Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what subscriptions to (a) newspapers, (b) magazines and (c) online journals his Department has paid for in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office can confirm that it has had the following subscriptions in place over the last three financial years:
Press and Journal
The Courier
The Financial Times
The Herald
The Spectator
The Telegraph
The Times
The Scotsman
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many and what proportion of digital posts in his Department are vacant.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland does not currently have any digital vacancies.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much funding his Department has (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on software updates to legacy computer systems in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office has not had any funding budgeted for nor spent on software updates to legacy computer systems in the last three financial years. The Scotland Office does not have any legacy computer systems and the IT services for the department are provided by the Cabinet Office.
Asked by: Jonathan Ashworth (Labour (Co-op) - Leicester South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether any non-executive directors employed in his Department are non-domiciled.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Non-Executive Board Members’ personal data, including those relating to personal taxation or status, are protected by the UK General Data Protection Regulation. Collection of personal data on non-dom status is not routinely collected, and is generally not required for making public appointments. If any such data was held, it could only be published if doing so was in compliance with data protection law.
Non-Executive Board Members are not employees of the Scotland Office and act in an advisory capacity.
Data relating to public appointments are covered by the Public Appointments Privacy Statement found here: https://apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/privacy.
Asked by: Chris Stephens (Scottish National Party - Glasgow South West)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether all (a) buildings and (b) workplaces staff from their Department occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Yes; all buildings and workplaces that staff from the Scotland Office occupy have a suitable and sufficient risk assessment under Section 3 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will hold discussions with the Scottish Government on taking steps to help support the manufacture of (a) offshore patrol vessels and (b) wind turbines in the Highland region of Scotland.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK Government is committed to working constructively with the devolved administrations and I would be open to engaging with the Scottish Government on Maritime Patrol Vessels in the Highland region of Scotland. However, this is a devolved matter and I have not received any representations from Scottish Government Ministers.
With regard to the manufacture of Wind Turbines, the Government has announced the £960 million Green Industries Growth Accelerator to support manufacturing capacity, including for offshore wind. This will attract private investment, see the creation of high-skilled, well-paying jobs and ensure the UK stands ready to take the opportunity presented by the Net Zero Transition.
The Government works directly with the Scottish Government and industry through the Offshore Wind Industry Council. The Council is engaged in assessing the needs of the offshore wind supply chain, finding opportunities for its development, and the establishment of a long-term Industrial Growth Plan.
Asked by: Caroline Lucas (Green Party - Brighton, Pavilion)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which policies under each arms length body reporting to their Department fall within the scope of the Environmental principles policy statement, published on 31 January 2023.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The duty does not require us to maintain a comprehensive list of policies within scope of the duty. The duty applies to all policies made from 1 November 2023, whether developed by a central department or an arm’s length body, which are:
The environmental principles policy statement provides further information on what is considered policy in scope of the duty. Examples include strategies and frameworks.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on public information campaigns promoting Government policies in the (a) 2021-22 and (b) 2022-23 financial years; and how much it has spent on such campaigns in the 2023-24 financial year as of 29 January 2024.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office has spent the following on social media platforms to support UK Government policies and information campaigns in Scotland:
Year | Amount (£) |
23-24 (to date) | 17,725 |
22-23 | 49,893 |
21-22 | 39,818 |
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department has spent on communications staff in the (a) 2022-23 financial year and (b) 2023-24 financial year as of 29 January 2024.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Expenditure on communications staffing costs, including employer’s pensions and national insurance contributions, but excluding any VAT where applicable, was:
Year | Amount (£) |
23-24 (to end Dec 23) | 1,081,263 |
22-23 | 1,166,270 |
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department has spent on special advisers in the (a) 2022-23 financial year and (b) 2023-24 financial year as of 29 January 2024.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The information requested can be found in the Scotland Office and Office for the Advocate General annual report and accounts for financial year 2022-23. This can be accessed using the following link Scotland Office Annual Report 2022-23. The figures for the current financial year 2023-24 will be published in the department’s next annual report and accounts for financial year 2023-24 and laid in parliament by the set deadlines later this calendar year.
In addition to any salary costs, the department has incurred the following travel and subsistence costs in relation to Special Advisors during financial year 2022-23.
Financial Year | Travel & Subsistence (£) |
2022-23 | 61,857 |