Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to improve broadband (a) connectivity and (b) speeds in Scotland.
Answered by Ian Murray - Secretary of State for Scotland
Our Plan for Change recognises the importance of ensuring people across Scotland have access to the fastest broadband networks on the market to level the playing field and realise our mission to boost economic growth and improve living standards.
Earlier in May, we announced the largest single UK Government Project Gigabit contract to date with Openreach: £157 million to bring gigabit-capable internet to 65,000 homes and businesses across the Highlands, Outer Hebrides and other hard-to-reach areas across Scotland.
In February, the Hon Member for Rhondda and Ogmore announced the first Project Gigabit contract signed in Scotland. 11,000 homes and businesses in the Scottish Borders and East Lothian will benefit from the Scotland-wide roll out with further contracts planned for other parts of Scotland this year.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that UK exports are not used to help facilitate potential human rights abuses.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Each export licence application is assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria, which provides a thorough risk assessment framework. The Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Criteria for a controlled item. The Criteria require us to carefully consider the impact of the export of items and their capabilities. Risks around human rights violations and abuses are a key part of our assessment. The Government will not grant a licence for items where we determine there is a clear risk that the items might be used to commit or facilitate internal repression which includes a serious violation of human rights.
Legislation also expressly provides for these stringent processes and standards to be applied to non-controlled goods on a case-by-case basis, items intended for use by the military, paramilitary, security forces (including government intelligence organisations), or police forces of a destination, subject to an arms embargo.
We can and do respond quickly and flexibly to changing or fluid international situations. All licences are kept under review as standard.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an estimate of the potential impact of her Department's White Paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system, published on 12 May 2025, on the number of student visas issued.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
Provisional estimates on the potential impact on future student visa demand are published in the Technical Annex accompanying the Immigration White Paper: restoring-control-over-the-immigration-system-technical-annex.pdf
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people on the Skilled Worker visa have had their employment extended beyond their 26th birthday with pay meeting the standard salary threshold for the most recent year for which data is available.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The information requested is not available from published statistics and the relevant data could only be collated and verified from multiple systems owned by multiple teams across the Home Office for the purpose of answering this question at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the potential contribution of drone technology to the net zero strategy.
Answered by Kerry McCarthy - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Drones are useful in inspecting energy infrastructure such as offshore wind turbines and overhead electrification lines which are difficult to reach using other means. As part of DESNZ’s Net Zero Innovation Programme, we have funded UK companies looking to develop drones for these types of inspections.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the policy paper entitled Restoring control over the immigration system: white paper, published on 12 May 2025, on the finances of higher education institutions.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government welcomes international students who enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK. Our world-class higher education (HE) sector can offer a fulfilling and enjoyable experience to international students from around the world.
The Immigration White Paper sets out a series of measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, while maintaining the UK’s globally competitive offer to international students and making a significant contribution to growth by boosting our skills base. This includes the commitment to explore the introduction of a levy on HE provider income from international students, with proceeds to be reinvested in the domestic HE and skills system. We will set out more details around this in the Autumn Budget. Analysis of the potential impacts is based on the levy applying to English HE providers only. We will fully consult all the devolved governments on the implementation of the international student levy.
In March, Professor Edward Peck was appointed as substantive Chair of the Office for Students. Professor Peck will continue the excellent work of interim Chair, Sir David Behan, focusing on the sector’s financial sustainability and increasing opportunities in HE.
Moreover, in November, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced the difficult decision to increase tuition fee limits in line with forecast inflation. The maximum fee for a standard full-time undergraduate course in the 2025/26 academic year will increase by 3.1%, from £9,250 to £9,535. In return for the increased investment we are asking students to make, we expect the sector to deliver the very best outcomes, both for those students and for the country.
Alongside this, we expect all universities to have a sustainable business model. Our forthcoming plans for reform of the HE sector will set out how we will support universities in this regard.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of the proposed levy on higher education provider income from international students on Scottish universities.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government welcomes international students who enrich our university campuses, forge lifelong friendships with our domestic students and become global ambassadors for the UK. Our world-class higher education (HE) sector can offer a fulfilling and enjoyable experience to international students from around the world.
The Immigration White Paper sets out a series of measures that will achieve a reduction in net migration, while maintaining the UK’s globally competitive offer to international students and making a significant contribution to growth by boosting our skills base. This includes the commitment to explore the introduction of a levy on HE provider income from international students, with proceeds to be reinvested in the domestic HE and skills system. We will set out more details around this in the Autumn Budget. Analysis of the potential impacts is based on the levy applying to English HE providers only. We will fully consult all the devolved governments on the implementation of the international student levy.
In March, Professor Edward Peck was appointed as substantive Chair of the Office for Students. Professor Peck will continue the excellent work of interim Chair, Sir David Behan, focusing on the sector’s financial sustainability and increasing opportunities in HE.
Moreover, in November, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education announced the difficult decision to increase tuition fee limits in line with forecast inflation. The maximum fee for a standard full-time undergraduate course in the 2025/26 academic year will increase by 3.1%, from £9,250 to £9,535. In return for the increased investment we are asking students to make, we expect the sector to deliver the very best outcomes, both for those students and for the country.
Alongside this, we expect all universities to have a sustainable business model. Our forthcoming plans for reform of the HE sector will set out how we will support universities in this regard.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of removing age stratification in the Skilled Worker visa minimum salary criteria.
Answered by Seema Malhotra - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The Home Office keeps all aspects of the immigration system under review, and recently published a white Paper setting out the Government’s plans for reform of salary requirements and a wide range of other areas.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential role of technology in the decarbonisation of the transport sector.
Answered by Lilian Greenwood - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Technological solutions will play a critical role in decarbonising transport across all modes, including through accelerated electric vehicle rollout and low carbon fuel deployment in shipping and aviation. Government will produce a plan later this year for reducing emissions from all sectors, including transport, in line with legislated carbon budgets.
Asked by: Scott Arthur (Labour - Edinburgh South West)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps he is taking to encourage academic research collaboration between UK and Ukrainian universities.
Answered by Feryal Clark - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
The UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership sets out how the UK and Ukraine build long-term military, economic and cultural ties. This includes through science, technology and innovation collaboration – both to drive mutual growth and support Ukraine’s R&D sector. Since 2022, we have supported over 100 pairs of UK and Ukrainian universities through the University Twinning Programme, providing over £5 million of Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and Research England funding to work together. We also support UK and Ukrainian Innovators to work together through the UK-Ukraine Techbridge and over 170 Ukrainian researchers to continue their research at UK universities through the Researchers at Risk Programme.