Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to paragraphs 7.16 and 7.17 of the Ministerial Code, on how many occasions Ministers in his Department have informed the Law Officers that they are the defendants in a libel action in (a) their personal capacity, (b) their official position and (c) both since 19 December 2019.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
As per paragraph 2.13 of the Ministerial Code, it is not possible to disclose whether Law Officers have or have not provided advice on such matters. Paragraph 2.13 states: “The fact that the Law Officers have advised or have not advised and the content of their advice must not be disclosed outside Government without their authority”.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to his oral contribution of 29 March 2023, Official Report, column 1000, what progress he has made on organising a meeting with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on cancer vaccine trials.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
I have raised this request with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. I understand the Minister of State for Health and Social Care is in the process of writing to the Shadow Secretary of State for Health in relation to the named constituent.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when his Department plans to publish the Seventh Annual Report on the implementation of the Scotland Act 2016.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Officials in my Department have been working closely with their colleagues across the UK Government and Scottish Government to prepare the Seventh Annual Report on the Implementation of the Scotland Act 2016.
I expect this report to be published by the end of May. I will write to you with a copy of the report when it is published.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings of (a) officials and (b) Ministers in his Department with the Scottish Government on Section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 have (i) been scheduled and (ii) taken place since 1 January 2023; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Following my decision to exercise section 35 of the Scotland Act 1998 with regard to the Scottish Government’s Gender Recognition Reform Bill, I met with the Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government on 24 January. I made clear it is now for the Scottish Government to bring forward a bill that addresses the adverse effects set out in the order and accompanying Statement of Reasons. The Scotland Act 1998 specifically provides for a reconsideration stage in the Scottish Parliament for these circumstances. I made a statement in the House on 17 January setting out the UK Government’s position, which remains unchanged.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of the provision of funding for the refurbishment of the Kings Theatre in Edinburgh.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Ministers and officials from this department have attended a number of meetings with counterparts from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, regarding the future of the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh.
The UK Government appreciates the historical and cultural importance of this remarkable building. However, as culture is a devolved matter, any further funding campaign would need to be led by the Scottish Government.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings the Scotland Office had with the Scottish Government on the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland Bill) prior to the Section 35 order being invoked.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK Government raised a number of concerns relating to the impact of the Scottish Government’s proposals with the Scottish Government, in advance of the legislation passing in the Scottish Parliament. UK government officials engaged with their Scottish counterparts through the Bill’s passage. The Minister for Women and Equalities wrote to and met with the Cabinet Secretary while the Bill was still in the Scottish Parliament, outlining her concerns with the GRR Bill as it stood. It is now for the Scottish Government to bring forward a bill that addresses the adverse effects as set out in the Statement of Reasons. The Scotland Act 1998 specifically provides for a reconsideration stage in the Scottish Parliament for these circumstances.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether the Government has received written amendments from the Scottish Government on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Bill; and what discussions the Government has had with the Scottish Government on devolved legislative competence in relation to that Bill..
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Following the Supreme Court judgement, I confirmed to the Deputy First Minister John Swinney that my officials, and those in the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland, were ready to engage further in relation to the work by the Scottish Government on amendments to bring their Bill within the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament.
UKG officials have been looking at Scottish Government proposals which are intended to comply with the judgement.
It has always been the responsibility of the Scottish Government to determine how they will comply with the requirements of the Supreme Court judgement. The Scottish Government have yet to formally set out how they plan to proceed.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps his Department is taking to support workers at the Dawnfresh site in Uddingston who are waiting to receive support from the Redundancy Payment Scheme.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
My office engages regularly with other Government Departments at official and Ministerial level.
Jobcentre Plus, working with Skills Development Scotland’s ‘Partnership Action for Continuing Employment’, has deployed their Rapid Response Service to the Dawnfresh site at Uddingston. This is to give access to Jobcentre Plus’ services to those affected, ensuring full support, by both of Scotland’s Governments, is available to all those affected.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether the UK Government's Warm Homes Discount will continue to apply in full to individuals and organisations in Scotland after 31 March 2022.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government has committed to extending the Warm Home Discount to at least 2025-2026 and expanding the scheme spending envelope from the current £350 million to £475 million (in 2020 prices) per year. This will enable us to provide around 3 million rebates each winter across Great Britain, which is an increase of a third compared to the current scheme.
We have consulted on apportioning a fair amount of the overall £475 million annual funding to Scotland for a Warm Home Discount scheme in Scotland from the 2022-2023 scheme year. We are agreeing a position with the Scottish Government on the future scheme and any scheme in Scotland would be consulted on.
Should the UK Government implement a scheme for Scotland, our intention would be to have consulted and have Regulations in place in advance of the summer Parliamentary recess.
The current scheme is continuing to operate across Great Britain for the year 2021-2022.
Asked by: Ian Murray (Labour - Edinburgh South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 10 January 2022 to Question 100496, if his Department will publish a list of all independent Managing Authorities responsible for making payments to organisations supported by Interreg in Scotland.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
A table is provided which outlines each Managing Authority supporting ongoing Interreg projects in Scotland, organised according to the select Interreg programmes that the UK Government has oversight on.
Managing Authorities (MAs) are responsible for the day-to-day delivery of Interreg, or European Territorial Cohesion, programmes. MAs are normally local or regional authorities based in one of the countries participating in the programme. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has insight on the programmes listed in the first column.