Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what recent assessment he has made of the potential impact of UK trade agreements on Scottish agriculture.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Our trade programme is opening new opportunities for Scottish agrifood. Our FTA with India is expected to grow Scotland’s GVA by around £190 million, underpinned by significant new market access for Scotch whisky, which will in turn support primary agricultural producers in Scotland. Our FTA with the Gulf Cooperation Council will give Scottish agrifood exports a competitive advantage in a net agricultural importing region. This will see the removal of tariffs on Scottish strengths including salmon, baked goods, and confectionary. We continue to seek further opportunities, such as in negotiations with Turkey where, for example, salmon currently faces tariffs of up to 64%.
Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of United States tariffs on Scottish whisky exports.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
On 30 April, following successful UK Government engagement and the State Visit, President Trump announced the removal of tariffs on UK produced whisky. Whisky tariffs were lifted on 24th July.
This has been welcomed by industry and is an important win for the Scotch Whisky sector which exports around £1 billion each year to the US.
Discussions on the UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal are ongoing. The UK continues to engage with the US Administration at all levels, working to benefit exporters from across the UK, including through Secretary of State holding calls last month with US counterparts, Ambassador Greer and Secretary Lutnick.
Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what recent discussions he has held with EU counterparts on reducing trade barriers affecting Scottish exporters.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Government is committed to supporting UK businesses trading with the European Union. We are working to reduce barriers to trade with our closest partner and biggest export market to help deliver growth in every postcode, including those in Scotland.
Ministers have had constructive conversations with counterparts in the European Commission and EU Member States since taking office in summer. There has also been technical engagement at official level, and good progress on agrifood trade and other negotiations since the 2025 UK-EU Summit.
Ministers and officials will continue to engage with EU counterparts, particularly ahead of the next UK-EU Summit.
Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, how many Scottish Ayrshire businesses have received export support from his Department during the last financial year.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In the financial year 2025/26, the Department supported 36 businesses in Ayrshire, Scotland.
The figure includes businesses that engaged with the Department through a range of support activities, including attendance at Department-led events, participation in Business Academy live sessions, viewing on-demand content, and direct one-to-one engagement with department representatives.
Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of export growth among Scottish food and drink producers.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
In 2025, Scotland exported £7.0 billion worth of food and drink; this was over a quarter (27%) of total UK food and drink exports.
The value of food and drink exports from Scotland has risen 48% in current prices over the last decade (2015-2025), but fallen slightly (1.6%) compared to 2024.
The volume of food and drink exports from Scotland has remained broadly unchanged over the last decade; at 1.7 million tonnes in 2025, up 3% from 2015 and down 3% from 2024.
UK trade data is collected by HMRC at the UK level and allocated to UK nations and regions by linking to the Inter-Departmental Business Register (IDBR) and then apportioning by employment count data.
Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what steps he has taken to increase the exports of Scotch Whisky, including to the US and India.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Scotch whisky is one of the UK’s largest drink export sectors, and the Government is working to remove market access barriers and support exporters. Through the UK-India Free Trade Agreement, tariffs on Scotch whisky were reduced from 150% to 75% when the agreement entered into force on 15 July and fall to 40% over the next 10 years. On 24 July, the US removed tariffs on UK-produced whisky following successful negotiations by the UK Government. This supports a sector that exports around £1billion of whisky to the US each year.
Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what assessment he has made of Scotland's contribution to the UK's AI sector.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Scotland is a key contributor to the UK’s AI ecosystem. According to BIST’s AI sector study in 2024, Scotland was responsible for almost 2,000 AI jobs, as well as £180 million of AI-related revenues.
Scotland is also the focus of significant AI infrastructure investments, including a new £750 million national supercomputer hosted in the University of Edinburgh’s Advanced Computing Facility and £300 million of investment in the Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone.
Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what support his Department provides for AI start-ups based in Scotland.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
The Government's support for AI start-ups is UK wide, and we are determined that the benefits of AI are felt in every part of the country. Through our Sovereign AI Unit, backed by up to £500 million, we invest directly in high-potential British start-ups. We give start-ups access to compute through the AI Research Resource and provide grants through Innovate UK's £130 million Growth Catalyst.
Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, what discussions he has had with Scottish universities on support for their commercial spin outs.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Government regularly engages with universities, investors and innovative firms across the UK, including Scotland, on research commercialisation and university spin-outs. Scottish universities make a significant contribution to the UK's spin-out ecosystem and wider innovation economy, producing 12% of UK university spin-outs since 2011, demonstrating the strength of Scotland’s innovation ecosystem.
Government is investing over £1.5 billion through UK Research and Innovation to support spin-outs and research translation. This will build on the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Review of University Spin-outs, increase in proof-of-concept funding, as well as a new Venture Doctorates programme and Enterprise Fellowships to help commercialise researchers' ideas.
Asked by: Alan Gemmell (Labour - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps his Department is taking to support businesses in Ayrshire in accessing opportunities from free trade deals.
Answered by Blair McDougall - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade) (Jointly with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Free trade agreements are central to our plan for growth, helping UK businesses to compete and succeed in global markets. Through FTAs, businesses can benefit from tariff reductions, improved market access, and enhanced protections in investment and digital trade.
That’s why the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) is ensuring that UK businesses, including those in Ayrshire, have the tools, knowledge and support they need to seize these growth opportunities.
DBT delivers a dedicated FTA utilisation programme to raise awareness and help firms understand key provisions and opportunities through practical and informative guides with more information available online at business.gov.uk.