End of year report from the Scotland Office

After a year in government the Secretary of State for Scotland laid his department’s annual report in parliament on Tuesday saying that “The Scotland Office has taken huge steps forward in delivering for people in Scotland”.

The Rt Hon Ian Murray, Secretary of State for Scotland reported that he has restructured the Scotland Office, ensured cash and spending powers for the department to deliver its Brand Scotland campaign, taken a key role in directing new funding to local growth projects and has also “reset relationships” with The Scottish Government.

Mr Murray sets out in the report that his office, where Midlothian MP Kirsty McNeill is the Under-Secretary of State, has four strategic priorities – economic growth, clean energy, Brand Scotland and tackling poverty.

In October last year the Minister welcomed both the Prime Minister and The First Minister, John Swinney to Queen Elizabeth House during the Council of Nations and Regions.

The Scotland Office has a Greening Government commitment and this is manifested in the numbers. It has reduced its reliance on Air Travel from 75.42 CO2e tonnes to 41.86 CO2e tonnes in 2024-25 and also reduced the number of reams of paper used from 145 to 100 between the final year of the Conservative government and this last year.

The Offices (both Scotland and the Office of the Advocate General for Scotland OAG) are committed to reducing their environmental impact by:

• Encouraging the use of video conferencing and dial-in facilities rather than travelling to meetings;

• Using recycled paper and other stationery;

• Using public transport rather than cars when travelling to meetings; and

• Ensuring that our printers and photocopiers are all energy efficient models which reduce paper wastage.

There are four non-executive directors at the Scotland Office – Stuart Patrick who is the Chief Executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, Martin Dorchester who is Chief Executive of Includem, Susan Deacon, the Lead Non-executive Director, who is also Chair of Lothian Buses until August 2026, and Andrew Kerr who is the former Chief Executive of The City of Edinburgh Council.

One other – Tom Harris – resigned in June 2024. He also holds positions with public affairs companies Message Matters and Cogitamus.

The Interim Accounting Officer states in the report that the Non-Executive Directors are “the most important external source of assurance” in relation to assessing the effectiveness of the Offices.

The Rt Hon Ian Murray Secretary of State for Scotland speaking at the opening of the Usher Building in the Edinburgh Bioquarter

Mr Murray said: “Over the past year I have reformed and restructured the Scotland Office, so it can deliver the UK Government’s Plan for Change in Scotland, focusing on my priorities of economic growth, clean energy, Brand Scotland and tackling poverty.

“This work has started in earnest, with £3 million for Brand Scotland. This is a fantastic opportunity to promote all that is great about Scotland around the world, and show investors the opportunities of Scotland.

“We are also taking a key role in delivering local growth funding in Scotland, with the UK Government delivering £1.7 billion in local growth projects across Scotland. Our industrial strategy will make sure we can take advantage of the jobs of the future and GB Energy, headquartered here in Scotland, will drive our clean energy transition.”

On Brand Scotland, the report confirms that Mr Murray has already invested some of the funding to sign deals with the Royal Edinburgh Royal Tattoo and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.

The Scotland Office published a round up video on Facebook:

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