Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department has held recent discussions with the Scottish Government on a Section 104 order to bring relevant components of the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 into force.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
Scotland Office and Scottish Government officials meet regularly to discuss Scotland Act Orders. My officials have engaged Scottish Government officials to discuss a proposed Section 104 order under the Scotland Act 1998 in consequence of the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 and will continue to liaise with their counterparts on the matter.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to paragraph 88 of the UK Government Resilience Action Plan, how many meetings Ministers in their Department have attended related to the Home Defence Programme.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The Secretary of State for Scotland has regular discussions with officials, external experts and ministerial colleagues on a range of national security, defence and resilience issues.
The Home Defence Programme was established in August 2024 to provide defence, security and resilience planning, focused on aligning military and civil effort in the event of a period of crisis and international hostilities affecting the UK. It is informed by and reflects the recommendations from government strategies, including the Strategic Defence Review, National Security Strategy and Resilience Action Plan.
The Scotland Office is actively supporting this by working closely with other UK Government Departments to ensure effective delivery in Scotland and coordination with the Scottish Government where responsibilities for resilience are devolved.
Asked by: Katrina Murray (Labour - Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has made representations to the Scottish Government on support for listed places of worship in Scotland, including Sacred Heart Parish Church in Cumbernauld, that have been unable to access equivalent funding to that available in England.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
We want to see Scotland's building and cultural heritage protected for future generations. Whilst heritage policy is a devolved matter, both Scotland Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport Ministers are due to discuss this matter with officials from the Church of Scotland in the coming weeks.
Asked by: Claire Coutinho (Conservative - East Surrey)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether (a) his Department and (b) the arms length bodies sponsored by his Department are compliant with the Supreme Court ruling in the case of For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers [2025].
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The Government has set out our expectation that all duty bearers, including Departments and arms length bodies, follow the law as clarified by the Supreme Court ruling and seek specialist legal advice where necessary. The Prime Minister has underlined this recently.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has submitted a draft Code of Practice on services, public functions and associations to Ministers, and the Government is reviewing it with the care it deserves. This will provide further guidance to duty bearers.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what was the total expenditure on press and communications, including staffing costs, for financial year 2024/5, and for 2026 for the office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The total expenditure on press and communications, including staffing costs, for financial year 2024/25 was £1.944m.
Departmental spend on communications staff for financial year 2024-25 was £1.744m, including all on-costs such as pension contributions, national insurance and VAT.
The total Communications budget for the financial year 2025-26 is £1.949m.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what was the expenditure on paid-for social media advertising and promotion, such as on Facebook and X for financial year 2024/5 and the budget for 2026 for the office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
In the financial year 2024-25, the total amount spent on social media advertising and promotion was £2,806.
The social media marketing budget for the financial year 2025-26 was £10,000.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what was the expenditure on advertising for financial year 2024/5 and what is the budget for 2026 for the office of the Secretary of State for Scotland.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The Department has spent the following on advertising:
Financial Year | Advertising £’000 |
2024-25 | 50, 277.07 |
Please note, budgets for financial year 2026-27 will be agreed at the beginning of the next financial year.
Asked by: Graham Leadbitter (Scottish National Party - Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether Ministers receive guidance on referring to devolved issues in the Chamber.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
Ministers are supported by officials to participate in proceedings in accordance with the established practices of the House of Commons.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, (a) how many policy staff job posts there are in his Department and (b) what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The Scotland Office has 30 policy posts which are spread across the following salary bands:
Salary Band | Number of Posts |
SCS1 | 2 |
Grade 6 | 3 |
Grade 7 | 7 |
Senior Executive Officer | 9 |
Higher Executive Officer | 9 |
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote the National Year of Reading in Scotland.
Answered by Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The National Year of Reading is a UK-wide campaign to address the steep decline in reading enjoyment amongst children, young people and adults. For example, only last month our delivery partner for this campaign, the National Literacy Trust, revealed that fewer than 1 in 10 teenage boys read daily for pleasure.
The National Year of Reading aims to engage new audiences, reshape public attitudes and embed lasting, meaningful change on attitudes to reading. It includes a major marketing campaign as well as exciting events, webinars, resources, and activities in communities, libraries, schools and early years settings throughout 2026.
Let me emphasise that this is a UK-wide campaign, and we are working in collaboration with the Scottish Government and DC Thomson, The Scottish Book Trust and The Scottish Book and Information Council to deliver this important initiative in Scotland.