Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department (a) paid in apprenticeship levy fees and (b) spent from its apprenticeship levy funds between September 2021 and August 2023.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office does not employ any staff directly. The staff are employed by their parent departments primarily the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government. The payment of the apprenticeship levy and access to any funding generated is the responsibility of the employing parent departments.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the proportion of invoices his Department paid to small and medium-sized enterprises within five days in (a) the 2021-2022 financial year and (b) each of the last 12 months.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Scotland Office does not make assessments of the proportion of invoices paid to small and medium-sized enterprises. However, in line with government commitments, we aim to pay 90% of all undisputed and valid invoices from small and medium-sized enterprises within 5 days.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many people aged (a) 16 and under and (b) over 16 years old undertook work experience in his Department in each of the last three years.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
In each of the last three years, the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland has offered a small number of work experience opportunities to people under and over the age of 16.
Due to the small numbers involved, specific details cannot be provided to protect the privacy and identity of the individuals concerned.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what proportion of staff in his Department in receipt of each category of Honour in (a) December 2018 and (b) June 2019 were (i) from ethnic minority backgrounds and (ii) female aged (A) under 30, (B) 31 to 40, (C) 41 to 50 and (D) aged over 50.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Government is committed to ensuring that the honours system is fully representative of UK society. The proportion of women and people from ethnic minorities receiving recognition on each honours list is available on GOV.UK as is a breakdown of ethnicities of recipients is published on the Ethnicity Facts and Figures website at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/honours-recipients-by-ethnicity
Information on ages is not correlated with other diversity factors. We also publish the proportion of honours by independent committee on GOV.UK. The numbers of honours recipients in the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland are very small and vary from year to year. Releasing the requested data would identify the individuals and they have given permission for their data to be used for statistical purposes only.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many BAME staff are employed at (a) grade 7, (b) grade 5 and (c) grade 3 in his Department.
Answered by Alister Jack - Secretary of State for Scotland
The Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland does not employ staff directly. All staff that join do so on an assignment, loan or secondment from other government bodies, principally the Ministry of Justice and the Scottish Government, who remain the employers.
Detailed information in relation to the ethnicity of staff is not held by the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland; this information is held by the parent employers.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he plans to publish his Department's preparations for no deal.
Answered by David Mundell
We firmly believe it is in the interests of both the EU and the UK to strike a deal. That remains the goal on both sides and we are confident that this will be achieved. But it is the job of a responsible Government to prepare for all scenarios, so we have already carried out very significant ‘no deal’ preparations for the unlikely event that we reach March 2019 without agreeing a deal.
We have already published over 100 technical notices so that businesses and citizens have time to prepare in the event of a 'no deal' scenario. These are available on gov.uk in a centralised location that is easy for people to access and use.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what change there has been in staffing levels in his Department since June 2016.
Answered by David Mundell
Staffing levels at the Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland have increased by seven staff members between June 2016 and June 2018.
Date | Headcount |
June 2016 | 69 |
June 2018 | 76 |
Difference | +7 |
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what estimate he has made of the (a) number of officials to be employed by his Department and (b) his Department's payroll in (i) 2018, (ii) 2019, (iii) 2020, (iv) 2021 and (v) 2022 as a result of the UK leaving EU.
Answered by David Mundell
Exiting the European Union is an all-of-government operation for which the Department for Exiting the European Union is doing detailed work with departments to prepare for the upcoming negotiations by understanding the risks and opportunities of leaving the EU and coordinating planning.
Members of staff across the Department provide advice and analysis on EU Exit issues as required. Given the interactions between EU exit work and the Department’s other priorities, it would not be possible to give an accurate figure.
Asked by: Seema Malhotra (Labour (Co-op) - Feltham and Heston)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether his Department was consulted by the Department for Exiting the European Union on the economic impact assessments conducted for the UK leaving the EU.
Answered by David Mundell
The UK Government is carrying out an ongoing programme of comprehensive analytical work that will inform our negotiating position with the EU, to define our deep and special partnership with the EU and inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks.
The Scotland Office is working with officials across government, in close coordination with the Department for Exiting the European Union, to ensure the delivery of a holistic programme of analysis across government.