Angus MacDonald MP: written questions
688 published records · newest first.
Written questions
Germany: Foreign RelationsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68275More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Germany.
Answer: The UK maintains a strong relationship with Germany. We work closely together bilaterally, as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and G7 allies, and through other formats such as the E3. On 17 July, we signed a landmark Bilateral Treaty with Germany...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPuffins: Conservation and EcologyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68274More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the of puffins in the UK; and if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of trends in the number of puffins on ecology within the UK.
Answer: Defra provides funding through JNCC to the UK-wide Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP), and the JNCC-led Seabirds Count census which provide UK-wide monitoring for seabirds, including puffins. The results are publicly available and will inform future conse...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPuffins: Conservation and EcologyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68273More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to take steps with the devolved Administrations to improve the sharing of data on puffin (a) ecology and (b) population health.
Answer: Defra provides funding through JNCC to the UK-wide Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP), and the JNCC-led Seabirds Count census which provide UK-wide monitoring for seabirds, including puffins. The results are publicly available and will inform future conse...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPuffins: ConservationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68272More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is providing funding for research into puffin conservation.
Answer: Defra provides funding through JNCC to the UK-wide Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP), and the JNCC-led Seabirds Count census which provide UK-wide monitoring for seabirds, including puffins. The results are publicly available and will inform future conse...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCurlews: Conservation and EcologyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68271More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) population status and (b) ecological role of curlews.
Answer: The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is the main scheme for assessing the population changes of the UK’s breeding birds. This publication presents trends for breeding bird populations in the UK and for each UK country, showing population changes. The latest Bre...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCurlews: Conservation and EcologyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68270More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department plans to work with devolved Administrations to improve the sharing of data on curlew (a) ecology and (b) population health.
Answer: Data on UK-wide curlew ecology and population health is primarily gathered and shared through the British Bird Survey (BBS) and the Birds of Conservation Concern (BoCC) review. The BBS is the main scheme for monitoring the population changes of the UK’s c...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCurlews: ConservationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68269More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department is providing funding for UK-wide research into curlew conservation.
Answer: The Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) is the main scheme for monitoring the population changes of the UK’s breeding birds to include curlew. The BBS is a partnership jointly funded by the British Trust for Ornithology, the Royal Society for the Protection of Bi...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordCurlews: ConservationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 15 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 68268More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the devolved Administrations on coordinated approaches to monitoring curlew populations.
Answer: The Secretary of State has not had discussions with the Devolved Administrations on a coordinated approach to monitor curlew populations. The UK curlew population is monitored under the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), an ...
Answered 23 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyHome OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67782More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the the potential impact of digital identity systems on (a) policing and (b) other forms of law enforcement.
Answer: The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is working to enable the use of secure and trusted digital verification services across the UK economy for those who want to use them.
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordElectronic Government: Proof of IdentityDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67780More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on cross-government plans for digital identity systems.
Answer: The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is working to enable the use of secure and trusted digital verification services (DVS) across the UK economy for those who want to use ...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordProof of Identity: Digital TechnologyDepartment for Science, Innovation and TechnologyTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67779More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether his Department has had discussions with the private sector on the use of digital identity for accessing financial services.
Answer: The Office for Digital Identities and Attributes (OfDIA), within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, is working to enable the use of secure and trusted digital verification services across the UK economy for those who want to use them. ...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordRevenue and Customs: Data ProtectionTreasuryTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67778More
Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps her Department is taking to protect HMRC-held personal data from unauthorised access.
Answer: HMRC have strict security standards, and have appropriate technical, physical and managerial procedures in place to safeguard and secure personal information. HMRC limit access to personal information to those persons, or agents who have a business or leg...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordDenmark: Foreign RelationsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67771More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Denmark.
Answer: The UK maintains strong and enduring ties with Denmark across a broad range of bilateral files. We work closely together as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) allies, and cooperation has deepened further followin...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordFrance: Foreign RelationsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67770More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with France.
