Asked by: Andrew Bowie (Conservative - West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to StandWithUs' report entitled StandWithUs UK Report: Voice of Students 2024/25 Report, published in May 2025, if he will have discussions with vice chancellors of universities in Scotland on antisemitism on campuses.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office and I meet regularly with Scottish universities on a wide range of issues and this Government utterly condemns antisemitism in the strongest possible terms. We are committed to ensuring a safe learning environment for all students while upholding freedom of speech and academic freedom on campus.
Asked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to increase the number of apprenticeship starts in his Department.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
We remain committed to supporting the use of apprenticeships across the civil service to break down barriers to opportunity. This includes initiatives like supporting the Government’s commitment to 2,000 digital apprenticeships through its TechTrack scheme by 2030 to improve digital skills and drive improvements and efficiency in public services.
Additionally, there is a new cross-Government Level 3 apprenticeship programme in Business Administration, the ‘Civil Service Career Launch Apprenticeship’ (CLA), which will see new apprentices kickstart their careers, across various departments, starting from January 2026.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether a government representative will visit Scotland for St. Andrew’s Day on 30 November 2025.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
There are 37 Government MPs representing Scottish Constituencies. On Sunday 30 November, many will be in their homes and constituencies in Scotland engaged in a variety of activities to mark the day.
Asked by: Harriet Cross (Conservative - Gordon and Buchan)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) officials from his Department attended New York's Tartan Week in (i) 2023, (ii) 2024 and (iii) 2025.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
Tartan Week in New York is the most significant annual event celebrating Scottish-US links across business and culture. This year, the Scotland Office engaged in a significantly expanded programme of business and investor engagement in New York, focusing on economic growth in Scotland.
Given the success of the Scotland Office’s participation in 2023 and 2024, which I saw first hand in my previous capacity as the Shadow Secretary of State, our goal was to expand our footprint in 2025 and take full advantage of the opportunities available in New York to grow Scotland’s economy. This was subsequently enabled by HMT’s decision to approve the Scotland Office’s Brand Scotland Business Case. This programme, a manifesto commitment announced at Autumn Budget 2024, provides the Scotland Office with a specific budget to expand its international trade and business engagement and take steps across the world to secure economic growth.
In New York, Scotland Office officials and I attended a total of 16 events over three days-most of which were planned and delivered by the Scotland Office under the Brand Scotland programme and fully paid for from the Brand Scotland budget. The US is Scotland’s second largest trading partner, playing a vital role in driving our economic growth. Strengthening this relationship will boost exports in key sectors such as food and drink, renewable energy, technology, and financial services - bringing high quality jobs, and delivering long-term benefits for communities across Scotland.
In 2023, one Minister, one Special Adviser and four Officials from the Scotland Office attended New York Tartan Week. In 2024, one Minister, no Special Advisers and five Officials attended. In 2025, one Minister, two special advisers and five officials attended.
The total costs of flights and accommodation for the Scotland Office’s ministerial delegation to New York Tartan Week in 2023 was £13,803.60, in 2024 it was £5,704.54 and in 2025 it was £17,710.11.
Local subsistence costs for each individual member of each respective delegation are not included. The time it would take to retrieve this information for 2023 and 2024 exceeds the time available to answer the Honourable Member’s questions.
Asked by: Harriet Cross (Conservative - Gordon and Buchan)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what the total cost to his Department was for sending a delegation to New York's Tartan Week in (a) 2023, (b) 2024 and (c) 2025.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
Tartan Week in New York is the most significant annual event celebrating Scottish-US links across business and culture. This year, the Scotland Office engaged in a significantly expanded programme of business and investor engagement in New York, focusing on economic growth in Scotland.
Given the success of the Scotland Office’s participation in 2023 and 2024, which I saw first hand in my previous capacity as the Shadow Secretary of State, our goal was to expand our footprint in 2025 and take full advantage of the opportunities available in New York to grow Scotland’s economy. This was subsequently enabled by HMT’s decision to approve the Scotland Office’s Brand Scotland Business Case. This programme, a manifesto commitment announced at Autumn Budget 2024, provides the Scotland Office with a specific budget to expand its international trade and business engagement and take steps across the world to secure economic growth.
