Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what reports and guidance their Department has produced in the last three years; and how much was spent on their (a) printing and (b) distribution.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland (OSSS) produced the following reports during the last three years.
Financial Year | Reports Produced | Spend on Printing & Distribution (£) |
2023-24 to date | OSSS Annual Report and Accounts 2022-23 | 859 |
2023-24 to date | 7th Annual Report on the Implementation of the Scotland Act 2016 | 916 |
2022-23 | OSSS Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22 | 901 |
2022-23 | 6th Annual Report on the Implementation of the Scotland Act 2016 | 1,140 |
2021-22 | OSSS Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21 | 1,158 |
2021-22 | 5th Annual Report on the Implementation of the Scotland Act 2016 | 1,672 |
Total |
| 6,646 |
*The Department outsources its printing and the invoices received do not split the costs between printing and distribution.
Asked by: Douglas Ross (Conservative - Moray)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on the strength of the economy in Scotland.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Scotland’s economy grew in 2023 and our back to work plan is working with fewer people inactive. We have achieved this alongside our priority of halving inflation.I’m sure my Honourable Friend was also pleased to hear the growth measures we will take to keep Scotland prospering that were announced at the Budget today.
Asked by: Mark Menzies (Independent - Fylde)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of levelling up funding on communities in Scotland.
Answered by John Lamont - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The UK Government is now investing more than £2.9 billion across Levelling Up initiatives in Scotland. That's the equivalent of £538 per person in Scotland.
I have personally seen how this funding is regenerating towns, creating jobs, and empowering communities to deliver directly on their ambitions.
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 advertising in each of the last three financial years.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office can confirm the following costs in respect of advertising costs over the last three financial years;
Year | Budget (£) | Actual (£) | Difference (£) |
2023-24 | 43,000 | 17,725 | 25,275 |
2022-23 | 50,000 | 49,893 | 107 |
2021-22 | 41,000 | 39,818 | 1,182 |
Total | 134,000 | 107,436 | 26,564 |
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department (a) paid in apprenticeship levy fees and (b) spent from its apprenticeship levy funds between September 2021 and August 2023.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office does not employ any staff directly. The staff are employed by their parent departments primarily the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government. The payment of the apprenticeship levy and access to any funding generated is the responsibility of the employing parent departments.
Asked by: Nia Griffith (Labour - Llanelli)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much funding his Department (a) allocated for (b) spent on magazine subscriptions 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 incurred the following costs in relation to the subscriptions below over the last three financial years;
Subscription | FY 21-22 | FY 22-23 | FY 23-24 |
| £ | £ | £ |
Press and Journal | 60 | 60 | 60 |
The Courier | 60 | 60 | 60 |
The Financial Times | 278 | 319 | 319 |
The Herald | 80 | 80 | 80 |
The Spectator | 131 | 88 | 100 |
The Telegraph | 208 | 208 | 191 |
The Times | 312 | 312 | 260 |
The Scotsman | 100 | 0 | 130 |
Total | 1,229 | 1,127 | 1,200 |
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.