The table below shows the number of appeals registered in Scotland against Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions (new claims and reassessments for Disability Living Allowance (DLA)) and how many and what proportion of them, expressed as a percentage of appeals registered (whether heard or not), resulted in no change of award amount for the claimant.

Notes to figures:

• The quarter refers to the date when the initial PIP decision was made.
• PIP data includes both normal rules cases and special rules cases for the terminally ill claimants, and is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10. Figures may not sum due to rounding.
• Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole percentage.
• This is unpublished data and, as such, it does not meet the quality standard required for official statistics publication. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
• Data taken from the PIP computer system’s management information.

Information for Employment Support Allowance Fit for Work decisions only, is as follows

Period 1.10.2008 to 30.9.2015 (for claims started within that period)

Appealed decisions upheld: 45,400

Appealed decisions overturned: 36,700

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has certain obligations under section 61 of the Scotland Act 2016 to consult Scottish Ministers, as well as a statutory duty to consult Scottish Ministers before making regulatory changes under section 24 of the Energy Act 2013.

However, the announcements made on 9 November did not fall within the scope of the obligation as they related to matters falling within stated exceptions to that obligation, or are subject to consultation now with Scottish Ministers. On 9 November 2016 the Department published further details of the strike prices for the second Contracts for Difference (CFD) Allocation Round:

• The budget (including lapse of the minima and application of a maxima, strike prices and the strike price methodology) is an exercise of a statutory power under the CFD scheme and not subject to any Parliamentary procedure and thus falls within the exception to consult in section 90C(2) Scotland Act 1998, as inserted by section 61 Scotland Act 2016: the strike price methodology used had already been agreed for the first CFD round and officials shared a number of technical details with Scottish Government officials ahead of the announcement;
• We announced a consultation on non-mainland GB onshore wind projects and will be actively seeking the views of Scottish Government as part of the consultation exercise; and
• We further announced a call for evidence on fuelled technologies and again will be seeking the views of Scottish Government.

All healthcare professionals undertaking assessments on behalf of the Department are registered practitioners (occupational therapists, nurses, doctors, physiotherapists and paramedics) who have met requirements around training, post-qualification experience and competence.

The number of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) face to face assessments completed by healthcare professionals in Scotland was:

(Source: Data provided by CHDA)

None of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments in Scotland were completed by a qualified doctor. The Department does not require or specify that PIP assessments are carried out by doctors.

The numbers of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) initial work capability assessments (WCAs) still in progress in Scotland in the last four quarters for which information is available are as follows:

Source: Data is derived from administrative data held by the DWP and assessment data provided by the healthcare provider.

Outstanding WCA referrals in Scotland reduced between March 2015 (the start of CHDA contract) and December 2015 with the subsequent increase in outstanding referrals being in part due to the reintroduction of re-referrals from December 2015.

The numbers of Personal Independence Payment cases still in progress with the assessment provider in Scotland in the last four quarters for which information is available are as follows:

Source: Data taken from the PIP computer system’s management information

My Department has no plans to review existing high hedges legislation. Local authorities are best-placed to resolve private disputes about tall evergreen hedges and loss of light and visual amenity to neighbouring homes and gardens.

The department meet regularly with Scottish Government officials and Ministers are routinely briefed on the outcomes of those discussions. However, commercial sensitivities have limited our ability for detailed discussions with Scottish Government on specific site proposals. In recent months DWP officials have been in discussion with local authorities, Skills Development Scotland and the Scottish Government regarding the overall estates strategy.

We remain committed to working with Scottish Government and other stakeholders to ensure effective support for unemployed people.

I held a meeting last week with the MP’s for Glasgow, Rutherglen and Hamilton West to discuss the proposals for the jobcentre estate in Glasgow.

Immigration remains a reserved matter and we will consider the needs of the UK as a whole.

Applying different immigration rules to different parts of the UK would complicate the immigration system, harming its integrity, and cause difficulties for employers who need the flexibility to deploy their staff to other parts of the UK.

The value of trade in goods between Scotland and Israel was £75 million in 2015 (Source: HM Revenue and Customs Regional Trade Statistics database). This does not include services, which will make this figure considerably higher.

Israel is an important trading partner for the UK and we are committed to further strengthening our important trade relationship.

While the UK remains a member of the EU, we are unable to negotiate and conclude trade agreements. As we review our trade policy ahead of our withdrawal from the EU, we are committed to working closely with the devolved administrations. My noble Friend the Minister of State for Trade Policy (Lord Price) recently visited all three of the devolved administrations, holding productive meetings with counterpart ministers.

In delivering the Emergency Services Network (ESN), the mobile network operator EE will deliver up to 291 new mast sites. Government will deliver approximately 230 further sites (known as the “Extended Area Services” (EAS) sites) in the most remote and rural areas of Great Britain.

For EAS sites, the principal objective is to provide coverage to meet the needs of the emergency services, but the Home Office is working with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and DCMS to identify any proposed mast locations which could improve mobile coverage in future, with a view to ensuring these are built to a specification which could accommodate multiple operators.

EE has indicated that it is delivering around 200 new sites in Scotland as part of ESN. In addition there are 104 sites in Scotland that are being considered as part of the Extended Area Services (EAS). Delivery of these sites is subject to planning permission and the acquisition of land. There are currently no new sites proposed in the constituency of Inverclyde, either by EE or the EAS as part of ESN.

The Government did not have any discussions with the Scottish Government about requiring schools to carry out immigration checks or changes to the prioritisation of illegal migrants in the school admissions process before the introduction of the Immigration Bill 2015-16. It is not the policy of this Government to require schools to carry out immigration checks or de-prioritise the children of illegal migrants in the admissions process.

A reduced drink driving limit came into effect in Scotland in December 2014, at which point rule 95 of the Highway Code was amended to reflect the change. It is essential that all road users in England, Scotland and Wales are aware of the Code.

At the time of its introduction, the Scottish Government advertised the lower limit on both sides of the border.

Abortion law was devolved under the Scotland Act 2016.

The number of abortions performed in 2015 in Scotland on Ground E (disability) of the Abortion Act 1967 was 186. The total number of abortions performed in Scotland in 2015 was 12,082.

The number of these abortions that were performed beyond 13 weeks’ gestation; and the total number of abortions performed in that year (a) before and (b) after 13 weeks gestation are not available.

The published data on abortions provides information on the number of Ground E abortions by diagnosis. Estimated gestation is presented for all abortions and is grouped into under 10 weeks, 10 to 13, 14 to 17, 18 to 19 and 20 weeks and over. The data are available in Table 1 on the Information Services Division (ISD) website from the following link:

https://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Sexual-Health/Publications/2016-05-31/mat_aas_table1.xlsx.

We have repeatedly said that this Department is open to all businesses in the United Kingdom when it comes to seeking our support for exports, and I hope that the Scottish Government will encourage businesses in Scotland to work with the Department for International Trade, so that we can maximise that. We have made that offer, and we hope that they will take it up.

A recent parliamentary question revealed that the involvement of Scottish companies in the recent trade visit by the Prime Minister to India was very limited. What extra effort can the Secretary of State to make to ensure that Scottish companies are better represented by the UK to support them in exporting into new international markets?

I bow to no one in this House in terms of my credentials as a Unionist, and I want to see prosperity spread to every part of the United Kingdom. I hope that the Scottish Government’s economic policies will help to contribute to that.

When the Secretary of State is lobbying for foreign inward investment, does he agree with the comments of his friend the Foreign Secretary, who said that a pound spent in Croydon has more value to this country than a pound spent in Strathclyde?