In New York, Scotland Office officials and I attended a total of 16 events over three days-most of which were planned and delivered by the Scotland Office under the Brand Scotland programme and fully paid for from the Brand Scotland budget. The US is Scotland’s second largest trading partner, playing a vital role in driving our economic growth. Strengthening this relationship will boost exports in key sectors such as food and drink, renewable energy, technology, and financial services - bringing high quality jobs, and delivering long-term benefits for communities across Scotland.
In 2023, one Minister, one Special Adviser and four Officials from the Scotland Office attended New York Tartan Week. In 2024, one Minister, no Special Advisers and five Officials attended. In 2025, one Minister, two special advisers and five officials attended.
The total costs of flights and accommodation for the Scotland Office’s ministerial delegation to New York Tartan Week in 2023 was £13,803.60, in 2024 it was £5,704.54 and in 2025 it was £17,710.11.
Local subsistence costs for each individual member of each respective delegation are not included. The time it would take to retrieve this information for 2023 and 2024 exceeds the time available to answer the Honourable Member’s questions.
Asked by: Kirsty Blackman (Scottish National Party - Aberdeen North)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many (a) press, (b) media and (c) other communications posts there are in his Department; and what the salary band is for each post.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
In the Scotland Office communications team, there are a total of 16 Full Time Equivalent Government Communication Service professionals.
Of this total, 5 work in the media discipline which covers press and media responsibilities.
Asked by: Graeme Downie (Labour - Dunfermline and Dollar)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he last met with Scottish Power to discuss the future of the former generating station at Longannet.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
I am in contact with Scottish Power on a range of issues relating to the UK’s transition to Net Zero. I last met with them in March, at a stakeholder forum hosted by my department, where the topic of clean energy jobs was discussed. The representative from Scottish Power did not raise the future of the former generating station at Longannet but my door is always open to the energy sector in Scotland.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to help strengthen links between Scotland and Malawi.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
I recently hosted a Scotland-Malawi Partnership delegation as part of the wider events marking six decades of Malawian independence. The roundtable looked at ways of strengthening the already deep relationship between Scotland and Malawi.
As you will know, the UK Government remains committed to creating a world free from poverty on a liveable planet, working in partnership with international partners such as Malawi to support their development. As the UK transitions to an Official Development Assistance budget of 0.3 per cent of gross national income globally, we will continue to prioritise aid effectiveness and targeting assistance where it can have the greatest impact.
One of my priorities is promoting Scotland on the global stage. This includes supporting more Scottish businesses to export and attract inward investment.
The Scotland Office is looking at a potential trade mission to Southern Africa within the next two years where we can highlight the positive role Scottish industry can play in driving both economic growth at home and development overseas.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to paragraph 2.28 of the Office of Budget Responsibility's publication entitled Economic and fiscal outlook, published in October 2024, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the change in overall trade intensity on Scotland.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
In its latest economic outlook, the OBR expects the level of overall exports to recover in 2025 and return to growth over the period 2026 to 2029. The European Union is an important trade partner for the UK, with total trade in goods and services of £813 billion in 2024.
A closer, more co-operative relationship with the EU is in the UK’s national interests and the Prime Minister and President of the European Commission have agreed to strengthen the relationship between the UK and EU.
The UK-EU Summit on 19 May will provide an opportunity to make further progress on areas which will deliver tangible benefits working with the EU to identify areas where we can strengthen cooperation for mutual benefit, such as trade and the economy.
Asked by: Ben Obese-Jecty (Conservative - Huntingdon)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many (a) phones, (b) laptops and (c) other electronic devices have been lost by their Department since 5 July 2024.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
No phones, laptops, or other electronic devices have been reported lost in the Scotland Office since 5 July 2024.