Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Ukraine.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Ukrainian Government faces considerable challenges both in upholding and protecting its sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of continuing Russian destabilisation, and in taking forward a comprehensive programme of political and economic reform. The Prime Minister underlined in Parliament on 25th January the UK's "commitment to the independent sovereign state of Ukraine", and our continuing strong political and practical support.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the protection and promotion of human rights.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The Foreign Secretary met with the US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in Bonn on 16 February. During the meeting they reaffirmed our shared goals and agreed to work together on a range of global issues
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to encourage skills development in UK businesses in response to the UK's decision to leave the EU.
Answered by Robert Halfon
We are committed to ensuring we have a strong skills system that can drive increases in productivity, improvements in social mobility and help make a success of Brexit. This will be essential to the success of our Industrial Strategy, and to ensuring a sufficient supply of the right skills to the labour market as we leave the European Union.
Apprenticeships are a great way to progress in work and life, a great way for employers to improve the skills base of their businesses and we are committed to 3m starts by 2020. They work for people of all ages and backgrounds and can transform lives. We are committed to making sure that apprenticeships are as accessible as possible, to all people, from all backgrounds.
The needs and involvement of employers are central to our apprenticeship reforms. We have put employers in control of standards development and funding so that they are more responsive to the needs of business and people are equipped with the skills employers need.
Our Industrial Strategy recognises that we need to bring forward a new offer on skills and technical education that builds on the Skills Plan we published in July 2016. It sets out our ambitions for wide-ranging reform of the skills system. Central to the reforms is the creation of a simplified, high status Technical Education system consisting of 15 occupational routes, which will give learners the opportunity to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for work, making them much more attractive to employers and generating a future pipeline of skilled labour. These reforms will be underpinned by our investment in specialist delivery institutions for key sectors where there are skills gaps.
As part of the Government’s work on Lifetime learning we have identified significant trends such as a decline in work-based training, with key barriers including perceptions of affordability and attitudinal inhibitors. As set out in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper, The Government is committed to exploring ambitious new approaches to tackle these barriers and encourage lifetime learning, including reaching out to workers whose industries are rapidly changing or in decline, and the provision of better information
Taken to together, our skills policies will help to ensure that our businesses will have access to people with the skills that they need to be globally competitive and drive productivity.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate the contribution of UK continental shelf oil and gas to the annual tax yield.
Answered by Jane Ellison
The tax revenues (Offshore Corporation Tax and Petroleum Revenue Tax) arising from the production and extraction of North Sea oil and gas from the UK and UK Continental Shelf are presented in HM Revenue and Customs receipts publication (latest version December 2016), which is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/584766/Dec16_Receipts_Table_Final.xlsx
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he has taken to maintain the level of investment in research and development in Scotland in response to the UK's decision to leave the EU.
Answered by Lord Johnson of Marylebone
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Aberdeen South (Callum McCaig) on 25 January 2017 to Question UIN 60972.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with the Minister for Women and Equalities on encouraging involvement by women in business at all levels.
Answered by Margot James
I met my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years in November to discuss a number of issues around women and the labour market. The issues covered included pregnancy and maternity discrimination; the gender pay gap; the Hampton-Alexander review; and women and start-ups.
The Department and the Government Equalities Office are working together to encourage involvement by women in business, for example by supporting the independent Hampton-Alexander Review. The review is a key part of our work to reflect modern Britain by increasing the representation of women at senior leadership positions and below in FTSE 350 Companies.
We are also working to ensure we have the right businesses environment for everyone, including women, to set up and grow a business. Women are able to benefit from the full range of business support available from government, including Start-Up Loans, of which to date 38% have been issued to women.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress he has made on establishing the office of the Small Business Commissioner.
Answered by Margot James
We expect to appoint the Commissioner in 2017 and we continue to make progress on implementation. Our public consultation on the policy for regulations underpinning the Commissioner’s complaints handling function closed in December and we are preparing the Government Response.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with Ministers of the Scottish Government on the future of Common Agricultural Policy payments; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by George Eustice
We held meetings with all of the Devolved Administrations, including Scotland, in Cardiff on 8 November, in Brussels at December Council on 11 December and we plan a further meeting in February.
In addition, officials from Defra are in regular contact with officials in Scottish Government regarding plans for the Great Repeal Bill.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the UK's signatory status to the European Convention on Human Rights on the competencies of the Scottish Parliament.
Answered by David Mundell
Section 29 of the Scotland Act 1998 sets out that the Scottish Parliament cannot legislate incompatibly with any of the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights. There are no plans to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.
Asked by: Paul Monaghan (Scottish National Party - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the effect of levels of immigration on Scotland's economic performance in the last five years.
Answered by David Mundell
Migrants from outside the UK and within the UK make a significant contribution to Scotland – not only in terms of its economy, but also society and wellbeing. This Government will always welcome the brightest and the best who come here to work.