Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what progress has been made in the building of new business units in Coldstream as part of the Borderlands Growth Deal.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
We are continuing to work at pace with the Borderlands partners to agree project business cases. Business Infrastructure falls within the Scottish Government investment in Borderlands. However, I can advise that progress is being made between SG and partners and it is anticipated that the Coldstream business infrastructure project could draw down Deal funding in 2022/23.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what comparative assessment he has made of the impact on the Scottish economy of Scotland having (a) one and (b) two freeports.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Freeports will create hubs of global trade, support thousands of jobs, regenerate communities and turbocharge Britain’s post-Brexit growth, and is all part of the UK Government’s commitment to boost economic activity, levelling up towns, cities and regions across the UK.
The UK Government remains committed to establishing its freeport programme in Scotland as soon as possible and are confident our model embraces the highest employment and environmental standards.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government to encourage a UK-wide covid-19 vaccine certification mobile app.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
I discuss a wide range of issues relating to the Coronavirus pandemic with both Cabinet colleagues and Scottish Government Ministers on a regular basis.
When domestic certification was first identified as a potential strategy to support the Covid-19 response, and in order to respond to other States' requirements for international travel, there were a number of discussions, both at Ministerial and official level with all of the devolved administrations to look at both the possibility of a UK-wide certification solution, but also should this not be feasible to ensure technical interoperability between individual certification solutions where necessary.
As public health is a devolved matter, the Scottish Government decided to develop its own vaccine certification mobile app, and to require its use in certain settings within Scotland. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has promoted the Scottish Government's app with governments internationally so that it is recognised at international borders.
The UK Government Secretary of State for Health and his officials in DHSC and NHSx (which leads on digital health) continue to have weekly discussions with all of the devolved administrations to ensure alignment and interoperability on all elements of the Covid response.
Should the UK Government decide to introduce domestic certification, we will continue to work with the devolved administrations to ensure interoperability, so that no citizen is impacted adversely when they travel across the UK.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the levels of co-operation of (a) the Scottish Government and (b) Transport Scotland in providing technical data to the Union Connectivity Review.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Since the independent Union Connectivity Review (UCR) began in November 2020 it has published a call for evidence, which attracted 145 responses and has led sector specific roundtables with around 100 organisations. The UCR did not receive a submission from the Scottish Government or Transport Scotland. Sir Peter Hendy, who is leading the review, has spoken to Ministers in the Scottish and Welsh Governments and the Northern Ireland Executive.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to increase local engagement with the Union Connectivity Review.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
Reviewing connections between the nations will be critical as we look to recover the economy from the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, I welcomed the announcement from the Prime Minister of the Union Connectivity Review, which is being led by Sir Peter Hendy, Chairman of Network Rail, and I look forward to seeing the interim report that is due to be published later this month.
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland has worked closely with the Department for Transport on the Union Connectivity Review and has engaged with a number of stakeholders covering a range of industries across the United Kingdom on this.
The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Scotland, Minister Stewart, also wrote to all Local Authorities in Scotland, recommending they submit their suggestions for the review into the Call for Evidence that was held in December.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what staffing resource has been provided by the UK Government to Food Standards Scotland since the end of the transition period.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK Government, through the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), have provided two locum vets to Food Standards Scotland (FSS) from 1 February 2021 as requested by FSS. The UK Government has provided all the resource which FSS have requested and will continue to work closely with FSS should any more requests be made.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what covid-19 testing sites have been made available in the Scottish Borders since the beginning of the outbreak; and how long those sites have been operational.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK Government has worked with the Scottish Government to ensure that support is there to significantly increase testing capacity in Scotland to respond to Covid-19 in addition to NHS Scotland’s own capacity. This has included funding six drive through centres, 20 mobile testing units, 22 walk in sites and support for mass testing with one million lateral flow test kits so far.
In the Scottish Borders, there has been a Mobile Testing Unit operating in the area since May 2020 where it regularly visits Galashiels and previously Hawick.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what progress has been made in moving civil servants to Queen Elizabeth House in Edinburgh.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
As the new home of UK Government in Scotland, Queen Elizabeth House will house 3,000 civil servants representing a broad range of UK Government activity. Further details will be announced in due course.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he will take to fast track the Borderlands Growth Deal to ensure it can help the area recover from the economic effects of the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
We are continuing to work at pace with the Borderlands partners to agree project business cases. Good progress has been made on a number of business cases including the Dairy Nexus project and the regeneration of Chapelcross and we hope to sign the Borderlands Full Deal agreement before the end of 2020.
Asked by: John Lamont (Conservative - Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of recent trade missions in promoting Scottish exports.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
In 2018- 2019, DIT organised 88 Ministerial visits to 49 export markets, to strengthen trading relationships, promote the UK as a destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and help grow demand for UK exports. A number of Ministerial Trade Dialogues were also held, including with China, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Taiwan, Turkey and Vietnam.
Additionally, the Prime Minister’s 33 Trade Envoys undertook 55 overseas visits in 2018-19 to 42 different markets, supporting the Government’s overall strategy to drive economic growth.
The benefits of DIT’s activities in this sphere reach across the whole of the UK, including for Scottish businesses. HMRC estimated that over 6,700 businesses exported their goods from Scotland in the first quarter of 2019 - more than ever before. Recent work has also resulted in breaking down trade barriers for British businesses in Japan, following successful work by DIT to lift the ban on British beef and lamb.