Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on trends in the cost of living in Scotland.
Answered by Lord Jack of Courance
Supporting households and the most vulnerable by tackling cost of living pressures remains a core priority for this government. That is why the UK Government has introduced a £108 billion package of support over 2022-25, worth an average £3,800 per household, to mitigate against these pressures. We are also making good progress against the Prime Minister’s three economic priorities of halving inflation, getting the economy growing and reducing the national debt. Inflation is now at 3.2 percent - less than half its recent peak, and is expected to fall further to its 2 percent target one year earlier than expected.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, by what date they expect their Department to be carbon neutral in its day to day operations.
Answered by Lord Jack of Courance
The Government is committed to delivering Net Zero by 2050.
Central Government reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2019-20 compared to a 2009-10 baseline, exceeding its target of 43%.
The Greening Government Commitments set out the actions that UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment, including targets for departmental reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, with current targets for the period 2021-25. The Scotland Office is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions wherever possible.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which energy provider supplies energy to their Department; how much carbon dioxide was emitted by their Department in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria their Department uses to select an energy supplier include how environmentally friendly that supplier is; and what recent steps their Department has taken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its energy use.
Answered by Lord Jack of Courance
The Scotland Office is committed to reducing emissions and energy consumption wherever possible, as part of the UK’s transition to net zero. The government monitors and reports on its greenhouse gas emissions - information on this is published in the Greening Government Commitments Annual Report.
Crown Commercial Service (CCS) operates a centralised energy procurement strategy for central government and is responsible for selecting the gas and power supply companies on behalf of all departments. CCS is currently conducting its latest tender round on behalf of departments and the supplier environmental credentials will be part of the selection criteria.
Information on steps taken to reduce emissions can be found in the Scotland Office Annual Report.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment they have made of the potential (a) threats and (b) opportunities of artificial intelligence in respect of their Department’s responsibilities.
Answered by Lord Jack of Courance
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland has made no assessment of artificial intelligence in respect of its responsibilities.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, to what extent their Department makes use of artificial intelligence in the implementation of its policies; and how much was spent from their Department’s budget on artificial intelligence in each of the last three years.
Answered by Lord Jack of Courance
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland does not use artificial intelligence in the implementation of its policies and has not incurred any such expenditure.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what proportion of the vehicles used by his Department on Government business are electric vehicles.
Answered by Lord Jack of Courance
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland does not own or lease government vehicles. When required, the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland uses vehicles provided by the Government Car Service.