Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 20 November 2024.
Craig Hoy
Conservative
To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish Scotland’s tax strategy. (S6O-03983)
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
As has already been set out publicly, we aim to publish the tax strategy alongside the draft budget on 4 December.
Craig Hoy
Conservative
We do not have long to wait.
I asked recently whether Scotland had reached the point where raising taxes any further might be counterproductive. The Cabinet secretary’s colleague Ivan McKee said that that was a very strong consideration in the Government’s present thinking. I welcome that. However, if raising tax is potentially counterproductive, cutting tax could be productive, surely, not least for households and businesses that are struggling. Does the cabinet secretary agree with Ivan McKee, and will she follow our commonsense plan to reduce tax to promote growth and reverse the damaging tax differential between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom?
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
I assure Craig Hoy that, of course, all considerations in relation to our tax position are carefully gone through, and that will be set out on 4 December.
Ivan McKee did not say that cutting tax was something that the Scottish Government was going to do, because we understand the impact of cutting tax on public services. Our tax policy decisions have raised an estimated £1.5 billion for public services. The Tories want to take an axe to those decisions, but the result of that would be taking an axe to public services, and that is not something that this Government will do.
Stuart McMillan
Scottish National Party
Will the Cabinet secretary provide an update on the stakeholder engagement work that the Scottish Government has undertaken to inform the development of a tax strategy?
Shona Robison
Scottish National Party
The Scottish Government has engaged with 65 external organisations to support the development of the upcoming tax strategy publication. That included representatives of Scotland’s business community, think tanks, civic society, tax professionals and local government partners. Our approach to those engagements was designed to gather a range of views to feed into the final tax strategy. The sessions were chaired by ministers, senior Government officials and external stakeholders.
Question Time is an opportunity for MPs and Members of the House of Lords to ask Government Ministers questions. These questions are asked in the Chamber itself and are known as Oral Questions. Members may also put down Written Questions. In the House of Commons, Question Time takes place for an hour on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays after Prayers. The different Government Departments answer questions according to a rota and the questions asked must relate to the responsibilities of the Government Department concerned. In the House of Lords up to four questions may be asked of the Government at the beginning of each day's business. They are known as 'starred questions' because they are marked with a star on the Order Paper. Questions may also be asked at the end of each day's business and these may include a short debate. They are known as 'unstarred questions' and are less frequent. Questions in both Houses must be written down in advance and put on the agenda and both Houses have methods for selecting the questions that will be asked. Further information can be obtained from factsheet P1 at the UK Parliament site.
The cabinet is the group of twenty or so (and no more than 22) senior government ministers who are responsible for running the departments of state and deciding government policy.
It is chaired by the prime minister.
The cabinet is bound by collective responsibility, which means that all its members must abide by and defend the decisions it takes, despite any private doubts that they might have.
Cabinet ministers are appointed by the prime minister and chosen from MPs or peers of the governing party.
However, during periods of national emergency, or when no single party gains a large enough majority to govern alone, coalition governments have been formed with cabinets containing members from more than one political party.
War cabinets have sometimes been formed with a much smaller membership than the full cabinet.
From time to time the prime minister will reorganise the cabinet in order to bring in new members, or to move existing members around. This reorganisation is known as a cabinet re-shuffle.
The cabinet normally meets once a week in the cabinet room at Downing Street.
