Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential (a) implications for his policies and (b) impact for UK security of the Scottish Government’s Defence Sector Support Policy, set out to the Scottish Parliament on 3 September 2025.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
Defence, national security, foreign affairs and export licensing are reserved matters, and keeping the British people safe is our number one priority. The UK Government continues to assess and manage risks to UK security through established cross-government processes such as the National Risk Register.
The Scottish Government's defence sector support policy will affect Scotland’s expanding defence industry by restricting support to many companies. It is the responsibility of the Scottish Government to explain its position, including how the policy will impact jobs, skills and investment in Scotland.
In the meantime, my department continues to work with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to support the industry and the highly skilled jobs and investment that it generates. This includes progressing the development of the Defence Growth Deal in Scotland, in line with the UK’s growth, defence and security priorities.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of visits abroad by Scottish Government Ministers on UK trade policy.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Hon Gentleman, not the Scottish Government, can be assured that it is the UK Government that has delivered trade deals with India, the United States, the European Union. As the former trade policy Minister, I have some experience in these matters.
In every negotiation there is give and take. The President does not give gifts, he does deals and the negotiating counterpart of the United States is the United Kingdom.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions his Department had with the Scottish Government on the planned visits of the Scottish Government's (a) Minister for Business and Employment to China and Japan in April 2025 and (b) Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care to Japan in June 2025.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Scotland Office, in coordination with the FCDO, regularly engages with the Scottish Government to discuss and coordinate overseas ministerial visits. This ongoing engagement ensures alignment with UK foreign policy objectives. Discussions of this nature took place in relation to the planned visits mentioned by the Hon. Member.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many permanent civil servants in his Department are staff without assigned posts; and how many are placed in an equivalent (a) people action team, (b) priority movers list, (c) redeployment register, (d) talent pool and (e) skills match hub in the most recent period for which data is available.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Scotland Office has no permanent civil servants without assigned posts and no staff are placed in the referenced categories.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much (a) his Department and (b) its Arm’s Length Body has spent on external public relations since 5 July 2024; and which firms that funding went to.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The Scotland Office and associated Arm’s Length Bodies has a nil spend on external public relations since 5 July 2024.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2024 to Question 20496 on Scotland Office: Media, which contractors were used for the spending on media training; and which Ministers received the training.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
Media training in the Scotland Office has been provided by Morrison Media. Both the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State and I have received such training.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much their Department spent on (a) media and (b) voice training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The Scotland Office has spent £5,416.25 (excluding VAT) on media training for Ministers since 5 July 2024.
Asked by: John Cooper (Conservative - Dumfries and Galloway)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent progress his Department has made with the Scottish Government on upgrading the A75.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The previous Government publicly committed to providing £8m in development funding to complete a detailed feasibility study for specific upgrades to the A75 and to fund targeted improvements identified by the study, subject to the Scottish Government’s business cases at various stages throughout the process. We recognise the importance of this project to communities in Southwest Scotland and remain in regular contact with DFT on it.