It also invited the schools designated to comment on the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Time for Compliance) Regulations 2016.

The biennial report on the exercise of the Section 5 power under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (as amended) summarises comments received and is publicly available at: https://beta.gov.scot/publications/foi-use-of-section-5-2017-report/ .

Question reference: S5W-15459

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Current Status: Answered by Joe FitzPatrick on 10 April 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers that the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Time for Compliance) Regulations 2016 set a precedent for varying timescales for Freedom of Information requests, and whether it has any plans to pass similar legislation in future.

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (Time for Compliance) Regulations 2016 apply exclusively to grant-aided and independent special schools. They were made, following the designation of these schools as public authorities for the purposes of Freedom of Information, specifically to take into account holiday periods when the school may be closed and/or staff are not available. There are no plans to bring forward similar legislation.

Question reference: S5F-02162

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 March 2018

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-02136

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 March 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 March 2018

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5W-14584

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 27 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how Revenue Scotland uses the general anti-avoidance rule that was established by the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014, and what feedback it has received from (a) the tax authority and (b) other stakeholders regarding the (i) operation and (ii) effectiveness of this rule.

Question reference: S5W-14582

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 12 February 2018
Current Status: Answered by Derek Mackay on 27 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government how many times Revenue Scotland has taken action under the general anti-avoidance rule that was established by the Revenue Scotland and Tax Powers Act 2014; how many schemes have been challenged (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully, and what their total value was.

This is an operational matter for Revenue Scotland and I have therefore asked the Chief Executive to respond directly to the member.

The Scottish Government’s approach to the devolved taxes demonstrates that we are serious about tackling tax avoidance in Scotland. Revenue Scotland has a statutory duty to protect revenue against tax fraud and tax avoidance and does this through robust compliance activity, including the application of the General Anti-Avoidance Rule. The GAAR is a specific compliance tool which can be deployed in specific circumstances but also operates as a deterrent against tax fraud and tax avoidance. It is recognised by stakeholders as being significantly wider than the UK General Anti-Avoidance Rule, which is based on the narrower test of ‘abuse’ rather than ‘artificiality’ of tax arrangements.

Question reference: S5F-02079

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 26 February 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 1 March 2018

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5F-02056

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 19 February 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 22 February 2018

Question to be taken in Chamber.

Question reference: S5O-01757

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 31 January 2018
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 7 February 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cupar North relief road will be funded through the Tay Cities Deal.

Question reference: S5W-13655

Asked by: Willie Rennie, MSP for North East Fife, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 January 2018
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 30 January 2018

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider using the £20 million it has committed for Cupar North Development in the Tay Cities Deal plan to support alternative proposals in north east Fife.

The Scottish Government is committed to securing a City Region Deal for the Tay Cities as soon as possible, and we are currently considering all proposals and fully exploring all financing and funding options. A proposal to accelerate the Cupar Northern Bypass project is one of those put forward by the Tay Cities, but it is not possible, at this stage, for me to confirm details of which projects may or may not be included as part of the final deal.

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