Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the local economy in Angus constituency of (a) spending and (b) investment by (i) his Department and (ii) the armed forces since 2015.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Ministry of Defence's (MOD) over-riding priority is to provide national security for the UK as a whole and its extensive regional footprint exists to provide UK national security.
Spending or investment decisions are appraised on the basis of costs and benefits to UK society overall irrespective of the location of the expenditure, as required by HM Treasury Green Book.
The department does not routinely undertake assessments of the effect of national spending or investment decisions on local economies.
MOD Regional Expenditure with UK Industry and Commerce and Supported Employment is published at the Government Office Regional level as a National Statistic at the following link:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/774871/Finance_and_economics_annual_statistical_bulletin_201718.pdf
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of (a) trends in the level of investment in the Scotch Whisky industry and (b) the effect of that investment on the UK economy in the last five years.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Scotland's Whisky industry plays a vital role in both the UK and Scottish economy.
The Scotch Whisky industry invested more than £500 million in capital projects over the last five years and for every £100 of added value the industry produces, another £45 is generated in the broader economy. Overall, this industry is estimated to have contributed £5.5 billion to the UK economy in GVA in 2018. This is a 10% increase when compared to the industry's GVA in 2016.
The industry continues to support 42,000 jobs across the UK. This includes 10,500 directly in Scotland, and 7,000 in rural communities. Globally, a record high of over £4.7 billion of Scotch Whisky was exported in 2018 to around 180 countries.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the contribution of the Scotch Whisky industry to tourism in the UK.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotch Whisky industry is strategically important to the economy of Scotland.
As a result of continued industry investments, Scotch Whisky tourism saw record numbers of visitors in 2018. Over 2 million tourists from over 20 different countries visited Scotch Whisky distilleries for the first time. Also, spending at visitor centres was up by 12.2% to £68.3m - additional £7.4m compared with 2017, and 154% more than in 2010.
Collectively, Scotch Whisky distilleries remain the third most visited attraction in Scotland.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Scottish Government on the Scottish Government's targets relating to the ending of biodegradable municipal waste being sent to landfill by 2021.
Answered by George Eustice
It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of funding from all rounds of the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund has been allocated to projects in Scotland; and how much private investment has been committed to those projects.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The UK Research Partnership Investment Fund is a competitive research capital programme to support strategic research and development collaborations between universities, businesses and charities. It is managed by Research England, working with counterparts from devolved funding bodies, and only supports large scale infrastructure projects which are built on demonstrable research excellence, value for money, and can generate at least double in private co-investment.
Since 2012 over £900m of science and research capital has been committed from the Fund to 54 projects which have secured an initial commitment of over £2bn in private investment. No projects were awarded to universities in Scotland from the latest round. In the first 5 rounds, £58.98m was committed to 5 projects in Scotland which collectively secured over £121m of private co-investment. This represents 6.5% of total funding allocated and 5.5% of the initial private co-investment.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of the latest round of funding from the UK Research Partnership Investment Fund will be allocated to projects in Scotland; and how much private investment will be leveraged for those projects.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
The UK Research Partnership Investment Fund is a competitive research capital programme to support strategic research and development collaborations between universities, businesses and charities. It is managed by Research England, working with counterparts from devolved funding bodies, and only supports large scale infrastructure projects which are built on demonstrable research excellence, value for money, and can generate at least double in private co-investment.
Since 2012 over £900m of science and research capital has been committed from the Fund to 54 projects which have secured an initial commitment of over £2bn in private investment. No projects were awarded to universities in Scotland from the latest round. In the first 5 rounds, £58.98m was committed to 5 projects in Scotland which collectively secured over £121m of private co-investment. This represents 6.5% of total funding allocated and 5.5% of the initial private co-investment.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what support is being provided to businesses in Angus to access new foreign markets and increase export volumes.
