Asked by: Sarah Olney (Liberal Democrat - Richmond Park)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, which consultations published by their Department are awaiting a response; and when each of those responses (a) were initially planned to and (b) will be published.
Answered by Alister Jack
I can confirm that there are currently no active or live consultations being led by my Department. Consequently, my department is not awaiting or expecting any consultation responses.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Scotland Office:
Whether he has made a comparative assessment with Cabinet colleagues of energy costs in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Answered by John Lamont
The Government has taken decisive action to support households and businesses across the UK, including in Scotland, through the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Discount Scheme.
In the face of retail energy costs that are expected to remain high through the spring largely due to the illegal war in Ukraine, the Government is maintaining the Energy Price Guarantee for an additional three months, until June 2023.
Asked by: Mary Glindon (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend)
Question to the Scotland Office:
Whether he has made a comparative assessment with Cabinet colleagues of energy costs in Scotland and the rest of the UK.
Answered by John Lamont
The Government has taken decisive action to support households and businesses across the UK, including in Scotland, through the Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bills Discount Scheme.
In the face of retail energy costs that are expected to remain high through the spring largely due to the illegal war in Ukraine, the Government is maintaining the Energy Price Guarantee for an additional three months, until June 2023.
Asked by: Alison Thewliss (Scottish National Party - Glasgow Central)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on cladding issues affecting buildings in Scotland.
Answered by John Lamont
Following the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, the UK Government has committed more than five billion pounds to ensuring that remedial works are carried out as soon as possible to affected buildings in order to protect residents facing the most serious safety risks.
The Scottish Government has received consequential funding in the usual way and UK Government officials continue to meet their counterparts regularly to discuss progress on building safety remediation matters.
Asked by: Owen Thompson (Scottish National Party - Midlothian)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on promoting and supporting the Scottish food and drink sector.
Answered by John Lamont
The Scotland Office takes issues raised by businesses very seriously indeed. That is why we have listened to the concerns of businesses, particularly small businesses, in relation to the Scottish Government's Deposit Return Scheme.
I hope that the new First Minister and the Scottish Government will do the same and pause its scheme so that we can work together to find solutions that work for Scotland and the whole of the UK.
Asked by: Kirsten Oswald (Scottish National Party - East Renfrewshire)
Question to the Scotland Office:
Whether he has made a recent assessment of the impact of the UK leaving the EU on Scotland.
Answered by John Lamont
There are many benefits of leaving the EU for Scotland.
These include the ability to agree new trade deals and strategic partnerships; to ensure that regulation fits the needs of Scotland and the entire UK; to control our fishing waters; and to improve the competitiveness of our economy whilst maintaining high standards.
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Spring Budget 2023 on Scotland.
Answered by John Lamont
It is my firm view and assessment that the Chancellor’s Budget will have a positive impact for Scotland, by stimulating the economy, attracting investment and creating jobs.
This is in addition to providing the Scottish Government with an extra £320m in the Spring Budget, an extra £1.5bn in the Autumn Statement, and a record Block Grant settlement of £41bn per year.
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
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: Rob Butler (Conservative - Aylesbury)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the armed forces in Scotland.
Answered by Alister Jack
Our armed forces in Scotland play a vital role in defending the whole of the UK.
Most recently, I was delighted to see £83m of UK Government investment awarded to RAF Lossiemouth to build a new facility ready for the UK E-7 Wedgetail fleet. This award - and the creation of 125 jobs - is another great example of how UK defence investment is supporting our armed forces in Scotland.
Asked by: Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party - Angus and Perthshire Glens)
Question to the Scotland Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, if he will make an assessment of the (a) strategic and (b) economic contribution made by Scotland to the UK.
Answered by Alister Jack
My assessment, along with that of the majority of people in Scotland, is that Scotland’s strategic and economic future is best served as part of the UK.
Scotland is a key part of the Union and both contributes to and benefits from being part of the UK - including through higher spending per head, record funding via the Barnett formula, and through the pooling and sharing of risks.
Strategically, military bases and armed forces personnel based in Scotland play a crucial role in defending the whole of the UK and contribute to NATO; Scottish renewable electricity generation is a critical part of the UK’s plan for achieving net zero; and Scotland’s internationally recognised brand is important for delivering the UK’s ambitious global export strategy.
On economic contribution, the rest of the UK remains Scotland’s biggest trading partner with over 60 percent of all sales going to the rest of the UK and more than £70 billion of goods and services sold to Scotland from other parts of the UK.