Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will publish the dates on which the joint UK Government and Scottish Government taskforce met to discuss the consultation on Alexander Dennis closing their Falkirk and Larbert sites.

Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)

The Scotland Office has priorisited securing the future of Alexander Dennis in Falkirk and Larbert from the moment we were made aware that those sites were at risk.

The previous Secretary of State for Scotland, the Rt Hon Ian Murray MP, had discussions with the Deputy First Minister on 5 June and 21 July 2025, and my officials participated in numerous cross-government meetings throughout summer 2025. The Secretary of State for Scotland has continued this dialogue - most recently on 11 November with the Deputy First Minister - and we will continue to engage closely with the Scottish Government to safeguard these skilled jobs.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government why they did not consider the rurality of locations as part of the place selection and allocation methodology for the Local Growth Fund.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The UK Government is providing targeted funding to the places in Scotland that need it most, while simultaneously delivering the largest Block Grant settlement for the Scottish Government in the whole history of devolution, which they can use to improve general funding settlements for local government services and priorities.

The Local Growth Fund is targeting five regions that contain the local authorities with the lowest Real Disposable Household Income per capita (RDHI) in Scotland, which is an established metric for measuring spatial disparities in living standards across the country. The local authorities in the Highlands and Islands had higher living standards and so did not meet the threshold for funding from this programme.

The Local Growth Fund is just one UK Government investment programme and the Highlands and Islands region is benefiting from more than £300m in other UK Government investments, including Community Regeneration Partnerships for Argyll & Bute, and the Western Isles; Local Regeneration Fund projects including the Fair Isle Ferry and Elgin Town Centre masterplan; the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport; Pride in Place Programme funding for Elgin, Sutherland, Orkney, and Lewis; and the completion of the four regional Growth Deals.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government why the Highland and Islands region was not allocated funding from the Local Growth Fund.

Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

The UK Government is providing targeted funding to the places in Scotland that need it most, while simultaneously delivering the largest Block Grant settlement for the Scottish Government in the whole history of devolution, which they can use to improve general funding settlements for local government services and priorities.

The Local Growth Fund is targeting five regions that contain the local authorities with the lowest Real Disposable Household Income per capita (RDHI) in Scotland, which is an established metric for measuring spatial disparities in living standards across the country. The local authorities in the Highlands and Islands had higher living standards and so did not meet the threshold for funding from this programme.

The Local Growth Fund is just one UK Government investment programme and the Highlands and Islands region is benefiting from more than £300m in other UK Government investments, including Community Regeneration Partnerships for Argyll & Bute, and the Western Isles; Local Regeneration Fund projects including the Fair Isle Ferry and Elgin Town Centre masterplan; the Inverness and Cromarty Firth Green Freeport; Pride in Place Programme funding for Elgin, Sutherland, Orkney, and Lewis; and the completion of the four regional Growth Deals.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2025 on Question 95787 on the Prime Minister, what is the estimated total departmental spend by his department to supporting the Minister for the Union in their role since the office was established.

Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)

The Scotland Office does not provide any direct financial support to the Minister for the Union.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much the Scottish Government received in Barnett consequential funding from English funding to support stop smoking services in 2025-26.

Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)

At Spending Reviews, devolved governments generally receive Barnett consequentials on changes in overall departmental settlements not on specific policies or programmes. Therefore, the UK Government cannot provide Barnett numbers on specific policy measures funded from within departmental settlements.

The Block Grant Transparency publication from October 2025 shows that the Scottish Government received an additional £930m for 2025/26 as a result of the additional funding for the Department for Health and Social Care.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on using funds raised by the expansion of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme to support maritime decarbonisation projects in Scotland.

Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)

The Maritime Decarbonisation Strategy set out the key policies which will together deliver decarbonisation of the sector, including the role of energy efficiency, port decarbonisation and fuel regulation alongside emission pricing through the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. Receipts from the UK ETS are used to fund the government’s spending priorities, including spending and subsidies supporting the Net Zero transition.

