Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department spent on equipment for civil servants to work from home in each of the last three years.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

The Scotland Office does not employ staff directly. However, contractual homeworking is a type of flexible working arrangement where an employee and the department agree to change the employee’s designated place of work to their home address. The Civil Service position on contractual home working agreements is that these are not routinely approved other than for a very small number of relevant roles, or where a workplace adjustment is agreed in respect of a disability under the Equality Act or occasionally as a redundancy mitigation. Civil servants are expected to spend at least 60 percent of their time in the office or on official business, which can include conducting site visits or meeting stakeholders.

The Scotland Office is required by The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 to ensure that workstation users, including those who work from home, perform a suitable and sufficient analysis of their workstation. Before purchasing equipment, users must complete mandatory health and safety training, a homeworking checklist, a Display Screen Equipment self-assessment, and obtain line manager approval.

The Scotland Office spent:

● £110.45 in Financial Year 2022/23;

● £742.85 in Financial Year 2023/24;

● £0 in Financial Year 2024/25.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many staff in his Department have permission to work remotely outside the UK; and in which countries those staff are based.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

The Scotland Office has no staff working remotely from a non-UK location.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing specific (a) Sikh and (b) Jewish options for a person’s ethnic group in data collection conducted by his Department.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

The Scotland Office does not hold information in relation to the ethnicity of staff.

All staff that join the Scotland Office, do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other Government bodies, principally the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government, who remain the employers. All information in relation to protected characteristics, including the ethnicity of staff is held and managed by the employing departments.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he is taking steps to increase the number of apprenticeships within 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. The Scotland Office considers the use of apprenticeships for all relevant recruitment campaigns.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of border control posts in Scotland on levels of trade between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)

I know the Honourable Member will share my firm desire not to see borders erected between the different nations of our United Kingdom.

We have been clear that there will be no border control posts at Cairnryan.

The UK Government is unequivocal in its commitment to ensuring unfettered access for Northern Ireland’s goods to the rest of the UK internal market and in coming weeks, as I advised the House at a previous Scottish oral questions, I will be meeting with NIO counterparts in coming weeks to discuss what more we can do to promote Scotland-NI trade.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Government's policies on child poverty on children in Scotland.

Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)

The Honourable Member will be aware of recent announcements about Best Start Family Hubs, free school meals and affordable childcare - actions made possible because of a budget he and his colleagues voted against.

A key way to tackle poverty is through decent work which is why I'm proud that more than 4,000 workers in Dundee got a pay rise through this government’s plans to Make Work Pay. The Child Poverty Taskforce is considering all available levers to give every child the best start in life as part of the strategy.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the Government’s clean energy mission on Scotland.

Answered by Kirsty McNeill - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Scotland Office)

The Secretary of State and I are proud proponents of the government’s Clean Energy mission and this government is taking real action - whether that’s providing the £8.5 billion of funding for Aberdeen-based GB Energy, supporting our world leading workforce through the Energy Skills Passport, or providing £200 million towards delivering the Acorn project - crucial in our bid to decarbonise Scotland’s future.

That’s mission delivery in action.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on trends in the level of tourism in Scotland.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

As a former small business owner myself, I have first hand experience and determination for ensuring Scotland’s small businesses thrive. Tourism is crucial not only for the economy, but for supporting local communities and promoting Scotland’s unique culture and natural beauty.

Through our Brand Scotland campaign, the Scotland Office is promoting Scotland as a premier destination for both business and leisure.

I am always eager to discuss matters important to Scotland, and have committed to meeting with VisitScotland as early as my diary permits.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to employer National Insurance contributions on businesses in Scotland.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

Properly funding public services and restoring economic stability required difficult decisions, which is why we are asking employers to contribute more.

Stabilising the public finances is the only way to create long-term stability businesses need to thrive.

We are protecting the smallest businesses by more than doubling the Employment Allowance to £10,500, meaning more than half of small businesses will either gain or be unaffected.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what proportion of (a) UK-flagged and (b) EU member state-flagged fishing vessels were subject to port inspections in in Scotland in the last 12 months.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

The regulation and oversight of port inspections in Scotland predominantly fall within the remit of the Scottish Government. As such, the Scotland Office does not hold the specific information requested. I recommend contacting the Scottish Government for further details on this matter.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether funding will be made available to devolved Governments under the Barnett formula from the NHS England Ten Year Plan.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

The UK Government announced last month that the Scottish Government will receive an extra £9.1 billion in funding following the Chancellor's Spending Review. This includes £5.8 billion in health-related Barnett consequentials.

Funding for devolved health services in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland is determined independently through the Barnett formula. While the UK Government’s NHS England Ten Year Plan does not directly allocate funds to devolved Governments, the Barnett formula ensures that funding remains consistent with respective devolved budgets.

The devolved Governments retain responsibility for the management and delivery of health services within their jurisdictions.

Question to the Scotland Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what proportion of procurement contracts were awarded to UK companies in the 2024-25 financial year.

Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland

The Scotland Office did not award any procurement contracts in 2024-25.

The Scotland Office is a small Ministerial Department which, other than for minor or bespoke purchases, does not normally undertake direct procurement.

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