Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department is negotiating a free trade agreement with Greenland.
Answered by Douglas Alexander - Minister of State (Cabinet Office)
This government’s top priority is economic growth. We are working with officials to review these negotiations to date, and their alignment with the Government’s wider international and domestic priorities.
We have already concluded trade agreements with the US and India, and restarted talks with a number of others including the Gulf, Switzerland and South Korea.
Greenland is an important trading partner to the UK and the Government will continue to work closely with Greenland to improve and strengthen our bilateral relationship.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of leaving the Dublin Convention on the numbers of illegal migrants entering the UK.
Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Dublin III Regulation ceased to apply to the UK from January 2021 onwards. Any assessment of the potential impact of that change would have been for the previous government to make at the time in question.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential (a) implications for its policies of the Georgian Foreign Agent Registration Act and (b) impact of that legislation on civil society in that country.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
I am deeply concerned by the Georgian Foreign Agents Registration Act which came into force on 31 May 2025 and the implications it will have on our ability to support the reforms required for Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations. This legislation represents a serious setback for democratic governance, civil liberties, and Georgia's stated European aspirations. I have shared my concerns with Georgian Dream representatives and encouraged engagement with civil society, opposition voices and the Venice Commission to bring their approach into line with international human rights standards as well as Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe principles and commitments.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of changing the terms of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to reimburse legal costs for victims of fraud.
Answered by Emma Reynolds - Economic Secretary (HM Treasury)
The rules governing the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) for consumers of failed authorised firms, including where those consumers have been the victims of fraud, are set by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). They are set out in the PRA Rulebook and FCA Handbook within the framework set by Parliament. It is for the FSCS to assess individual claims and provide appropriate compensation in line with those rules and depending on the circumstances of the claim and the regulated activity involved.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the impact of the UK leaving the EU on workforce shortages in the construction industry.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The current migration route for employing individuals into the construction industry is through Skilled Worker Visas.
DBT and industry has worked with the Home Office (HO) to provide clearer guidance to construction employers on the Sponsor Licence process. The construction industry also worked with Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to add in-demand construction occupations to the Shortage Occupation List.
Following publication of the Immigration White Paper DBT is working with the HO and the MAC to feed into priority occupations that should be considered for the Temporary Shortage List while building investment in the training of the domestic workforce.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK leaving the EU on medicine shortages in the UK.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. The Department has not made a specific assessment of the potential impact on medicine shortages in the UK.
Medicine supply chains are complex, global, and highly regulated, and there are a number of reasons why supply can be disrupted, many of which are not specific to the UK and outside of Government control, including manufacturing difficulties, access to raw materials, sudden demand spikes or distribution issues, and regulatory issues. We have drawn on up-to-date intelligence and data on the root causes of medicine supply issues, with manufacturing problems being the most dominant root cause. The Department works closely with industry, the National Health Service, manufacturers, and other partners across the supply chain to make sure patients across the UK can access the medicines they need.
The resilience of UK supply chains is a key priority, and we are continually learning and seeking to improve the way we work to both manage and help prevent supply issues and avoid shortages. The Department, working closely with NHS England, is taking forward a range of actions to improve our ability to mitigate and manage shortages and to strengthen our resilience. As part of that work, we continue to engage with industry, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, and other colleagues across the supply chain as we progress work to co-design and deliver solutions. We have plans underway to increase the awareness of our work.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the UK leaving the EU on availability of workforce in the Scottish hospitality sector.
Answered by Gareth Thomas - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Government values the contribution that legal migration makes to the UK, not least to important sectors of the Scottish economy such as hospitality.
While there has been no specific assessment, there were around 226,000 people working in hospitality in Scotland at the end of last year, which is a 6% increase from December 2019 - a month before the UK left the EU.
As part of the Plan for Change, we’re determined to bring net migration down and restore control and order to the immigration system, and it is good to see the hospitality industry employing more people domestically.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce waiting times for the Child Maintenance Service phone line.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service are committed to delivering the best possible service to all customers within our growing caseload. We continuously monitor telephony performance and through this fully recognise that call waiting times are at times longer than we would like. To address this, we are working to improve the efficiency of our customer interactions through both the telephone and digital channels.
In September 2024, we introduced the Digital Assist Telephony Service, which has been a significant step forward in our mission to support and encourage customers to use our online services. In October, we restructured our call routing to make more caseworkers available to answer telephone calls. By promoting self-service options online and efficient call routing, we have freed up valuable resources to deliver a more responsive service and allow caseworkers more time to better assist customers who need to reach out to us via telephone. Additionally, we have extended the telephony service to 6pm on weekdays to meet demand and our online services are available to all customers 24/7. As a result, call volumes are reducing, and improved customer service being delivered through the combination of telephone and digital channels.
The Department publishes quarterly statistics for the Child Maintenance Service and the latest statistics are currently available to December 2024. Table 12 of the latest National tables shows the percentage of calls to the CMS that were answered each quarter, from January 2015 to December 2024.
Latest published quarterly telephony performance for the period Oct to December 2024 was 75% for Percentage of calls answered.
We will continue to review, evaluate, and enhance our telephony service to meet demand and deliver a quality customer service.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 7 May 2025 to Question 48500 tabled on British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme, what the Government’s timetable is for considering proposals put forward by British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Trustees.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
I met the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme Trustees in April and am due to meet them again shortly. Officials have recently received the analysis we jointly commissioned from the Government Actuary’s Department and will now use that to inform our consideration of the Trustees’ proposals.
Asked by: Stephen Gethins (Scottish National Party - Arbroath and Broughty Ferry)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many UK-based apprenticeships were supported through the Erasmus programme in each year between 2008 and 2021.
Answered by Janet Daby - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold or publish the requested data, as this data is owned by the European Commission.