Answer: The Government is committed to strengthening its close partnership with France, a commitment that was reaffirmed during President Macron's State Visit on 8-10 July and the UK-France Summit with groundbreaking agreements on migration, defence, growth and c...
Answered 21 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordSpain: Foreign RelationsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67769More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Spain.
Answer: The UK and Spain have a strong and wide-ranging relationship, particularly on people-to-people, trade, climate and energy, and security. The Foreign Secretary met his counterpart in Brussels on 11 June for Gibraltar negotiations and in the margins of the ...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPortugal: Foreign RelationsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67768More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Portugal.
Answer: The UK maintains strong and enduring ties with Portugal across a broad range of bilateral files. The Foreign Secretary last met with his Portuguese counterpart Foreign Minister Rangel when he visited Lisbon in March earlier this year. I last met with my P...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordChemistry: EducationDepartment for EducationTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67764More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with her Scottish counterpart on ensuring the sustainability of high-quality chemistry teaching.
Answer: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has not had any discussions with her Scottish counterpart specifically regarding supporting teaching in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. However, Ministers have ...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPoland: Foreign RelationsForeign, Commonwealth and Development OfficeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67763More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help strengthen the UK’s relationship with Poland.
Answer: The UK maintains strong and enduring ties with Poland across a broad range of bilateral files. During the Prime Minister's visit to Poland in January he and Polish Prime Minister Tusk announced the start of negotiations for an ambitious UK-Poland Defence ...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordPuffins: ConservationDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67762More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the devolved Administrations on coordinated approaches to monitoring puffin populations.
Answer: Defra provides funding through JNCC to the UK-wide Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP), and the JNCC-led Seabirds Count census which provide UK-wide monitoring for seabirds, including puffins. The results are publicly available and will inform future conse...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBeekeeping: SafetyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67753More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing minimum public safety requirements for beekeepers operating near (a) residential and (b) publicly accessible la
Answer: Defra provides guidance to beekeepers advising that apiaries should be sited away from neighbours, footpaths or public areas to minimise the risk of members of the public being stung. Beekeeping groups also encourage beekeepers to work with their bees in ...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBeekeeping: SafetyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67752More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department has had discussions with representatives of the beekeeping sector on improving public safety measures during hive management.
Answer: Ensuring public safety is of great importance to Defra and beekeeping groups. Defra and representatives of the beekeeping sector work closely to raise awareness of the safety measures that should be in place during hive management.
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBeekeeping: SafetyDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67751More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of safety protocols for beekeeping activity near (a) residential areas and (b) public rights of way.
Answer: Defra advises beekeepers that apiaries should be sited away from neighbours, footpaths or public areas to minimise the risk of members of the public being stung. It is possible for experienced beekeepers to safely manage bees in a garden area, although us...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordBeekeeping: InspectionsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67750More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has issued guidance to beekeepers on the use of (a) temporary signage and (b) other public warnings during hive inspections in areas accessible to the public.
Answer: Beekeepers generally keep their bees on their property and away from areas that are accessible to the public. Defra advises beekeepers that apiaries should be sited away from neighbours, footpaths or public areas to minimise the risk of members of the pub...
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordMilitary AircraftMinistry of DefenceTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67746More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the total annual cost of aircraft leasing arrangements is; and how many such contracts involve offshore-registered companies.
Answer: The information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Answered 22 Jul 2025
Original Parliament recordHospitality Industry: VATDepartment for Business and TradeTabled 14 Jul 2025AnsweredUIN 67797More
Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the hospitality sector on the impact of the current rate of VAT on small businesses.
Answer: The Department for Business and Trade regularly engages with representatives from the hospitality sector, including through the hospitality sector council to understand the challenges they face, including the impact of VAT on small businesses.VAT is a bro...
Answered 17 Jul 2025
Original Parliament record
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