Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether his (a) Department and (b) the Electoral Commission has made an estimate of the cost of holding a referendum on Scottish independence in 2020.
Answered by Chloe Smith
Scotland had an independence referendum in 2014. It was legal, fair and decisive and people in Scotland voted by a significant margin to remain part of the UK. The UK Government is committed to upholding and respecting the result of the 2014 referendum. The Scottish Government has stated that the cost of running the 2014 referendum was £15.8 million.
Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on working practices of the civil service in Scotland.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Civil Service HR team within Cabinet Office regularly engages with its counterparts in the Scottish Government on a range of workforce matters where there are shared interests and to share best practice. This also ensures consistency in approach and ways of working (as appropriate) across both bodies.
All UK Government civil servants are expected to adhere to the principles set out in the Civil Service Code throughout their working practices. Civil servants working for the Scottish Government, and their agencies, have their own versions of the code, as do the Welsh Government. However, both the Scottish and Home Civil Service adhere to the same core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.
Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Scottish Government on working practices of the civil service in Scotland.
Answered by Oliver Dowden - Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster
The Civil Service HR team within Cabinet Office regularly engages with its counterparts in the Scottish Government on a range of workforce matters where there are shared interests and to share best practice. This also ensures consistency in approach and ways of working (as appropriate) across both bodies.
All UK Government civil servants are expected to adhere to the principles set out in the Civil Service Code throughout their working practices. Civil servants working for the Scottish Government, and their agencies, have their own versions of the code, as do the Welsh Government. However, both the Scottish and Home Civil Service adhere to the same core values: integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.
Asked by: Luke Graham (Conservative - Ochil and South Perthshire)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what steps he has taken to locate Government Departments (a) outside London and (b) in Scotland after the UK leaves the EU.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Workforce planning is primarily the responsibility of each Government department. However, the Government’s Industrial Strategy will help create a more balanced economy by moving Arm’s Length public bodies out of London and the surrounding area and into clusters in the regions and devolved nations of the UK.