Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the whisky industry.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
I am in regular contact with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues of importance to Scotland’s whisky industry.
Scotland’s whisky industry continues to go from strength to strength at home and abroad, and Scotch whisky is the UK’s premier food and drink export. I want Scottish producers to take full advantage of the new trade deals the UK Government is striking around the world.
In this vein, earlier this month I visited Vietnam, a key growth market for Scotch whisky, where along with representatives from the Scotch Whisky Association, I hosted a whisky reception for key business leaders in Hanoi.
Asked by: Kenny MacAskill (Alba Party - East Lothian)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had recent discussions with (a) the Scottish Government or (b) representatives instructed to act on behalf of the Scottish Government on the role of the Lord Advocate and potential changes to the Scotland Act.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
I have had no discussions with either the Scottish Government or representatives acting on behalf of the Scottish Government in regards to the role of Lord Advocate and potential changes to the Scotland Act.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much their Department spent on equality and diversity training in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office did not spend anything on equality and diversity training in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much the Boundary Commission for Scotland spent on equality and diversity training in the 2022-23 financial year.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Boundary Commission of Scotland has responsibility for its staff, who are employed by the Scottish Government and assigned to the Commission, within the terms of Scottish Government policies and processes. Training for staff is accessed through the Scottish Government, including on diversity and equality. Boundary Commission for Scotland therefore incurred no expenditure on such training in the 2022-23 financial year.
Asked by: Julie Elliott (Labour - Sunderland Central)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on how many occasions (a) he and (b) the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland visited a (i) Government Hub and (ii) ministerial office outside London in (A) 2022 and (B) 2023.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The information requested is not centrally collated and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Angela Crawley (Scottish National Party - Lanark and Hamilton East)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the UK's withdrawal from the EU on trends in the level of Scottish (a) imports and (b) exports.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs’ regional trade statistics show that in the year ending March 2023, the overall value of UK trade in goods increased by 18% for exports and by 24% for imports, compared with the previous year.
Compared with the year ending March 2022, Scotland’s goods exports to EU countries were worth £22bn (up £4.3bn, or 24%) in March 2023, whilst Scotland’s goods imports from EU countries were worth £12bn (up £3.3bn, or 38%) in March 2023, resulting in a surplus of £10bn.
Since the fourth quarter of 2020, the value of EU exports from Scotland has consistently exceeded the value of non-EU exports.
Asked by: Wendy Chamberlain (Liberal Democrat - North East Fife)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) has been found within their Department's estate.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
For now, the focus is on bringing together the information we hold about the Government estate into one place. This work is being coordinated by the Office for Government Property. Survey work is underway.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what has been the average time taken to respond to public inquiries by his Department in each of the last five years; and whether he plans to introduce measures to improve this.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office has not held policy responsibility for any public inquiries for the past 5 years.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what data their Department holds on the average response time to written parliamentary questions in the last six months; and what assessment they have made of the adequacy of that response time.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions.
There are three types of Written Parliamentary Question. The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work sets out the timelines departments should seek to meet.
This can be found here:
Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available.
You can find details of the last session's PQ performance here:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmproced/385/report.html
This year's data will be published by the Procedure Committee when the session concludes.
The Scotland Office make every effort to reply to Written Parliamentary Questions within original deadlines by ensuring strict internal deadlines are in place, regular guidance is issued to all staff and monthly corporate reporting.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps their Department is taking to improve response times to written parliamentary questions.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government attaches great importance to the effective and timely handling of Written Parliamentary Questions.
There are three types of Written Parliamentary Question. The Cabinet Office’s Guide to Parliamentary Work sets out the timelines departments should seek to meet.
This can be found here:
Departmental performance on Written Parliamentary Questions is published at the end of each session by the Procedure Committee and is therefore publicly available.
You can find details of the last session's PQ performance here:
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmproced/385/report.html
This year's data will be published by the Procedure Committee when the session concludes.
The Scotland Office make every effort to reply to Written Parliamentary Questions within original deadlines by ensuring strict internal deadlines are in place, regular guidance is issued to all staff and monthly corporate reporting.