Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham Edgbaston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what evidence his Department submitted to the Office for National Statistics' review of the ethnicity harmonised standard, including in relation to the recording of Sikhs and Jewish people as ethnic groups.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. All staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment for other Government departments, who remain the employers.
As information relating to the demographics of staff is held by the employing departments, the Scotland Office is not able to provide evidence into the review of the ethnicity harmonised standard.
Correspondence Mar. 18 2026
Committee: Scottish Affairs Committee (Department: Scotland Office)Attendance statistics Mar. 18 2026
Committee: Scottish Affairs Committee (Department: Scotland Office)Written Evidence Mar. 18 2026
Inquiry: GB Energy and the net zero transitionOral Evidence Mar. 18 2026
Inquiry: Securing Scotland’s Future: Defence Skills and JobsAsked by: John Hayes (Conservative - South Holland and The Deepings)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many staff within his Department are reliant on a visa for employment.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The Scotland Office has the information that you have requested. However, if a request is made for information and the total figure amounts to five people or fewer, the Scotland Office must consider whether this could lead to the identification of individuals and whether disclosure of this information would be in breach of our statutory obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation and/or the Data Protection Act 2018.
We believe that the release of this information would risk identification of the individual/s concerned. For this reason, the Scotland Office has chosen not to provide the information requested. However, it should not be assumed that the actual figure represented falls at any particular point within this scale; 'five or fewer' is used as a replacement value from which it would be difficult to isolate or extract any individual data.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, with reference to page 92 of the Strategic Defence Review, how many meetings officials from their Department have attended on the national conversation on defence and security; which directorate in their Department is responsible for the departmental contribution to that national conversation; and what the job title is of the official responsible.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The conversation on National Defence was a recommendation in the 2025 Strategic Defence Review (SDR), which the Government accepted. The MOD is the lead department for delivering the SDR, with support from the Cabinet Office, and particularly from the National Security Secretariat.
This will be a multi-year, cross-departmental effort designed to deliver on the whole-of-society approach to national security and defence allowing Government, the private sector and public to play their part in strengthening the UK’s resilience to any potential future shocks. This work addresses the risks and threats the UK faces, including those below and above the threshold of an armed attack.
The Scotland Office is actively supporting this by working closely with the MOD, as well as on the development of a Defence Growth Deal in Scotland and wider engagement with industry, local authorities and academia to support jobs, investment, and skills development in Scotland’s defence sector.
Asked by: Katrina Murray (Labour - Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on financial support for listed places of worship in Scotland unable to access the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
Whilst heritage policy is a devolved matter, we recognise the importance of places of worship to Scotland’s communities. Scotland Office Ministers have had a number of discussions with Scottish Government Ministers covering a range of topics. Additionally, Ministers from both Scotland Office and Department for Culture, Media & Sport Ministers are due to discuss this matter with officials from the Church of Scotland in the coming weeks.
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 policy paper entitled UK Government Resilience Action Plan, published on 14 July 2025, how many meetings have been attended by civil servants within their Department in relation to the Home Defence Programme; which directorate in the Department owns the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme; and what the job title is of the civil servant leading and cohering the Departmental contribution to the Home Defence Programme.
Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)
The Resilience Action Plan sets out the Government’s strategic approach to how we will strengthen our domestic resilience and invest to protect the nation. Scotland Office officials regularly attend meetings to discuss the implementation of the Resilience Action Plan as well as matters of national security and defence.
The Scotland Office is actively contributing to this work and is working closely with other UK Government Departments to ensure effective delivery in Scotland, as well as coordination with the Scottish Government where responsibilities for resilience are devolved.