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Written Question
Scotland Office: Correspondence
Wednesday 20th October 2021

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to improve his Department's response times to correspondence from members of the public.

Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland

The Government recognises the importance of responding to members of the public in an effective and timely manner, and the Cabinet Office published an updated Guide to Handling Correspondence for government departments and agencies in July 2021.

The guidance reasserts the standards for handling correspondence, including a 20 working day deadline for departments to respond to members of the public, criteria outlining when a response to a member of the public is required, and when a piece of correspondence from a member of the public should be transferred to another department. Following publication of the updated guidance, all departments have been reminded that they must follow the processes outlined in the guidance. The Office for the Secretary of State for Scotland’s correspondence response times are regularly monitored and internal processes have been improved to ensure members of the public are responded to in a timely manner.


Written Question
Fisheries: Scotland
Wednesday 27th January 2021

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Scotland Office:

What assessment he has made of the effect of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement on the Scottish fishing industry.

Answered by David Duguid

Leaving the EU means we have left the Common Fisheries Policy and are now recognised as an independent coastal state – something the EU refused to recognise until very late in the negotiations.

The agreement allows for a transfer of 25% of quota, previously caught by EU vessels in our waters, to UK fishermen.

The agreement also provides for tariff-free access to the EU market for Scotland’s fantastic fisheries products.


Written Question
Coronavirus: Disease Control
Wednesday 11th November 2020

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Scotland Office:

What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues and Scottish Government Ministers on a four-nations approach to tackling the covid-19 outbreak over Christmas 2020.

Answered by David Duguid

UK Government Ministers and officials are in close touch with their counterparts in all of the Devolved Administrations about the UK-wide approach to tackling the covid-19 outbreak over Christmas 2020.


Written Question
Scotland Office: Migrant Workers
Friday 14th October 2016

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many non-UK citizens are employed by his Department.

Answered by David Mundell

The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly; all staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other Government bodies, who remain the employers.


Written Question
Visas: Overseas Students
Friday 14th October 2016

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for the Home Department on the inclusion of Scottish universities in the post-study work visa pilot.

Answered by David Mundell

I meet my Rt hon Friend the Home Secretary regularly and we discuss a wide range of issues.

The Tier 4 visa pilot is part of the Home Office’s continued efforts to ensure that the UK maintains an excellent offer to attract the brightest and best to study at our world-leading institutions. Its main aim is to help simplify the visa application process for international students looking to study on a Masters’ course, in the UK, of 13 months or less. It will also help to support students who wish to switch into a work route and take up a graduate role by extending the leave period following the end of their study to up to six months. The pilot does not make any changes to the Tier 2 visa route and is not a return to the post-study work visa route, which we closed in April 2012 due to high levels of abuse.

The institutions taking part in the pilot were chosen due to their consistently low level of visa refusals. It is a fundamental requirement of Tier 4 that education institutions who recruit international students take responsibility for them. This means the institution must ensure the student is genuine and meets the requirements of the Immigration Rules, before assigning them a Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS), as well as ensuring that the student leaves the UK at the end of his or her studies.


Written Question
Exports: Scotland
Monday 19th October 2015

Asked by: Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat - Orkney and Shetland)

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what progress the Government has made on implementing the recommendations of the Wilson Review of Support for Scottish Exporting; and what plans he has to designate (a) the Scotch whisky industry and (b) other sectors with experience and success in export markets as free trade champions.

Answered by David Mundell

The Scotland Office created and chairs the Scottish Exporting Joint Working Group. This consists of officials from UKTI, SDI and Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government. The Group last met on the 5 October where they discussed a draft Action Plan that contains practical steps to achieve greater collaboration, co-operation and alignment between the organisations serving Scottish exporters, in line with the recommendations of the Wilson Review. The Action Plan will be agreed over the coming weeks.

The Government has no immediate plans to designate the Scotch whisky industry or other sectors in Scotland as free trade champions. However, we are working very closely with the Scotch Whisky Association to learn from their expertise on trade issues with a view to replicating the extraordinary success the Scotch Whisky industry has had in export markets across the wider UK food and drink sector.