Stephen Gethins

1. The number of civil servants on a full-time equivalent basis reported as in post as at 31 March 2024 and based in Queen Elizabeth House is 2,760.

2. The number of civil servants based in Scotland on a full-time equivalent basis as at 31 March 2024 is 51,830. This information is published annually as part of Civil Service Statistics 2025 and available through the Civil Service data browser at the following web address:

https://civil-service-statistics.jdac.service.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/

We are committed to strengthening cyber security across the UK’s Critical National Infrastructure (CNI), and all aspects of the Government digital estate.

The Government works closely with CNI operators in both the private and public sector to ensure resilience and preparedness to cyber threats, working to better understand and manage cyber risk, and minimise the impact of cyber incidents when they occur. As well as work to develop a more sophisticated understanding of cyber risk across UK CNI, the Government is focussed on ensuring that CNI operators are prepared to respond to and recover from incidents through better planning and regular exercising.

The King's Speech in July 2024 set out the Government’s intention to bring forward a Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which will strengthen the UK’s cyber defences, and ensure that critical infrastructure and the digital services that companies rely on are secure.

To enhance the cyber resilience of public institutions, the Government Cyber Security Strategy has set a clear target for all government organisations to be resilient to known vulnerabilities and common attack methods by 2030.

The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) came into operation on 1 April 2024 and has a budget of almost £1bn for Financial Year 2024/25. Exact spend for the Fund will be published in the 2024/25 ISF Annual Report later in the year. The annual ISF budget for 2025-26 will be published shortly.

The Integrated Security Fund (ISF) came into operation on 1 April 2024 and has a budget of almost £1bn for Financial Year 2024-25.  The Fund prioritises spending on those geographies and thematic issues that pose the greatest direct threat to the UK. Activity focussed on conflict prevention, resolution and peacebuilding are embedded into programmes across the ISF. However, these are not tracked as individual or separate components. The annual ISF budget for 2025-26 will be published shortly.

Government values the contribution that legal migration makes to the UK, not least to important sectors of the Scottish economy such as hospitality.

While there has been no specific assessment, there were around 226,000 people working in hospitality in Scotland at the end of last year, which is a 6% increase from December 2019 - a month before the UK left the EU.

As part of the Plan for Change, we’re determined to bring net migration down and restore control and order to the immigration system, and it is good to see the hospitality industry employing more people domestically.

The current migration route for employing individuals into the construction industry is through Skilled Worker Visas.

DBT and industry has worked with the Home Office (HO) to provide clearer guidance to construction employers on the Sponsor Licence process. The construction industry also worked with Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to add in-demand construction occupations to the Shortage Occupation List.

Following publication of the Immigration White Paper DBT is working with the HO and the MAC to feed into priority occupations that should be considered for the Temporary Shortage List while building investment in the training of the domestic workforce.

The EU is a significant trading partner for both goods and services, but it is clear that the current deal is not working well enough. In the 12 months ending September 2024, the UK’s total trade with the EU was 5% below the level seen in 2018, after removing the effect of inflation and excluding precious metals. We will continue to work with our European friends to improve the UK’s trade and investment relationship with the EU, tearing down unnecessary barriers to trade to help drive growth.

The Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU) is comprised of experts in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The FCDO advises DBT on the situation in country and the risks this poses with respect to the UK's export control responsibilities. The MOD advises DBT on the risks of diversion of exported goods and national security risks arising from hostile state activity. As the decision-making authority for all export licensing decisions DBT takes advice from both Departments and is in daily contact with them where necessary to ensure that process happens as quickly as possible.

Exporters are advised in the first instance to contact the ECJU Licensing Unit, as they will be able to provide further updates on the progress of their applications and comment on any specific cases they would like to raise.

The processing of all export licence applications to Ukraine is being prioritised by ECJU. Within that process, applications for the export of equipment organised between the UK Government and the government of Ukraine through Ministry of Defence procurement mechanisms are given the highest priority.

As with all export licence applications, assessments are made on a case-by-case basis according to the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Assessments for Ukraine, given the situation within the country and the nature of the goods often being exported, mean these cases are some of the most complex for ECJU to process. Therefore, some can take longer to process than our public targets (to conclude 70% of standard individual export licence (SIEL) applications within 20 working days and 99% within 60 working days).

The volume of live applications changes daily, but the Government release statistics on export licensing decisions and processing times regularly and these can be broken down by end destination. The most recent statistics cover the period April to June 2024 and were published on 12 December. In that period, 36 (72%) SIELs for Ukraine were responded to within 20 working days and 45 (90%) were responded to within 60 working days.

I met the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Trustees in April and am due to meet them again shortly. Officials have recently received the analysis we jointly commissioned from the Government Actuary’s Department and will now use that to inform our consideration of the Trustees’ proposals.

