Hansard

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

23 Mar 2016

General Question Time · E-Commerce Sales

Does the Scottish Government welcome the e-commerce excellence initiative that is led by the chambers of commerce? Can the Scottish Government do anything specific to engage with that initiative?

5. Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

23 Mar 2016

General Question Time · E-Commerce Sales

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated value of e-commerce sales was in 2014 and 2015. (S4O-05710)

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Scottish Fiscal Commission Bill: Stage 3

I rise to support amendment 29, on fiscal rules and sustainability of public finances. As Jackie Baillie said, the Finance Committee agreed in its entirety on the matter for our report—there was no dissent whatsoever. I therefore look forward to hearing John Mason’s comments t...

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Scottish Fiscal Commission Bill

Of course that responsibility falls to Parliament but, as we have heard time and time again, members of Parliament will be aided by the SFC’s analysis. As parliamentarians, we will do our job of looking at the public finances better if we have the analysis from the SFC.

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Scottish Fiscal Commission Bill

Presiding Officer, I did not realise until now that this would be my last speech. You obviously know something that I do not. The whip in this Parliament must move in very mysterious ways. I hope that I do not get dragged into anything next week or the week after. This has be...

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Scottish Fiscal Commission Bill

I will begin on a positive note. The bill that we now have—the bill that I hope will pass at decision time today—is considerably better than the bill that was originally drafted. The bill as introduced had a number of flaws. First, it allowed only the Scottish Government to do...

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Scottish Fiscal Commission Bill: Stage 3

In that case, did the minister encourage or attempt to persuade SNP members on the committee to change their view at stage 2?

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Scottish Fiscal Commission Bill: Stage 3

The journey on fiscal forecasts has indeed been a rich tapestry, but I am delighted to say that we are getting there in the end. The change is probably the most important change that needed to be made to the bill. It is quite right that official forecasts should be carried ou...

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

10 Mar 2016

Scottish Fiscal Commission Bill: Stage 3

At this stage, does the Deputy First Minister have a view on what is meant by “sufficient time”? Does it mean a day, a week or a month?

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

08 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I am sure that Mr Swinney attempted to do that, but it is pretty clear to me, to a number of solicitors and to the Law Society of Scotland that the amendment was not sufficient. The Law Society said quite clearly in its report—which, I am sure, Mr Swinney has read—that it welc...

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

08 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill

Does Mark McDonald genuinely think that the amendment that the cabinet secretary lodged at stage 2 provided for a grace period? Does he think that it would be wise for solicitors to hold off on submitting land returns in the interim?

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

08 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill

Will the member give way?

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

08 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill

The Conservatives gave careful thought at all stages to whether to support the bill. There are strong arguments from across the sectors on its flaws and dangers, but on balance I take the view that the risk of inaction is marginally greater than the risk of action. On that bas...

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

08 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill

Is the Scottish Government’s advice to solicitors to hold off for a few extra days—or as long as it takes—before submitting that return?

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

08 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

I had wished that the period could be far longer than 14 days, but it was pretty apparent at stage 2 that the Government would not support a longer period. It may help if there is a day or two, but—this may be news to Mark McDonald—it is sometimes not possible to get things t...

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

08 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

John Swinney does not want to burden Revenue Scotland, but he is perfectly happy to burden potentially thousands of people who purchase houses in Scotland. The original LBTT legislation and the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill have relied heavily...

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

08 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Literally a day or two.

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

08 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3

Amendment 17 aims to cure what I think is a serious flaw in the bill. A person who purchases a new main residence, regardless of size, but has not managed to complete the sale of their existing main residence, will have to pay the full tax up front. They will inadvertently bec...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

03 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

That is helpful.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

03 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

You talked about independent forecasting, which both Governments have signed up to. Will you explain the reasoning behind getting the forecasts done independently by the Scottish Fiscal Commission?

Gavin Brown Con Committee

03 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

Thank you. You were asked earlier by a couple of people about behavioural responses to various changes linked to the no-detriment principle, and you talked us through direct effects, which are reasonably straightforward, and secondary effects, which are off the table. For me,...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

03 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

With regard to the Scottish reserve, which we discussed yesterday, the increase in size and flexibility is a positive development. How were the figures and the conditions of the Scottish reserve arrived at by the two Governments?

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee

03 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

Yesterday, when Mr Swinney was asked about the joint exchequer committee and what it looked like, he said that it was basically him and you, flanked by officials. Such a system clearly works if the two personalities can work well together, as appears to be the case at the mome...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

Thank you, Deputy First Minister.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

And that is as opposed to covering shortfalls.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

I guess that the big change is that you can draw down reserve or capital for any areas of public spending on which you want to use it.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

I do not think that this came up last week. Paragraph 76 says: “The Scotland Reserve will be capped in aggregate at £700m.” For the sake of the record, can you outline the basics of the Scotland reserve? I do not think that we covered it last week.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

That is helpful—thank you. The agreement says that resource borrowing takes place over a period of three to five years. For any individual item of resource borrowing, do you agree whether it is three, four or five years, or can the Scottish Government simply decide that you ...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

So, for clarity, the £450 million would be the annual figure at the end of the spending review period.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

I will not press that any further. You have been asked some questions on capital borrowing. Can you give us an indication of the practical effect of the changes? The limit goes up to £3 billion and you are allowed 15 per cent of CDEL instead of 10 per cent. In this financial...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

I accept that. There are some disputes that we know might arise. I am just trying to put the point forward that it might be worth doing a bit more groundwork now, instead of working out what the agreement means if they arise in a couple of years’ time.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

Forgive me, that sounded a bit churlish.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

Could you be a bit more vague?