In September 2025, the UK Government announced £448m R&D funding for the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) between 2026 and 2030: the biggest government investment ever in our commercial maritime industry. The programme has already allocated £240m to the research and development of clean maritime solutions, with approximately 15% allocated in Scotland. Recently, I visited the Port of Aberdeen where new clean energy infrastructure has been installed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from berthed vessels, as part of its ambitious target to become a net zero harbour by 2040.

Found: We are also hoping to contact the Scotland Office once the budget is in place to try to do some work

Found: We are also hoping to contact the Scotland Office once the budget is in place to try to do some work

Found: on the Draft Scotland Act 1998 (Modification of Schedule 5) Order 2026 and Response from the Scotland Office

Found: your original point, is that probably the phone that we answer second, after the MOD, is the Scotland Office

Found: your original point, is that probably the phone that we answer second, after the MOD, is the Scotland Office

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on communities that previously benefited from funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, but which will no longer receive funding following the decision to end that fund and replace it with the Local Growth Fund.

Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)

At the Spending Review in 2025, the Government confirmed that we would protect funding for interventions that drive growth and strengthen communities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the next three years, keeping it at the same overall level in cash terms as under the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) in the current year.

As part of this approach MHCLG is working with the Scotland Office to design a new £140m Local Growth Fund for Scotland, delivering a significant step change in UK investment strategy, supporting each nation and region to deliver long-term infrastructure for sustained economic growth.

The Local Growth Fund forms part of a broader suite of interventions and was never designed to replicate UKSPF on a like‑for‑like basis. It sits alongside other investments such as the Growth Mission Fund, the Pride in Place Impact Fund and the Pride in Place Programme which is helping build strong, resilient and integrated communities in areas that experience the most entrenched social and economic challenges.

In addition to this package of funding announced at the Spending Review, Scotland will also benefit from around £700m of other local and regional project funding over the next three years through: the Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, Pride in Place Programme Phase 1, Green Freeports, Investment Zones, Community Regeneration Partnerships, the Local Regeneration Fund and City Region and Growth Deals.

Alongside this, the UK Government has provided the Scottish Government with the largest Block Grant in the history of devolution which can be used flexibly for devolved governments’ priorities.

Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the replacement of the Shared Prosperity Fund with the Local Growth Fund on child poverty.

Answered by Miatta Fahnbulleh - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Housing, Communities and Local Government)

With the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) ending in 2026, the Government is changing how local growth is funded, as part of a wider approach comprising targeted interventions to drive growth and strengthen communities.

Across these new interventions, Scotland will receive the same annual funding in cash terms over the next three years as it would have received under the UKSPF this year to support economic growth, community cohesion, regeneration and public realm improvements - around £76 million a year and £228 million over the Spending Review period.

As part of this approach MHCLG and the Scotland Office are working together to design and deliver a new Local Growth Fund for Scotland. The programme will fund regional projects which will drive economic growth. That might mean projects like infrastructure investment, business support, or skills development - projects which will make a real difference in terms of skilled jobs and people’s prosperity. We will share the full investment and interventions framework in due course.

Further, the Pride in Place Programme is providing support to Scottish communities, helping build strong, resilient and integrated communities in areas that experience the most entrenched social and economic challenges.

By investing in local areas, reducing child poverty, and bringing down inflation, the Government is focused on delivering material change to people across the country – boosting living standards and improving public services. This sits alongside substantial increases to devolved budgets through the Barnett formula as a result of greater funding for English local authorities, giving devolved governments additional flexibility to target resource spending to their priorities, including tackling child poverty.

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Found: for Work and Pensions 415 HM Revenue and Customs 441 HM Treasury 455 Cabinet Office 477 Scotland Office

Found: Scotland Office Minister Kirsty McNeill said:  North Lanarkshire’s proud industrial heritage helped

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