Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Scottish Government on support for students who where studying at the Scottish Institute of Theatre, Dance, Film and Television when it went into administration.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

I was shocked and saddened to hear that the Scottish Institute of Theatre, Dance, Film and Television had gone into administration. My sympathy goes out to the staff that worked there and to the students who are facing considerable uncertainty over the future of their studies.

As education is a devolved matter, I would urge the Scottish Government to work with the administrators and the wider sector to ensure that affected students are able to continue their degrees.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK-India free trade agreement on Scotland.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

Our trade deal with India is great news for Scotland, increasing exports, growing our economy and securing jobs.

Scottish products will benefit from significant tariff reductions. That includes whisky, where the current 150% tariff will be halved from day one, and reaching just 40% after 10 years. The Scotch Whisky Association has described this as ‘a once in a generation deal and a landmark moment for Scotch Whisky’.

Other Scottish exports including chocolate, biscuits and salmon will reduce from a 33% tariff to 0%.

And did the SNP back this transformation deal for Scotland? Of course not. They didn't back the US or EU deals either.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support Scotland's rural economy.

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

Our recently announced trade deals will benefit key industries in rural, coastal and island communities, such as whisky and salmon.

Our forthcoming Industrial Strategy and drive to clean energy will ensure good quality jobs across Scotland.

Project Gigabit is improving broadband connectivity for homes and businesses, and only last week we announced thirteen upgraded phone masts to transform rural connectivity across the Scottish countryside.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many permanent civil servants in his Department are staff without assigned posts; and how many are placed in an equivalent (a) people action team, (b) priority movers list, (c) redeployment register, (d) talent pool and (e) skills match hub in the most recent period for which data is available.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

The Scotland Office has no permanent civil servants without assigned posts and no staff are placed in the referenced categories.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Scottish government’s decision to use ultra high frequency electronic identification technology for animals on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

I am aware of the Scottish Government’s decision to adopt ultra-high frequency electronic identification technology for animals, and the Government is committed to understanding its potential implications for trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

We will continue to engage with all relevant stakeholders to ensure that any developments are closely monitored and that robust livestock traceability is maintained across the UK.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of the research presented to the Scottish government on ultra high frequency electronic identification technology in livestock.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

Farming policy is a devolved matter, and the Government has not formally assessed the impact of the Scottish Government's decision. Defra officials are working closely with devolved administrations to ensure compliance with the UK Internal Markets Act (2020).

In the recent UK-EU joint statement, the Government committed to building on the Windsor Framework and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to reduce trade barriers.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many permanent civil servants in his Department had their contract of employment terminated as a result of poor performance in the (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25 financial years.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

No permanent civil servants working in the Scotland Office had their contract of employment terminated as a result of poor performance in the (a) 2022-23, (b) 2023-24 and (c) 2024-25 financial years.

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Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the attendance of civil servants in his Department as a proportion of assigned workforce to each building.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Central data on Civil Service Headquarters (HQ) occupancy is collected and published quarterly on GOV.UK https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-hq-occupancy-data for all HQ buildings of Whitehall Departments, Office for Scotland, Office for Wales and Northern Ireland Office. This includes data for the Cabinet Office.

As was the case under the previous administration, no other information on workforce attendance is gathered centrally.

Heads of department have agreed that 60% minimum office attendance for most staff continues to be the best balance of working for the Civil Service.

University APPG
Wednesday 11th June 2025

Found: [UIN52642] APP UG WEEKLY UPDATE 15 Ian Murray: The Scotland Office and I meet regularly with Scottish

Long Covid APPG
Thursday 12th June 2025

Found: (11.6%) of the 749,000 increase. 9 Self-reported Long COVID, England and Scotland - Office

Found: Office (d) 15.0 22.2 Department for Business and Trade (d) - 3,659.6 Home Office (d) - 2,600.0 Scotland Office

Found: Disability (Penicuik, Midlothian) Moira McManus VANCE Correspondence Manager, Scotland Office

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Found: Ireland Office: Ministers' Hospitality - April 2025 CSV, 276 Bytes View online Scotland Office

Found: UK Government Scotland Office Minister Kirsty McNeill said:  The Spending Review clearly showed how

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Found: UK Government Scotland Office Minister Kirsty McNeill said:  The Spending Review clearly showed how

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Found: Scottish design and culture industries and suggest that both the Scottish Government and the Scotland Office

Found: Occupancy levels for Social Security Scotland office locations: FOI release

Found: Occupancy levels for Social Security Scotland office locations: FOI release

Found: Scottish Government Regional Economic Development, Deputy DirectorAlasdair Macdonald (v) (AMD) Scotland Office

Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-35571 by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 18 March 2025, whether it will provide an update on its engagement with the Scotland Office regarding the proposed order under section 104 of the Scotland Act 1998 relating to changing marriages to civil partnerships.

Answered by Somerville, Shirley-Anne - Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice

There is no update at the moment on progress. The Scottish Government will be writing to the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland very soon with details of what should be covered in the Order. Officials will keep people interested in the Order updated.