Asked by: Lord Dunlop (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the bids submitted to become a Scottish Green Freeport; and when they will announce which locations have been selected.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Green Freeports in Scotland: bidding prospectus (attached) sets out the assessment process for Scottish Green Freeport bids. The Government expects to announce the winning bids, jointly with the Scottish Government, very soon.
Asked by: Lord Dunlop (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government in how many overseas locations Department for International Trade officials are co-located with the staff of Scottish Development International; and how this has changed over the last five years.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
The Department for International Trade (DIT) (and previously UKTI staff) are co-located with Scottish Development International (SDI) staff in a number of locations; specific details below. DIT are always prepared, where logistically possible to work with SDI colleagues on co-location overseas.
Brazil Rio de Janeiro
Canada Calgary and Toronto
USA November 2017
Australia & New Zealand Melbourne since 2016 (previously Sydney)
China Beijing
Hong Kong
India Mymbai, New Delhi and Hydrabad
Denmark Copenhagen
Ghana Accra
Saudi Arabia Al Khobar – established February 2014
UAE Dubai
Taiwan Taipei
Asked by: Lord Dunlop (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Department for International Trade officials are based in Scotland; and what are the functions of those officials.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
The Department for International Trade has 18 officials based in its offices in Glasgow.
The functions of those are shown in the table below.
Export and Investment Promotion | 10 |
Communications & Marketing | 5 |
UK Export Finance | 3 |
Asked by: Lord Dunlop (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) UK exporters, and (2) Scottish exporters, have participated in the High Value Opportunity programme.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
The Department for International Trade (DIT) supports UK businesses through a range of programmes aimed at increasing exports.
Through 2016-17 DIT supported its customers to achieve £41.6bn in export wins, which included working with 2,811 new exporters. These figures, published in our annual report, include support to Scottish exporters.
In the financial year 2016-17 the High Value Opportunity programme was replaced by the High Value Campaign programme.
Asked by: Lord Dunlop (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what information they hold on Scottish company representation on trade missions organised by the UK Government.
Answered by Baroness Fairhead
All UK companies, including those located or operating in Scotland, are able to access the Department for International Trade’s (DIT) national events and missions programme. This is viewable on great.gov.uk which is promoted nationally. DIT keeps a record of all companies who take part in trade missions so that we can ensure we continue to support them throughout their export journey, including any export wins. In the first six months of this financial year, 19 Scottish companies took part in missions organised by DIT.
Asked by: Lord Dunlop (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Northern Ireland Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to launch a public consultation concerning the institutions proposed by the Stormont House Agreement to address the legacy issues of Northern Ireland's past.
Answered by Lord Duncan of Springbank
The Government is committed to the implementation of the Stormont House Agreement to introduce new legacy institutions that will be under legal obligations to be fair, balanced, transparent and proportionate and will be fully consistent with the rule of law. The Government believes that the Stormont House Agreement is the right way to address the past in Northern Ireland.
The Government is committed to consulting on the legacy proposals and it is the intention of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to bring forward a formal public consultation as soon as possible.
Asked by: Lord Dunlop (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
Her Majesty's Government what progress they have made towards concluding City Deals for Edinburgh, the Tay Cities and Stirling.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
The Government has welcomed proposals for city deals for Edinburgh and South East Scotland, Tay Cities and Stirling and Clackmannanshire, which following the agreed deals for Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness, will deliver a city deal for every city in Scotland.
Negotiations, undertaken jointly with the Scottish Government, are progressing well with Edinburgh and Stirling, and are due to start with Tay Cities over the summer. In terms of concluding the deals, we are working to agree Heads of Terms with the regional partners and the Scottish Government as soon as possible.
This Government is committed to promoting and supporting local economic growth across the United Kingdom; and city deals, agreed jointly with devolved administrations and regional partners, are an excellent vehicle for doing so.
Asked by: Lord Dunlop (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to implement their 2017 manifesto commitment to support the development of those wind projects in the remote islands of Scotland that are intended to directly benefit local communities.
Answered by Lord Prior of Brampton
As our manifesto commitment states, we support the development of wind projects in the remote islands of Scotland, where they will directly benefit local communities. We will announce our plans regarding this commitment in due course.