- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will request that the UK Government considers making the revenue accrued by large retailers in Scotland through Minimum Unit Pricing taxable, and for those tax revenues to be hypothecated for alcohol health support measures.
Answer
The Scottish Government regularly makes evidence-based representations to the UK Government on reserved tax issues. Alcohol sales are already subject to VAT, whilst any profits made by retailers selling alcohol will be already be subject to Corporation Tax. The Scottish Government, as set out in December’s budget announcement, is exploring the reintroduction of a Public Healthy levy using devolved powers.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding making the revenue accrued by large retailers in Scotland through Minimum Unit Pricing taxable, and for those tax revenues to be hypothecated for alcohol health support measures.
Answer
The Scottish Government regularly makes evidence-based representations to the UK Government on reserved tax issues. Alcohol sales are already subject to VAT, whilst any profits made by retailers selling alcohol will be already be subject to Corporation Tax. The Scottish Government, as set out in December’s budget announcement, is exploring the reintroduction of a Public Healthy levy using devolved powers.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 25 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Michael Matheson on 5 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will request from the UK Government the tax powers necessary to allow the Scottish Government to tax the revenue accrued by large retailers in Scotland through Minimum Unit Pricing.
Answer
We believe that the Scottish Parliament should have full tax powers so that fiscal decisions that affect the people of Scotland can be made by the people who live here.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 23 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 February 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what it anticipates the impact will be of the reported withdrawal of £75,000 of funding for the Mark Scott Leadership for Life Award, in light of the programme reportedly leveraging around a further £200,000 annually from other funding sources, supporting over 150 young people from around 60 schools across central Scotland, particularly in the Edinburgh Eastern constituency, and leading to community projects that support over 2,500 people annually.
Answer
Our block grant funding for this Budget is derived from the UK Government's spending decisions and has fallen by 1.2% in real terms since 2022-23 – a real terms drop of £0.5 billion. The reality is that the amount Scotland has available to spend is still largely driven by the block grant set by successive UK Governments whose constraint of public expenditure prolongs the austerity felt by public services. We fully recognise that all difficult funding decisions have an impact and while there is significant pressure across all Scottish Government budgets in 2024-25, we have reviewed funding options and have identified budget resource for the Mark Scott Awards for 2024-25.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it expects to publish findings from the review into the operation of minimum unit pricing.
Answer
The report by Scottish Ministers on the operation and effect of minimum unit pricing of alcohol during its first five years was laid before the Scottish Parliament on 20 September 2023 and is available at Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 - operation and effect 2018 to 2023: report - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 29 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has carried out regarding any impact that minimum unit pricing has had on the increase in revenue to large retailers who sell alcohol.
Answer
The Public Health Scotland final MUP evaluation report (published 27 June 2023) concluded that the evidence on the impact of the post MUP changes in price and sales on revenues of retailers and producers is mixed. The section on “The alcoholic drinks industry in Scotland” in the report by Scottish Ministers on the operation and effect of minimum unit pricing of alcohol (published on 20 September 2023) sets out the impact that minimum unit pricing (MUP) has had on retailers of alcoholic drinks (including large retailers), producers and wholesalers. The report by Scottish Ministers states:
“According to the final evaluation report:
Quantitative analysis of sales data shows an overall increase in the monetary value of off-trade alcohol sales, with increases in sale price compensating for declines in sale volumes for retailers, while the effect on producers’ revenues was negative, but was considered by some, but not all, interviewees to be small. While no participants in the qualitative interviews reported any changes in employment or facilities owing to MUP some reported that individual retailers had been affected adversely, with at least some of the variation likely to be due to the extent to which the products made/sold were affected by MUP. Large retailers did not report any change in revenue or profits due to MUP, but convenience stores were more likely to have noted a decrease in revenue and profits, particularly if they previously relied on high-strength, low-cost alcohol products. There was limited evidence that any potential increase in revenue for retailers had been passed on to producers. While the sales data show an overall increase in revenue from alcohol, it was not possible to determine the impact on profit. Analysis of quantitative data finds little evidence of MUP having material impacts on five key metrics of business performance [the number of enterprises and business units; employment; turnover; gross value added (GVA); and output value] on any of the main sectors of the industry in Scotland. (PHS 2023: 56)”
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 26 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it can take any action to enable Petroineos Grangemouth to refine a greater volume of crude oil from the North Sea, and if doing so could potentially extend the life of the oil refinery beyond 2025.
Answer
As I outlined in my correspondence to you on 17 January, presently and historically, the vast majority of the crude oil transported into Grangemouth via the FPS is exported and not refined at Grangemouth.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 26 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy will instruct the Grangemouth Future Industry Board to appoint representatives from (a) Petroineos Grangemouth, (b) Unite the Union and (c) local businesses.
Answer
The Grangemouth Future Industry Board has representation from Petroineos and Unite the Union. My officials are currently working to secure membership of senior leaders from across the businesses located at the Grangemouth Industrial cluster.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 26 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government when it last met with (a) Petroineos, (b) Unite the Union and (c) local businesses to discuss the future of Petroineos Grangemouth, and what matters were discussed.
Answer
Representatives from Scottish Government, Petroineos and Unite the Union met on 18 January 2023 to during the Grangemouth Future Industry Board Industrial Leadership Forum discuss the future of the refinery.
For discussion topics I refer the member to the published minutes from this meeting.
- Asked by: Ash Regan, MSP for Edinburgh Eastern, Alba Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 18 January 2024
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Current Status:
Answered by Neil Gray on 26 January 2024
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy will instruct the Grangemouth Future Industry Board to have as its overriding strategic purpose the need for Scotland to have its own oil refinery, in light of reports that retaining this element of the Grangemouth business would reflect the importance of the site as a national economic asset.
Answer
The Grangemouth Future Industry Board has been established in acknowledgement of both the significant economic role that the wider Grangemouth industrial cluster plays today, and its potential to support Scotland’s Just Transition to net zero. The overarching remit of the Grangemouth Future Industry Board is therefore to support the delivery of the Grangemouth Just Transition Plan. This will help to ensure a that future low-carbon opportunities are realised, whilst ensuring that any transition puts equity and fairness at its heart for people who live and work there.