Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the impact of the proposed reductions in the number of Seasonal Agricultural Worker visa routes from 2023 on the fruit and vegetable industry in Scotland.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The UK Government is extending this visa route until the end of 2024, to allow migrant workers to come to the UK for up to six months to pick both edible and ornamental crops. There will be 30,000 visas available until 2023 when it will begin to taper down, but this will be kept under review with the potential to increase by a further 10,000 if necessary.
We appreciate that growers in Scotland are reliant on workers from overseas, nevertheless the UK Government is committed to the UK becoming a high-skilled, high-wage economy and we are clear that more must be done to attract UK workers into jobs through offering training, career options, wage increases, and to invest in increased automation technology. The extension to the route strikes the right balance of supporting the horticulture sector while it transitions to employing more domestic workers.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
What recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Government's representation of (a) Scotland and (b) Scottish interests internationally.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The FCDO provides a range of services to all parts of the UK, such as promoting trade and investment, delivering security and providing consular services. UK policy in this area was set out earlier this year in the Integrated Review. My Department is committed to representing Scottish interests on the world stage as demonstrated by my ministerial colleague, Lord Offord, on his recent visit to Mumbai.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on funding for reinstatement of the Levenmouth Rail Link as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region bid.
Answered by David Mundell
The proposals agreed under the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal were all originated by the Deal partners and I can confirm that it was not a project put forward by the local partners as part of the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Deal.
The UK Government’s contributions to City Deals focus on projects that fall in reserved policy areas. Transport policy is a devolved matter and within the City Deal, the rail link would have been an investment for the Scottish Government to consider.
Any future investment in the rail link would be a decision for the Scottish Government, who have responsibility for rail investment in Scotland.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on how many occasions officials of his Department have contacted representatives of a foreign government to ask for an account of private meetings or discussions held between representatives of that government and Scottish Government Ministers in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Mundell
On no occasion have Scotland Office officials contacted representatives of a foreign government to ask for an account of private meetings or discussions held between representatives of that government and Scottish Government Ministers.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on how many occasions his Department applied the exemption in section 38(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (disclosure likely to endanger the physical or mental health of any individual) in wholly or partly refusing a freedom of information request in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Mundell
Statistics on the use of Freedom of Information exemptions are published by the Ministry of Justice (Table 10 of annual reports), and are available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
These statistics provide the number of times section 38 as a whole has been used by each government department. More detailed figures for the constituent parts of section 38 are not readily available because our systems are not designed to provide a more detailed breakdown than is required for the published statistics.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on how many occasions his Department applied the exemption in section 38(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (disclosure likely to endanger the safety of any individual) in wholly or partly refusing a freedom of information request in each of the last five years.
Answered by David Mundell
Statistics on the use of Freedom of Information exemptions are published by the Ministry of Justice (Table 10 of annual reports). They are available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-foi-statistics.
These statistics provide the number of times section 38 as a whole has been used by each government department. More detailed figures for the constituent parts of section 38 are not readily available because our systems are not designed to provide a more detailed breakdown than is required for the published statistics.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what instructions have been given to staff in his Department dealing with freedom of information requests on the application of Freedom of Information Act Awareness Guidance No. 19, issued by the Information Commissioner's Office, in considering whether to apply the exemptions in section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Answered by David Mundell
No guidance has been issued to staff on the application of Freedom of Information Act Awareness Guidance No.19, issued by the Information Commissioner's Office, about the application of section 38 of the Act. However, the Ministry of Justice has published its own guidance on the use of this exemption, and is available here:
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether any (a) Minister and (b) Scotland Office Special Advisers were sent responses to Freedom of Information requests concerning the memo written by a Scotland Office civil servant on 6 March 2015 containing an account of the meeting between the Scottish First Minister and the French Ambassador before they were sent to the inquirers.
Answered by David Mundell
Information relating to internal discussions and advice is not normally disclosed.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he first became aware that the memo written by a Scotland Office civil servant on 6 March 2015, containing an account of the meeting between the Scottish First Minister and French Ambassador, had been leaked.
Answered by David Mundell
Following the leak of a Scotland Office memorandum that formed the basis of a story in the Daily Telegraph on 3 April, which was when I first became aware of the leak, the Cabinet Secretary instigated a Cabinet Office-led inquiry to establish how the memo to which the honourable Member refers came to be written and how it got into the public domain. The findings of the inquiry were published on the 22 May 2015 and are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/scotland-office-memorandum-leak-cabinet-office-inquiry-statement. These findings specifically refer to the role of the then Special Advisor and the former Secretary of State for Scotland. These findings also make clear that no one else had any involvement in the leaking of the memo.
Asked by: Peter Grant (Scottish National Party - Glenrothes)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he was sent a copy of the memo written by a Scotland Office civil servant on 6 March 2015 containing an account of the meeting between the Scottish First Minister and the French Ambassador.
Answered by David Mundell
Following the leak of a Scotland Office memorandum that formed the basis of a story in the Daily Telegraph on 3 April, which was when I first became aware of the leak, the Cabinet Secretary instigated a Cabinet Office-led inquiry to establish how the memo to which the honourable Member refers came to be written and how it got into the public domain. The findings of the inquiry were published on the 22 May 2015 and are available at https://www.gov.uk/government/news/scotland-office-memorandum-leak-cabinet-office-inquiry-statement. These findings specifically refer to the role of the then Special Advisor and the former Secretary of State for Scotland. These findings also make clear that no one else had any involvement in the leaking of the memo.