Written questions by McNally.

Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to support religious organisations to make repairs to listed buildings in Scotland.

Heritage is a devolved competence, however some funders operate across the UK. To ensure continued support for listed places of worship across the UK, we are working with sector funders to maximise opportunities for all nations. The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) remains a vital resource, offering grants across the UK and investing £100 million over three years in places of worship. This includes a strategic initiative designed to provide targeted support and build capacity, ensuring that places of worship in Scotland have access to investment.

Media and Sport, whether additional funding has been provided to the Scottish Government to support religious organisations following the end of the Listed Places of Worship Grant Scheme.

At the Spending Review 2025, HM Treasury agreed budgets for Departments for a three-year period for Resource DEL, and a four-year period for Capital DEL. The Department then completed a Business Planning process to allocate this funding to programmes. This included £92 million (£23 million per year) for the Places of Worship Renewal Fund.At Spending Reviews, the Devolved Governments generally receive Barnett consequentials as a proportion of overall departmental settlements, not specific funding lines or programmes. Barnett consequentials were confirmed taking into account the overall DCMS allocation, which includes funding for the Places of Worship Renewal fund. Decisions on the allocation of this funding are then for the Devolved Governments to take.

What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help tackle discrimination against ethnic minorities.

We are taking steps to tackle discrimination by working across Government to secure a more inclusive future for everyone. We remain committed to introducing mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting and making the right to equal pay effective for ethnic minorities. The Race Equality Engagement Group is also working to address key race equality issues including in health, policing and education.

Innovation and Technology, what steps she is taking to increase funding for motor neurone disease research.

I’m aware that my Hon. Friend recently visited the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh to see their important work.We have invested £12.5 million in the Institute to support the best discovery science in MND.Since 2022, UKRI has awarded over £3 million to MND projects led by Scottish research organisations.We will continue to work closely with the Department of Health and Social Care to support research into this terrible disease.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Spending Review 2025 on Scotland.

This Government has ensured the Spending Review delivers for Scotland. The Scottish Government is receiving an average of £50.9 billion per each year between 2026-27 and 2028-29, the largest real terms funding settlement since devolution. It also delivers on the Government’s Plan for Change in Scotland, with measures including providing development funding to advance the delivery of the Acorn carbon capture and storage project.

What his Department's timetable is for responding to the joint report of the Law Commissions of England and Wales and Scotland entitled Building families through surrogacy: a new law, published on 28 March 2023.

The Government does not intend to put forward the Law Commissions’ legislative proposals at this current time, due to the limited time available for introducing new legislation. However, we will publish a Government response as time and capacity allows, and will look to consider this issue in the future.

What steps he is taking to reduce energy costs for domestic consumers.

The Government is committed to ensuring energy bills are affordable for all consumers – that’s why we are running to deliver our clean power by 2030 mission. And whilst we make this transition, we will do everything we can to support households we know are finding it tough. We will continue to deliver the Warm Home Discount which provides a £150 rebate off energy bills to 3.3 million eligible low-income households. We are working with energy suppliers to ensure that they provide additional support to households that are struggling to pay their energy bills.

How much funding the Scottish Government (a) has received and (b) is forecast to receive in additional Barnett Formula consequential funding as a result of income raised via the Residential Property Developer Tax.

The Residential Property Developer Tax is a UK-wide tax. UK-wide tax revenue goes into the UK Consolidated Fund. The Barnett formula then applies to changes in UK Government departmental budgets.The Scottish Government receives around 25% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK. That translates to £8.5 billion more per year on average for the Scottish Government.

How much funding the Welsh Government (a) has received and (b) is forecast to receive in additional Barnett Formula consequential funding as a result of income raised via the Residential Property Developer Tax.

The Residential Property Developer Tax is a UK-wide tax. UK-wide tax revenue goes into the UK Consolidated Fund. The Barnett formula then applies to changes in UK Government departmental budgets. The Welsh Government receives around 20% more funding per person than equivalent UK Government spending in other parts of the UK. That translates to £3.5 billion more per year on average for the Welsh Government.

Whether he plans to respond to the report by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission entitled Building families through surrogacy: a new law, published on 28 March 2023, HC 1237, and draft bill.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women’s Health and Mental Health will be meeting with the Law Commission shortly to discuss its report and draft bill on surrogacy, and to inform consideration of the Government’s next steps.

Innovation and Technology, whether he plans to provide additional funding for motor neurone disease research in Scotland.

Funding has been distributed to 92 charities across the UK supporting 1200 doctoral students and early career researchers including over £330,000 to MND Scotland. MND research has benefited more generally from over £1.6 million of funding across the UK.The Medical Research Council has awarded £1.9 million to MND projects led by Scottish research organisations, including researchers at various career stages.

Innovation and Technology, when he next intends to meet with (a) Scottish Government ministers and officials, and (b) representatives from Scottish charities, universities and industry to discuss the ongoing priorities for motor neurone disease research in Scotland.

The Secretary of State has had positive early engagement with Scottish Government Ministers and looks forward to working further on their shared priorities for Scotland. The Minister for Science, Research and Innovation also met with Scottish Government Ministers on 10th October to discuss opportunities for shared investment opportunities across science and research.The UK life sciences sector benefits from a diversity of medical research charity funders and officials meet with medical research charities across the UK on a quarterly basis through the DSIT Medical Research Charities Forum.

What discussions he has had with his counterparts in the devolved administrations on co-operation on research funding for motor neurone disease.

The Department funds research into motor neurone disease (MND) via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Government funding for MND research includes programmes that are working collaboratively across the United Kingdom. For example, an £8 million investment into the EXPErimental medicine Route To Success in ALS (EXPERTS-ALS) by the NIHR. EXPERTS-ALS is an early phase clinical research trial which screens for drugs that have the potential to be successful in clinical trials for people with MND. Government funders have also invested £12.5 million to support the best discovery science at the UK Dementia Research Institute. Working with LifeArc, the MND Association, MND Scotland, and the My Name5s Doddie foundation, Government funders have also contributed £1.1 million to the £4.6 million MND Collaborative Partnership. Department research leads meet regularly with their counterparts in the devolved administrations to discuss research matters of common interest across the UK.