Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Department for International Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what her Department's policy is on ratifying the Convention on the International Sale of Goods 1980.
Answered by Ranil Jayawardena
I refer the Hon. Lady for Paisley and Renfrewshire South to the answer I gave her on 20th November 2020 (UIN: 114241).
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the planned budget is of the (a) Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland, (b) Union Unit and (c) Union Taskforce for 2021-22.
Answered by Steve Barclay - Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The planned budget of the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland and Office of the Advocate General for 2021-22 is £11.43m.
There is no information available on any specific business unit as HM Treasury does not make decisions on individual business areas within Departments.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much (a) his Department, (b) the Union Unit, and (c) the Union Taskforce spent on communications including staffing costs in each financial year since 2010-11; and how much is budgeted for that purpose for each of those groups for 2021-22.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office’s annual expenditure is recorded under the ‘Statement of Operating Costs by Operating Segment’ in the Annual Report and Accounts which are publically available online at www.gov.uk/scotland.
The Office does not hold information on budget allocations for 2021/22 at this time.
The Office does not hold figures for the cost of the Union Unit or Union Taskforce.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much (a) his Department, (b) the Union Unit, and (c) the Union Taskforce spent on advertising in each financial year since 2010-11; and how much is budgeted for that purpose for each of those groups for 2021-22.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office keeps financial information for seven financial years, so available information only extends to 2013-14.
The Office’s annual expenditure on all advertising, including paid-for promotion on digital platforms including social media promotion, and paid-for listings in search results was as follows:
Financial Year | Social Media Promotion | Paid-for listings in search results | Total expenditure on advertising |
2013-2014 | Nil | Nil | Nil |
2014-2015 | Nil | Nil | Nil |
2015-2016 | £371 | Nil | £371 |
2016-2017 | £15,956 | Nil | £15,956 |
2017-2018 | £22,829 | £1,647 | £24,476 |
2018-2019 | £46,217 | £11,829 | £58,046 |
2019-2020 | £36,704 | Nil | £36,704 |
The Office does not hold information on budget allocations for 2021/22 at this time.
The Office does not hold figures for the Union Unit or Union Taskforce.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much (a) his Department, (b) the Union Unit, and (c) the Union Taskforce spent on paid-for social media advertising and promotion in each financial year since 2010-11; and how much is budgeted for that purpose for each of those groups for 2021-22.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office keeps financial information for seven financial years, so available information only extends to 2013-14.
The Office’s annual expenditure on all advertising, including paid-for promotion on digital platforms including social media promotion, and paid-for listings in search results was as follows:
Financial Year | Social Media Promotion | Paid-for listings in search results | Total expenditure on advertising |
2013-2014 | Nil | Nil | Nil |
2014-2015 | Nil | Nil | Nil |
2015-2016 | £371 | Nil | £371 |
2016-2017 | £15,956 | Nil | £15,956 |
2017-2018 | £22,829 | £1,647 | £24,476 |
2018-2019 | £46,217 | £11,829 | £58,046 |
2019-2020 | £36,704 | Nil | £36,704 |
The Office does not hold information on budget allocations for 2021/22 at this time.
The Office does not hold figures for the Union Unit or Union Taskforce.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much (a) his Department, (b) the Union Unit, and (c) the Union Taskforce spent on paid-for listing in search results in each financial year since 2010-11; and how much is budgeted for that purpose for each of those groups for 2021-22.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office keeps financial information for seven financial years, so available information only extends to 2013-14.
The Office’s annual expenditure on all advertising, including paid-for promotion on digital platforms including social media promotion, and paid-for listings in search results was as follows:
Financial Year | Social Media Promotion | Paid-for listings in search results | Total expenditure on advertising |
2013-2014 | Nil | Nil | Nil |
2014-2015 | Nil | Nil | Nil |
2015-2016 | £371 | Nil | £371 |
2016-2017 | £15,956 | Nil | £15,956 |
2017-2018 | £22,829 | £1,647 | £24,476 |
2018-2019 | £46,217 | £11,829 | £58,046 |
2019-2020 | £36,704 | Nil | £36,704 |
The Office does not hold information on budget allocations for 2021/22 at this time.
The Office does not hold figures for the Union Unit or Union Taskforce.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many and what proportion of people employed in his Department in each financial year since 2008-09 were press and communications employees.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The total number of staff working at the Office is recorded in the Annual Report and Accounts, which are available online at www.gov.uk/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.
Along with media handling, the operating model requires communications divisions to deliver the following functions: campaigns and marketing, digital communications, internal communications, strategic communications, stakeholder engagement and external affairs - including ministerial visits, events, committee meetings, and activities.
The Office does not hold staff records for team-level staffing prior to 2009/10.
The number of staff working at the Office to deliver communications functions, including visits and events, on 31 March in each financial year since 2009/10 is as follows:
Financial Year | Office communications staff |
2009-2010 | 6 |
2010-2011 | 8 |
2011-2012 | 6 |
2012-2013 | 8 |
2013-2014 | 8 |
2014-2015 | 9 |
2015-2016 | 11 |
2016-2017 | 15 |
2017-2018 | 14 |
2018-2019 | 15 |
2019-2020 | 17 |
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many and what proportion of people employed in the Union Unit or Union Taskforce in each financial year since 2018-19 were press and communications employees.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office does not hold figures for the Union Unit or Union Taskforce.
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will publish copies of audience targeting information used by his Department for (a) advertising, (b) campaign and (c) promotional purposes in the last 12 months.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The audience targeting information used by the Office over the last 12 months is as follows:
Asked by: Mhairi Black (Scottish National Party - Paisley and Renfrewshire South)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what his policy is on Article 11(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure people in developing countries have access to clean water.
Answered by Wendy Morton
The UK has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which includes Article 11(1) on the right to a standard of living. The UK recognises that Article 11 implies rights to water and sanitation. The UK has gone further to work with other countries on water and sanitation related human rights. At the 2020 session of the UN Human Rights Council, held from 14 September to 7 October, the UK joined with other UN Member countries in adopting the latest resolution on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation. This resolution was successfully adopted.
The FCDO is taking steps to ensure that people in developing countries have access to water, sanitation and hygiene. Since 2015, UK Aid funded programmes have reached over 60 million people with access to clean water or sanitation, and we continue to work in this area, not least in the context of the COVID-19 response and recovery.