Answered by Graham Stuart
The Department for International Trade provides support to companies in Angus, Scotland and the rest of the UK through key programmes including the GREAT campaign, sector specific export initiatives, assistance for exporters in 108 overseas markets and the financial assistance to exporters offered by UK Export Finance. We are committed to seeking continuity in current trade and investment relationships, including those covered by EU third country Free Trade Agreements and other EU preferential arrangements.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the locations are of the Emergency Service Network sites that are planned to be deployed in Angus; when those masts will become operational; and which of those sites will enable mobile network operators other than EE to make use of those new sites.
Answered by Nick Hurd
The new Emergency Services Network (ESN) is the next-generation critical communications system that allows the police, fire and rescue and ambulance services to operate safely, collaborate and innovate. ESN represents value for money for the taxpayer through delivering steady state savings of over £200m pa compared to Airwave.
There will be a total of 13 sites as part of new ESN in Angus. EE have already activated 1 site which is near the village of Farnell, south of Brechin.
The remaining 12 sites are being built by the Home Office led Extended Area Service (EAS) Programme and the details you have requested can be seen in the table below. The Programme is currently agreeing terms with EE in regards activation of all EAS sites.
*Passive build means that the site is completed but not yet activated. The Home Office is currently unable to give timeframes for activation.
| Location - Nearest Town/Village | Site Progress Status | Structure Type | Sharable to Multiple Operators | Passive Build Complete Forecast* |
| Rottal, Glenclover | In build | Shareable Lattice Tower | Yes | Sep-19 |
| Glen Esk | Planning approved. Waiting legal completion | Shareable Lattice Tower | Yes | Mar-20 |
| Tarfside, Glen Esk | Site Feasibility Carried Out | 3rd Party Tower | Not known | Jul-20 |
| Glen Lethnot | Site Feasibility Carried Out | 3rd Party Tower | Not known | Jul-20 |
| Glen Prosen | Planning approved. Waiting legal completion | Shareable Lattice Tower | Yes | Mar-20 |
| Glen Prosen/Dykehead | Legally complete. Start on site Q3 2019 | Shareable Lattice Tower | Yes | Nov-19 |
| Tarfside, Glen Esk | Planning approved. Waiting legal completion | Shareable Lattice Tower | Yes | Mar-20 |
| Edzell | Passive build complete forecast 31st July 2019 | Shareable Lattice Tower | Yes | Jul-19 |
| Blackwater Resevoir | Passive build complete forecast 31st July 2019 | Shareable Lattice Tower | Yes | Jul-19 |
| Craigiemeg | Legally complete. Start on site Q3 2019 | Shareable Lattice Tower | Yes | Nov-19 |
| Folda | Agreeing terms with Site Provider | Shareable Lattice Tower | Yes | Sep-20 |
| Balintore | Site Feasibility Carried Out | 3rd Party Tower | Not known | Jul-20 |
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what support is available from the UK Government for devolved regions to regenerate former industrial sites.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
The Government has devolved over £9 billion to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) in England between 2015 and 2021. LEPs are investing that money according to their individual priorities.
BEIS has supported businesses through the BEIS Energy Innovation Programme providing funding. For example BEIS allocated £500,000 to Kite Power Solutions in Glasgow to develop a high altitude wind power generating system that uses kites to capture wind energy, and up to £750,000 to redT Energy for their flow battery technology cost reduction programme in Livingston.
Through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), the Government has allocated £1.7bn to ISCF challenges over two waves of investment. Funding from the ISCF has supported technologies and future industries which benefit a number of devolved regions. For example £36 million was given to the ABC in Swansea to support the construction sector and £13 million was given to Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Scotland for the pharma industry
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Angus receive universal credit.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
As of May 2019 at a Local Authority level there were 4,400 people on UC (at the constituency level it is 3,835)
The latest available information on the number of people on Universal Credit by parliamentary constituency and local authority is published and can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/
Guidance on how to extract the information required can be found at:
https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html