Meeting of the Parliament Wednesday 28 March 2018 Session 5 © Parliamentary copyright. Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body Information on the Scottish Parliament’s copyright policy can be found on the website - www.parliament.scot or by contacting Public Information on 0131 348 5000 Wednesday 28 March 2018 CONTENTS Col. PORTFOLIO QUESTION TIME ............................................................................................................................... 1 FINANCE AND THE CONSTITUTION ....................................................................................................................... 1 Scottish Fiscal Commission Revenue Forecast ........................................................................................... 1 Business Rates (2017 Revaluation) ............................................................................................................. 2 Procurement ................................................................................................................................................. 3 Tax Bands ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 Vacant and Derelict Land Levy ..................................................................................................................... 6 Procurement Process (Business Pledge) ..................................................................................................... 7 Draft Audit and Accountability Framework ................................................................................................... 8 Local Government Funding .......................................................................................................................... 9 ECONOMY, JOBS AND FAIR WORK ...................................................................................................................... 9 Infrastructure Investment (South Scotland) .................................................................................................. 9 Cunninghame North Economy ................................................................................................................... 11 Glasgow City Region Deal (Impact on Motherwell and Wishaw) ............................................................... 12 Data Capital of Europe ............................................................................................................................... 14 Fife Economy .............................................................................................................................................. 15 Scottish National Investment Bank ............................................................................................................. 16 BUS SERVICES ................................................................................................................................................ 19 Motion moved—[John Finnie]. Amendment moved—[Humza Yousaf]. Amendment moved—[Jamie Greene]. Amendment moved—[Colin Smyth]. John Finnie (Highlands and Islands) (Green) ............................................................................................. 19 The Minister for Transport and the Islands (Humza Yousaf) ..................................................................... 22 Jamie Greene (West Scotland) (Con) ........................................................................................................ 24 Colin Smyth (South Scotland) (Lab) ........................................................................................................... 26 Mike Rumbles (North East Scotland) (LD) ................................................................................................. 29 Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green) ........................................................................................... 30 John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP) ................................................................................................. 32 Peter Chapman (North East Scotland) (Con) ............................................................................................. 34 Claudia Beamish (South Scotland) (Lab) ................................................................................................... 35 Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP) ............................................................................................................ 37 Iain Gray (East Lothian) (Lab) .................................................................................................................... 38 Edward Mountain (Highlands and Islands) (Con) ....................................................................................... 40 Humza Yousaf ............................................................................................................................................ 42 Alison Johnstone (Lothian) (Green)............................................................................................................ 44 LOCAL TAXATION............................................................................................................................................. 47 Motion moved—[Andy Wightman]. Amendment moved—[Derek Mackay]. Amendment moved—[Murdo Fraser]. Amendment moved—[James Kelly]. Andy Wightman (Lothian) (Green) .............................................................................................................. 47 The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution (Derek Mackay) ................................................. 50 Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) .............................................................................................. 53 James Kelly (Glasgow) (Lab) ..................................................................................................................... 55 John Mason (Glasgow Shettleston) (SNP) ................................................................................................. 57 Bill Bowman (North East Scotland) (Con) .................................................................................................. 58 Mark Griffin (Central Scotland) (Lab).......................................................................................................... 60 Tom Arthur (Renfrewshire South) (SNP) .................................................................................................... 61 Tom Mason (North East Scotland) (Con) ................................................................................................... 63 Willie Rennie (North East Fife) (LD) ........................................................................................................... 64 Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab) ................................................................................................................ 66 Alexander Stewart (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) ...................................................................................... 67 Derek Mackay ............................................................................................................................................. 68 Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green) .............................................................................................................. 70 BUSINESS MOTION ........................................................................................................................................... 73 PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU MOTIONS ................................................................................................................. 75 DECISION TIME ................................................................................................................................................ 76 EARTH HOUR 2018 .......................................................................................................................................... 89 Motion debated—[Graeme Dey]. Graeme Dey (Angus South) (SNP) ............................................................................................................ 89 Maurice Golden (West Scotland) (Con) ..................................................................................................... 92 David Torrance (Kirkcaldy) (SNP) .............................................................................................................. 93 Alex Rowley (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab) ................................................................................................ 95 Mark Ruskell (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Green) ........................................................................................... 96 Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD) ......................................................................................................... 98 Donald Cameron (Highlands and Islands) (Con) ....................................................................................... 99 The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform (Roseanna Cunningham) . 101 1 28 MARCH 2018 2 entitlement to universal credit reduces to just £7 Scottish Parliament the net benefit of the starter rate of income tax. Has the cabinet secretary requested of the United Wednesday 28 March 2018 Kingdom Government a resolution in the form of a disregard of the net benefit of the starter rate of [The Deputy Presiding Officer opened the income tax for the calculation of universal credit, meeting at 14:00] or a supplementary