���˿���

The Minister for External Affairs and International Development answered the questions asked by the Committee members. In relation to a direct air service, the Minister was asked what was being done to support the establishment of a direct link to China and the Minister set out the discussions which have taken place. The Minister was not asked to comment on matters which serve to make a direct service more challenging, the UK Government’s handling of Air Passenger Duty being one.

The information requested is contained in “The Economic Impact of Air Passenger Duty” which can be viewed at:

. The report was published in February 2013 and was commissioned by British Airways, easyJet, Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair.

The interim chief executive of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) has not resigned.

The SPA advised the Scottish Government on 11 June 2013 that the interim chief executive would be informing her staff that she would be not be applying for the permanent chief executive’s role. Scottish Government officials then advised the Cabinet Secretary for Justice of this information.

The SPA has outlined its organisational vision and governance arrangements as we embark on a new phase of reform, following a successful transition on 1 April 2013 and is working on the detail in close partnership with Police Scotland.

Analyses of UK aid policy are available from a variety of sources, including for example the Organisation for Economic Development - Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) peer reviews and the work of the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI). The Center for Global Development’s “Commitment to Development Index” seeks to rank governments according to the extent to which their policies in the round help poor countries, that index also includes an aid component.

Where appropriate the Scottish Government welcomes the good work of the Department of International Development. However, various non-governmental development organisations have nevertheless this year expressed concern over the risk of securitisation of aid, following comments made by the Prime Minister earlier this year.

The conceptualisation of international development as a question of justice rather than charity is based on an understanding of the negative impacts of particular global economic and financial policies on the world’s poorest nations and people. Examples include the tax losses to developing countries from multi-national companies operating in those countries while taking advantage of international tax secrecy; and the reported net transfer of $5,740.6 billion from developing economies to the developed over the period 1998-2010 (United Nations General Assembly A/65/189, July 2010, International Financial System and Development, Report of the Secretary-General). These flows include e.g. trade, debt, intellectual property rights and the “brain drain”. A truly effective approach to development must address these issues.

Analyses of UK development policy are available from a variety of sources, including for example the Organisation for Economic Development - Development Assistance Committee peer reviews. These include analysis of approaches to aid, but also of “policy coherence for development” across government policies. The Center for Global Development’s “Commitment to Development Index” seeks to rank governments according to the extent to which their policies in the round help poor countries, that index includes aid; trade; investment; migration; environment; security and technology components.

The tweet related to an article in the Guardian on 10 June 2013 on the human rights based approach and, summarised this sentence from it “international development based more on justice and rights than charity and aid has the potential to create lasting progress in the developing world.”

The Scottish Government and the Cabinet Secretary have been aware for some months that the Interim Chief Executive of the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) did not intend to apply for the position on a permanent basis and that she would step down in September 2013.

The SPA has outlined its organisational vision and governance arrangements as we embark on a new phase of reform, following a successful transition on 1 April 2013, and is working on the detail in close partnership with Police Scotland.

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15778 on 15 July 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

.

The Home Office website states that within the Common Travel Area (CTA) “passengers are not required to carry a passport or national identity document for immigration purposes”.

Further information can be found on the Home Office website:

and the Irish Citizens’ Information website:

I refer the member to the answer to question S4W-15749 on 5 July 2013. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

.

The Scottish Government report, The Impact of a Reduction in Corporation Tax on the Scottish Economy provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of cutting corporation tax and focuses on the impacts on key economic variables, such as output, employment and investment.

As outlined in the paper, whilst a lower tax rate can reduce revenues for a given level of profits, by stimulating economic activity it can grow the tax base which can in turn lead to higher tax revenues. The potential economic benefits from the policy are significant, with the additional activity generated by cutting corporation tax estimated to create 27,000 jobs and boost GDP by 1.4% after 20 years.