The Government takes the security and resilience of UK energy infrastructure extremely seriously, including the cyber security of its critical infrastructure and maintaining a secure energy supply is a key priority for the UK Government.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and security agencies engage regularly with critical industry stakeholders via industry forums and threat briefings to ensure threats to energy infrastructure are understood and appropriate mitigations are established.

From 2018-2025, the UK Space Agency (UKSA) will have enabled and invested ~£126 million in Scotland through national programmes and European Space Agency (ESA) funding, including funding to establish launch services, co-funding for Space Scotland, and funding via the Space Cluster Infrastructure Fund to expand access to key engineering infrastructure.

The UKSA supports the UK sector in bidding for ESA contracts through initiatives including ESA 101 courses and Bid Writing Workshops. Over 1,000 individuals from 558 different organisations have signed up to take part, equipping them with skills to enhance their ESA bidding success.

The UK Space Agency Education and Future Workforce programme aims to build and strengthen a diverse workforce. This includes formal and informal educational activities, as well as specific support for developing a skilled workforce. Development programmes include the Space Placements in Industry internship programme, where 119 students were placed in UK space organisations in Summer 2024, alongside scholarship funding and the £2.1m Training Programmes Fund to address known skills gaps in the sector.

In July 2023, the Department for Education launched the Level 6 space degree apprenticeship, developed by a trailblazer group of space industry experts and building on the Level 4 space engineering technician apprenticeship launched in August 2020.

We fully recognise the scale of challenges facing professionals wishing to tour in Europe. Many have concluded it is simply not economically viable or logistically possible to tour in Europe. That denies European audiences the opportunity to hear British artists and it denies artists a chance to build their career. That is why we have pledged to do everything we can to help our touring artists.

We are already working collaboratively with the live music sector to address these key issues for our brilliant musicians, artists and their support staff and are engaging with the EU and EU Member States, with a view to improving arrangements for touring across the European continent without seeing a return to free movement. This is a priority for the whole ministerial team, the department and the government.

Since the UK’s departure from the EU, DCMS hase closely monitored the sector's adaptation, particularly regarding touring. This Government is working closely with the music industry, and with guidance and support to help artists and professionals navigate the challenges that have emerged.

We will engage with the EU and EU Member States, and explore how best to improve arrangements for touring across the European continent without seeing a return to free movement. Our priority remains ensuring that UK artists can continue to thrive on the global stage, including in the EU.

The department does not hold or publish the requested data, as this data is owned by the European Commission.

We have not held discussions with the EU on future access arrangements but have signalled willingness to listen to their proposals.

The Climate Change Act 2008 requires the Secretary of State to produce a National Adaptation Programme in response to the Government’s most recent Climate Change Risk Assessment, on a five-yearly cycle. The third National Adaptation Programme, published in July 2023, includes actions to address climate change risks to businesses through a combination of investment in resilience measures to tackle flooding and coastal erosion risks, evidence gathering (including annual business survey questions), business engagement and nature-based solutions. The Climate Change Committee provides a biennial assessment of progress in adapting to climate change. The next progress report, assessing the actions taken under the third National Adaptation Programme, is due in 2025. Alongside delivering the third National Adaptation Programme, Defra is committed to further strengthening this government's approach to climate resilience and will bring forward plans in due course.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given on 4 December 2024, UIN 15757. Although the Trade and Cooperation Agreement allows zero tariffs and zero quota trade, leaving the EU single market and customs union had an impact on the export of agri-food products, as have other changes in trade policy such as new Free Trade Agreements with other countries, and global shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Agri-food trade with the EU has fallen since 2018 in real terms (after adjusting for trade inflation) by 20% (exports) and 11% (imports). However, there is difficulty separating out the impact of the UK leaving the EU from those other factors. The majority of UK agri-food exports were still to EU countries in 2023, 57% (£14 billion).

We are working to reset our relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to UK-EU trade. We will seek to negotiate a veterinary/sanitary and phytosanitary agreement to boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers in the UK and the EU. We have been clear that our trading relationship can be improved but we are not rejoining the single market or customs union, and we will not return to freedom of movement.

This Government cares deeply about the trading relationship with the European Union; The Withdrawal Agreement, including the Windsor Framework, and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) underpin relations between the UK and the EU. Although the TCA allows zero tariffs and zero quota trade, leaving the EU Single Market and Customs Union had an impact on the export of agri-food products, as have other changes in trade policy such as new Free Trade Agreements with other countries, and global shocks such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

We are working to reset our relationship with our European friends to strengthen ties and tackle barriers to UK-EU trade. We will seek to negotiate a veterinary/SPS agreement to boost trade and deliver benefits to businesses and consumers in the UK and the EU. We have been clear that our trading relationship can be improved but we are not rejoining the single market or customs union, and we will not return to freedom of movement.

The Government is committed to protecting human health and the environment. We are currently considering the best approach to chemicals regulation in the UK.