Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many times he has met the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to discuss the promotion of Scottish interests internationally; and what joint work they have agreed on such promotion.
Answered by David Mundell
I congratulate the Foreign Secretary on his appointment and look forward to discussing these and other matters regularly with him.
Our Departments work to promote Scottish interests internationally through overseas visits as well as key campaigns including GREAT and Global Britain.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what overseas visits he has (a) been on since the beginning of 2018 and (b) planned for the rest of 2018 to promote the interests of (i) Scotland and (ii) Scottish trade.
Answered by David Mundell
I visited Hong Kong and Japan in February and plan to visit New Zealand at the end of July. We will continue to look for further overseas visit opportunities in 2018 to promote the interests of Scotland and Scottish Trade.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of automation on jobs in Scotland.
Answered by David Mundell
Automation is one of the global trends which will transform our future, changing jobs and businesses across the country, and we want people to be able to capitalise on these opportunities.
Addressing this, Artificial Intelligence and data is one of the first 4 Grand Challenges set out in our Industrial Strategy to put the UK at the forefront of the industries of the future, ensuring that we take advantage of major global changes, improving people’s lives and the country’s productivity.
Embedding AI across the UK will create thousands of good quality jobs and drive economic growth in all four nations. By one estimate, AI could add £232bn to the UK economy by 2030.
The Life Sciences sector is a particular strength for Scotland, where there are over 400 health life sciences sites, with 15,000 jobs generating £3.2bn in turnover. The Artificial Intelligence and data mission under the Grand Challenge will transform the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases by 2030, and give opportunities for collaboration between the third sector, academia and industry to harness the power of AI and data technologies, building on the £210 million of funding announced for the Data to Early Diagnostics and Precision Medicine Industrial Strategy Fund.
Industrial development and Life Sciences are devolved responsibilities, but we have committed in the Life Sciences Sector Deal to a regional approach to implementing the Life Sciences Industrial Strategy, by working closely with the devolved administrations and cluster organisations.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the support available to Scotland’s agriculture, food and farming sectors to ensure that all business transactions and procedures remain consistent after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Mundell
I have frequent discussions with Cabinet colleagues covering all sectors of the economy, constructively feeding into the regular talks this Government has been having with the EU on the future framework, outlining our positions on a wide range of topics covering the future security partnership and the future economic partnership.
We are working on delivering for Scotland across the board. On agriculture, food, and farming, the Agriculture Bill will deliver on our manifesto commitment to provide stability for farmers as we exit the EU. On manufacturing and construction, we are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world. On Financial Services, we will be seeking a bold and ambitious free trade agreement of greater scope and ambition than any such agreement before it, so that it covers sectors crucial to our linked economies. On life sciences, we are seeking a comprehensive system of mutual recognition to ensure that, as now, pharmaceutical products and medical devices only need to undergo one series of approvals in one country.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the support available to Scotland’s manufacturing and construction sectors to ensure that all business transactions and procedures remain consistent after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Mundell
I have frequent discussions with Cabinet colleagues covering all sectors of the economy, constructively feeding into the regular talks this Government has been having with the EU on the future framework, outlining our positions on a wide range of topics covering the future security partnership and the future economic partnership.
We are working on delivering for Scotland across the board. On agriculture, food, and farming, the Agriculture Bill will deliver on our manifesto commitment to provide stability for farmers as we exit the EU. On manufacturing and construction, we are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world. On Financial Services, we will be seeking a bold and ambitious free trade agreement of greater scope and ambition than any such agreement before it, so that it covers sectors crucial to our linked economies. On life sciences, we are seeking a comprehensive system of mutual recognition to ensure that, as now, pharmaceutical products and medical devices only need to undergo one series of approvals in one country.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the support available to Scotland’s banking and financial sectors to ensure that all business transactions and procedures remain consistent after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Mundell
I have frequent discussions with Cabinet colleagues covering all sectors of the economy, constructively feeding into the regular talks this Government has been having with the EU on the future framework, outlining our positions on a wide range of topics covering the future security partnership and the future economic partnership.
We are working on delivering for Scotland across the board. On agriculture, food, and farming, the Agriculture Bill will deliver on our manifesto commitment to provide stability for farmers as we exit the EU. On manufacturing and construction, we are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world. On Financial Services, we will be seeking a bold and ambitious free trade agreement of greater scope and ambition than any such agreement before it, so that it covers sectors crucial to our linked economies. On life sciences, we are seeking a comprehensive system of mutual recognition to ensure that, as now, pharmaceutical products and medical devices only need to undergo one series of approvals in one country.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the support available to Scotland’s life sciences sector to ensure that all business transactions and procedures remain consistent after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Mundell
I have frequent discussions with Cabinet colleagues covering all sectors of the economy, constructively feeding into the regular talks this Government has been having with the EU on the future framework, outlining our positions on a wide range of topics covering the future security partnership and the future economic partnership.
We are working on delivering for Scotland across the board. On agriculture, food, and farming, the Agriculture Bill will deliver on our manifesto commitment to provide stability for farmers as we exit the EU. On manufacturing and construction, we are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world. On Financial Services, we will be seeking a bold and ambitious free trade agreement of greater scope and ambition than any such agreement before it, so that it covers sectors crucial to our linked economies. On life sciences, we are seeking a comprehensive system of mutual recognition to ensure that, as now, pharmaceutical products and medical devices only need to undergo one series of approvals in one country.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has discussions with food bank service providers in Scotland in the last twelve months; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Mundell
I commend the work undertaken by foodbanks across the UK. I meet with stakeholders to discuss a wide range of issues including food poverty in Scotland.
Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had discussions with the Secretary of State for International Trade on extending existing fur import bans to cover all species exploited by the fur trade; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by David Mundell
I speak with the Secretary of State for International Trade regularly on a range of issues. Existing EU regulations mean that some skin and fur products may never be legally imported into the UK for commercial use. These include cat and dog fur and products as well as seal skins and products from commercial hunts. Regulations banning the import of these furs will remain in force after the UK has left the EU, as these will be converted into UK domestic law through the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.Asked by: Lesley Laird (Labour - Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of Airbus in relation to that companies investment decisions in the UK after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by David Mundell
My Department and others continue to have discussions with Airbus and other sector leaders. Airbus is an important business to the UK economy and the Scottish economy. We will continue to have discussions with them to ensure that their voices are heard and that their views are taken into consideration.