Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many staff are employed by his Department on (a) full time, (b) part time and (c) flexible working arrangements.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office does not employ any staff directly. The Civil Service Statistics: 2022 reports that the Scotland Office (including the Office of the Advocate General) had 110 full time staff and 10 part time staff in post as at 31 March 2022. Information on flexible working arrangements is not collected.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 27 April 2022 to Question 155783, for what reason his Department does not employ staff directly.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
As with other, comparable small Ministerial departments e.g. the Northern Ireland Office, Wales Office, the Scotland Office benefits from access to the recruitment services of larger organisations. In the case of the Scotland Office, it is the Scottish Government and the Ministry of Justice.
This supports our commitment to managing the public finances in a responsible way, promoting intergovernmental relations and providing easily accessible, rewarding career opportunities for civil servants.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department includes the costs of staff seconded to his Departments from elsewhere in Government in its annual departmental budget.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The costs of all staff seconded to the Department from elsewhere in Government are included within the annual departmental budget.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many communications staff are employed by his Department (a) full time, (b) part time and (c) on flexible working arrangements as of 19 April 2022.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Department does not employ staff directly. All the department's staff are employed by the Scottish Government, Ministry of Justice, or other UK Government departments.
The number of staff working at the department as of 19 April 2022 to deliver the communications functions was 12. Categories with numbers less than 5 cannot be provided, as this would make individuals potentially identifiable.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on communications staff in (a) 2019-20, (b) 2020-21 and (c) 2021-22.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Departmental spend on communications staff for 2019-20 was £870,159, for 2020-21 it was £906,177, and for 2021-22 it was £944,645.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the (a) Levelling Up Fund and (b) Shared Prosperity Fund on the devolution settlement for Scotland.
Answered by Iain Stewart
We have a responsibility to support economic growth UK-wide. This year the Levelling Up Fund has delivered over £170m to locally championed Scottish projects, with MPs Scotland-wide supporting these applications.
The £2.6bn UK Shared Prosperity Fund will launch next year building on this success to support communities in every corner of our UK.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the cost of his Department's communication team was in (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Communications team cost for 2019-20 was £870,159, and for 2020-21 was £906,177.
The Office is resourced to enable effective engagement and communication with the public and organisations across Scotland. These functions have been essential to supporting the UK’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and providing information to people and businesses as we left the EU.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what role his Department has played with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in establishing the £100 million fishing support fund.
Answered by David Duguid
My officials and I are in regular contact with counterparts from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on a range of issues of importance to the seafood sector in Scotland, including the establishment of the UK Government's new £100 million support fund. We will provide further information after 6 May.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on social media advertising in each month since October 2020; and on which platforms that money was spent.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office delivers public information campaigns in Scotland to communicate important messages to the public, such as national awareness campaigns and policy initiatives. Total Office expenditure on digital campaigns from 1 October 2020 to 24 March 2021 was as follows:
| Facebook & Instagram | Total Expenditure | ||
October 2020 | £ 1,512.90 | £ 2,730.61 | £ 507.54 | £4,751.05 |
November 2020 | £ 2,141.13 | £ 5,202.38 | £ - | £7,343.51 |
December 2020 | £ 2,643.06 | £ 4,622.46 | £ - | £7,265.52 |
January 2021 | £ 790.86 | £ 8,238.15 | £ - | £9,029.01 |
February 2021 | £ 2,722.62 | £ 7,296.12 | £ - | £10,018.74 |
March 2021* | £ 2,811.22 | £ 5,868.42 | £ - | £8,679.64 |
* The Office has not run any public information campaigns since 24 March 2021, in line with pre-election requirements.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the travel costs for his Department have been in each quarter since January 2018 by (a) mode of travel and use by (i) Ministers and (ii) officials.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The costs incurred in each quarter for travel by Ministers and officials in the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland is enclosed.