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

Let us move on to what might actually occur, given the commitments that have been made publicly. We will get power over air passenger duty in 2018 and your commitment if you are re-elected is to reduce APD by 50 per cent over the lifetime of the session of Parliament. If tha...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

You have been asked a couple of questions by the convener and the deputy convener about behavioural effects, which I guess are captured mainly at paragraphs 50 and 51 of the agreement; you have talked about there being a high bar, about hypotheticals and so on. My own view, ha...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

It is then a matter for the Governments to agree how to treat that report.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

So it is not legally binding in any way.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

Okay. In relation to the independent report, obviously there will be input from both Governments in setting up the review, and the report is to be produced by the end of 2021. What is the status of that report? Is it legally binding on both Governments, or is it politically hi...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

But what if it did? I do not think that I am adding one hypothetical to another—I think that there is one hypothetical. If that system, for whatever reason, turned out to have been better in one fiscal year, you would make the change to PCID anyway. Is that technically correct?

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

Once the outturn figures are available, you will run the comparable model with the per capita indexed deduction model. If there is a difference, an adjustment will be made. If the per capita indexed deduction model is more favourable, that is helpful to the Scottish Government...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Fiscal Framework

Do not let that stop you.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

I do not accept that that is true. Changes to the return could easily capture that. There could easily be boxes on the return that say, “We are selling our main residence” or “We are purchasing only a main residence. We are not attempting to be a second home owner and it is ou...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Technically, there would need to be a change to the return because of amendment 43, but there will have to be a change to it anyway as a consequence of the bill. We do not have a 3 per cent surcharge on all second homes. Changes to the return are not specifically captured in t...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

I do not think so. I take a more generous view of the taxpayer than the picture that Mr Mason attempts to create. By their nature, almost all the transactions that we are discussing will involve solicitors to complete the legal procedures, and a limited number of firms are us...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

No. Mr McDonald raises a perfectly fair point. I did conveyancing for only six months, but from anecdotal evidence it was pretty obvious to me that between 10 and 15 per cent of transactions did not settle on the same day. I emphasise that that is anecdotal. I have formally re...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

Amendment 43 is an attempt to deal with something that has become known as the accidental second home owner. Where somebody has a simple main residence and they decide to change their main residence, they will be liable to pay the tax if they have not managed to sell by the ti...

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Committee

02 Mar 2016

Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 2

I welcome the amendments in the group, which reflect the committee’s view. It is clear that the Government has listened to the committee as well as, probably, privately listening to industry. Without the amendments, there would have been a risk to housing supply. I put it on t...

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

01 Mar 2016

Work, Wages and Wellbeing

In all honesty, I genuinely do not understand the point that Christian Allard is making. I point out a host of areas in which successive UK Governments of different political stripes have pushed hard to bring in high-quality jobs, whether through inward investment or through w...

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

01 Mar 2016

Work, Wages and Wellbeing

This has been an interesting debate. I will return to some of the excellent contributions that were made, but before I do that I will pick up on two points. The first is the Scottish Government’s criticism that the UK Government’s national living wage is not the same as the li...

Gavin Brown Con Chamber

01 Mar 2016

Work, Wages and Wellbeing

Will the member give way?

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

01 Mar 2016

Work, Wages and Wellbeing

The Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee has produced a pretty comprehensive and effective report. The committee took a huge amount of evidence, with 11 panels of witnesses, by my count, a full day away in Paisley, and more than 600 responses. The committee engaged with acad...

Gavin Brown (Lothian) (Con) Con Chamber

25 Feb 2016

First Minister’s Question Time · Fiscal Framework

The agreement was rightly welcomed on all sides of the chamber. However, one part of the agreement was getting the Scottish Fiscal Commission to do the official tax forecast, which is a vital step forward. Will the First Minister work with me to convince her back benchers that...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

24 Feb 2016

Fiscal Framework

Finally, on how matters will progress, this committee and the Devolution (Further Powers) Committee—and perhaps other committees—will obviously conduct scrutiny of the framework. I understand that legislation is not formally required, so what happens at the end of the process?...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

24 Feb 2016

Fiscal Framework

I am grateful for that. The committee’s fiscal framework report concluded that there ought to be discussion of fiscal rules. You might not be able to tell us about this until the end of the week, but have any fiscal rules been agreed between the Scottish and UK Governments as ...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

24 Feb 2016

Fiscal Framework

Three to five years. So that is resource borrowing dealt with. As you will know, I have had an interest in seeing the official forecast done by the Scottish Fiscal Commission, and I am pleased to hear that you are going to lodge amendments in that respect. To meet the parliam...

Gavin Brown Con Committee

24 Feb 2016

Fiscal Framework

What is the £1.75 billion figure?

Gavin Brown Con Committee

24 Feb 2016

Fiscal Framework

So it includes the £300 million.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

24 Feb 2016

Fiscal Framework

You also mentioned £600 million. Is that for economic shocks?

Gavin Brown Con Committee

24 Feb 2016

Fiscal Framework

So the limit is £300 million per annum for forecast errors.

Gavin Brown Con Committee

24 Feb 2016

Fiscal Framework

You mentioned a number of limits but I was scribbling quite furiously at the time and I want to make sure that I have taken them down correctly. You said that the resource borrowing limits are £300 million per annum—