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 discussions his Department has had with the Cabinet Office on his Department having a civil service presence in Scotland.
Answered by Kelly Tolhurst
BEIS already has a presence in Scotland. Through the core department and 7 of its partner organisations, BEIS has a presence of over 800 people, based primarily in Edinburgh (459), Glasgow (223) and Aberdeen (120), with smaller numbers in other locations.
Last November, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster wrote to all Secretaries of State setting out the importance of the Government's commitment to relocate both public bodies and Civil Service roles into the regions and nations of the United Kingdom. To support this, the Places for Growth Programme are increasing their engagement with departments in the run up to the Spending Review and are drawing on advice and support from colleagues across Whitehall, including the BEIS Industrial Strategy Team.
For information – further detail on locations of BEIS and its partner organisations
The table below sets out these organisations (correct as of August 2018):
Organisation | Location | Headcount |
BEIS – Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment & Decommissioning (OPRED) | Aberdeen | 89 |
OFGEM | Glasgow | 131 |
UK Research & Innovation | Multiple | Edinburgh – 354 Glasgow – 3 Perth – 1 Dumfries - 1 Total - 359 |
Met Office | Multiple | Aberdeen – 31 Edinburgh – 29 Nairn and Moray – 12 Shetland – 5 Dumfries and Galloway – 3 Total - 84 |
ACAS | Glasgow | 89 |
Insolvency Service | Edinburgh | 44 |
Companies House | Edinburgh | 32 |
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) | Multiple | Caithness and Sutherland - 3 Ross and Cromarty – 2 Total - 5 |
Grand Total |
| 833 |
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made on promoting and increasing apprenticeships in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Angus.
Answered by Anne Milton
Apprenticeship policy is devolved to Scotland, and any measures to promote apprenticeships there are a matter for the Scottish government.
In England, we want to increase the number of high-quality apprenticeships. In January we launched a major new communication campaign, ‘Fire it Up’, which seeks to change the way people think about apprenticeships and demonstrate that they are an aspirational choice for anyone with passion and energy.
National Apprenticeship week, which took place 4-8 March this year, is an annual opportunity to celebrate apprenticeships and their impact on individuals, employers, and the economy. This year’s theme, ‘Blaze a Trail’, was inspired by the Fire it Up campaign and featured in over 1250 events across the country to encourage everyone to recognise the change that apprenticeships can bring. Over 1900 features and articles appeared during the week, in media outlets as diverse as BBC Breakfast, Cosmopolitan, and the Financial Times.
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 steps his Department is taking to ensure that the industrial strategy supports (a) manufacturers of agricultural machinery, (b) textiles and (c) small-scale engineering.
Answered by Lord Harrington of Watford
The Government’s Industrial Strategy supports manufacturing across many sectors in a number of ways through business support, skills and R&D.
Through Business Support:
Through developing Skills:
Through supporting R&D:
We are open to having discussions with all sectors of business and industry to discuss how we can support them and would welcome the engagement from manufacturers of agricultural machinery, textile industry and small-scale engineering firms.
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, how many Potential Pilot Operators responded to the request for information for the pilot Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme.
Answered by George Eustice
Defra received eight responses to the Seasonal Workers Pilot Request for Information.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress has he made on the Local Full Fibre Networks Programme in rural locations throughout Scotland.
Answered by Margot James
The Local Full Fibre Networks (LFFN) Programme has the following Scottish projects and potential projects:
LFFN Wave 2 Challenge Fund
Highland Council are planning to use the SWAN Framework to implement a gigabit fibre network to 152 public buildings in Inverness, Fort William, Thurso and Wick - awarded £4.3m BDUK Funding. This project is in preparation stage for the 'Ready to Procure' Assurance Gate.
LFFN Wave 3 Challenge Fund
Shetland Council have successfully passed the LFFN Investment Panel stage and are working on the final Business case to go through Assurance Gate A and if approved will be issued with a letter of offer for £2m BDUK Funding
Tay Cities combined authority are in the dialogue stage regarding a potential LFFN project in their area.
Renfrewshire Council are at the pre-dialogue stage regarding a potential LFFN project in their area
Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme
To the end of September 2018 across Scotland, there have been 87 gigabit vouchers connected (value £243,953). A report up to the end of December 2018 will be released early in February
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions his Department has had with stakeholders on the Tay Cities Deal.
Answered by David Mundell
Since the Tay Cities Heads of Terms were signed on 22 November my officials have met with local partners on a number of occasions to progress the Tay Cites Deal. My officials will continue to engage at a pace set by the local partners.
A further meeting is planned for 5 February with Angus Council to hold further detailed discussions on the conditions of the ring-fenced fund for Angus.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department is having with the devolved Administrations on government support for high street businesses.
Answered by Mel Stride - Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
At Budget 2018, the Government announced a £675 million Future High Streets Fund to support local areas in England in developing and funding plans to make high streets fit for the future. Alongside this, the UK Government announced a business rates discount of one third for small retailers in England for two years from April 2019. As high streets funding and business rates are devolved, the Barnett formula has been applied to both in the normal way, and it is for the Devolved Administrations to decide how to use this additional funding.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that disabled people have suitable transport access when seeking employment opportunities.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The Government is committed to ensuring that disabled people have the same access to transport and opportunities to seek employment as everyone else. In July 2018 the Government launched the Inclusive Transport Strategy (ITS) which sets out key policy and investment priorities to deliver an inclusive transport system.
Access to Work is a publicly funded employment support programme that aims to help more disabled people start, or stay in, work. It can provide practical and financial support for people who have a disability or long term physical or mental health condition. The scheme is demand-led and offers a discretionary grant, administered by Jobcentre Plus (JCP). Support for disabled workers can include travel to work and travel within work as well as specialised aids, equipment and support workers.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department’s work to ensure that women are not held back in the workplace.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
Every woman in the UK must have the support needed to fulfil her potential. This government is making this a reality by shining light on inequality through gender pay gap reporting, Returners programmes, Shared Parental Leave and flexible working.
We have invested £4 million in our two gender equality research programmes, the Workplace and Gender Equality Research Programme (WAGE) and the Gender and Behavioural Insights Programme (GABI), which are providing employers with the evidence they need about what works to create a more equal workplace.
The gender pay gap nationally is the lowest on record at 17.9%, but there is a way to go and we are committed to supporting this change.
Asked by: Kirstene Hair (Conservative - Angus)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to provide further support for veterans with mental health issues.
Answered by Jackie Doyle-Price
In England, the National Health Service has announced that an extra £10 million will be invested into a new NHS dedicated crisis service that will expand the current bespoke veteran mental health services and provide intensive support to veterans battling alcohol, drugs and mental health problems, capturing those individuals nearing crisis.
The extra funding will also enable a roll out of veteran-friendly general practitioner surgeries and hospitals as part of efforts to make sure those who have served their country get specialist help they deserve in every part of the health service.