Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to the Answer of 14 March 2019 to Question 230101 and the Answer of 3 September 2019 to Question 286276, for what reasons the cost of his Department's communications team rose from £108,439 in 2010-11 to £819,640.02 in 2018-19.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office is resourced to deliver all of the communications functions and activities expected and required of a Government Department in its own right and on behalf of the UK Government in Scotland. The number of staff in communications reflects this requirement.
As well as frontline communications functions, such as media handling, the Government Communications Service Modern Communications Operating Model requires UK Government communications divisions to deliver the following functions: campaigns, digital, internal communications, strategic communications and external affairs - such as organising ministerial visits, events, committee meetings and stakeholder engagement activities.
The number of staff working at the Office is recorded in the Annual Report and Accounts, which are available online at gov.uk/scotland.
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 June 2019; and on which platforms that money was spent.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Department spent the following on social media advertising since June 2019:
2019-2020 | Facebook & Instagram | Total Expenditure | |
June | £1,861.02 | £1,777.52 | £3,638.54 |
July | £747.30 | £807.06 | £1,554.36 |
August | £239.60 | £1,340.96 | £1,580.56 |
September | £768.74 | £595.78 | £1,364.52 |
October | £ - | £1,924.11 | £1,924.11 |
November | £ - | £1,307.89 | £1,307.89 |
December | £ - | £ - | £0.00 |
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to the Answer of 26 April 2018 to Question 136969 on Scotland Office: Freedom of Information, if he will publish his Department's review of its practices on publication of Freedom of Information responses.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
In 2018, the Office considered carefully whether or not it should retrospectively seek to publish online all of the responses to FOI requests since August 2014. We concluded that we did not have the resources to do so, and that the benefit to the public would not be proportionate to the cost.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to the Answer of 3 September 2019 to Question 286275 on Scotland Office: Freedom of Information, if he will take steps to ensure that all future responses to Freedom of Information requests are published.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
There is no obligation to publish responses to requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Where requests relate to matters of wider public interest we consider publishing the responses on a case by case basis.
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 records his office holds on the creation of the assignation statement for the Invergarry-Kyle of Lochalsh Trunk Road (A87) Extension (Skye Bridge Crossing) Toll Order 1999.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Skye Bridge Crossing is not a reserved matter under the Scotland Act 1998. Extant records on the Skye Bridge tolls, whether pre-devolution or post-devolution, are therefore held by the Scottish Government or the National Records of Scotland.
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 14 March 2019 to Question 230100, Scotland Office: Freedom of Information, what estimate he has made of the cost of updating the published list of responses to Freedom of Information requests since 2014.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office concluded that it did not have the resources to publish retrospectively online all of the responses to FOI requests since 2014 and that the benefit to the public would not be proportionate to the cost.
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 14 March 2019 to Question 230101 on Scotland Office: Information Officers, what the cost to the public purse was of his Department's communications team in 2018-19.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Communications team cost for 2018-19 was £819,640.02. The Office is resourced to enable effective engagement and communication with the public and organisations across Scotland. These responsibilities have increased as the UK prepares to leave the European Union.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, for what reasons social media adverts produced by his Department do not appear in the Facebook ad library.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Facebook ad library contains data on every active ad. When the Department has active ads they automatically appear in the ad library under ‘UK Government Scotland’.
The Facebook ad library also contains data on some inactive ads on topics determined by Facebook. To date this includes two ads shown by the Department, both of which pertained to Brexit.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which social media advertising campaigns his Department ran in the last 12 months; and what audience targeting each of those campaigns used.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Between 1 August 2018 and 31 July 2019, the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland ran the following social media advertising campaigns:
Campaign | Channel | Audience selection and targeting |
Delivering for Scotland | in Scotland | |
Devolution and public spending | in Scotland | |
Scotland’s Trade | in Scotland | |
Defence and Security | in Scotland | |
Budget 2018 | in Scotland | |
Brexit | in Scotland | |
Culture is GREAT | Facebook & Instagram | 16-65, 18-65, in Scotland |
Scotland’s Trade | Facebook & Instagram | 16-24, 18-65, in Scotland, Women, Interests: business, entrepreneurship, small business, parents |
Budget 2018 | Facebook & Instagram | 18-65, in Scotland |
Devolution and public spending | Facebook & Instagram | 18-65, in Scotland |
Brexit | Facebook & Instagram | 18-65, in Scotland |
Defence and Security | Facebook & Instagram | 18-65, in Scotland |
Delivering for Scotland | Facebook & Instagram | 18-65, in Scotland |
Ayrshire Growth Deal | Facebook & Instagram | 18-65, Ayr |
Borderlands Growth Deal | Facebook & Instagram | 16-65, Biggar, Cumnock, Dumfries, Dunbar, Eyemouth, Gorebridge, Haddington, Hawick, Kelso, Lanark, Langholm, Lauder, Newton Stewart, Peebles, Penicuik, Selkirk, Stranraer, West Calder |
Delivering for Scotland | Across Scotland | |
Devolution and public spending | Across Scotland |
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 money his Department has spent on social media advertising in each month since February 2019.
Answered by David Mundell
The figures requested are as follows:
February 2019 | March 2019 | April 2019 | May 2019 |
£ 12,973.86 | £ 10,728.55 | Nil | £ 1,540.51 |