Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S7W-03431

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland to be currently (a) operational, (b) fully operational, (c) established and (d) independent, and for each classification, what definition it uses to make that assessment.

Question reference: S7W-03430

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland to become an established organisation.

Question reference: S7W-03429

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it has allocated to the Anti-Racism Observatory for Scotland in each financial year from 2023-24 to 2027-28, broken down by (a) amount and (b) purpose.

Question reference: S7W-03095

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 18 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on prohibiting registered sex offenders from changing their name without police permission, similar to the provision contained in the Crime and Policing Act 2026.

The Scottish Government takes the safety of the public very seriously. Sex offender notification requirements apply to an individual, irrespective of what name they use, and Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements documentation includes the recording of any aliases. Sex offenders must inform the police of a name change within three days and failure to notify such a change can result in a prison sentence.

Last year, the Scottish Parliament agreed to a Legislative Consent Memorandum (LCM) which recommended that the sex offender management provisions contained in the UK Crime and Policing Bill be extended to Scotland.

The Crime and Policing Bill received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026; however, none of the sex offender management provisions have yet been commenced by the UK Government.

In relation to the name change provision, full implementation is dependent on matters reserved to the UK Government, specifically the making of regulations relating to driving licence applications in a new name.

Question reference: S7W-03043

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much money has been paid to the Scottish Youth Parliament in each of the last three financial years.

As noted in the response to S6W-35658 on 2 April 2025, the Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) have their annual accounts published on the Companies House website. These provide a breakdown of money received from the Scottish Government (currently available up to 31 March 2025). In the financial year 2025-2026, SYP received a total of £446,895 in Scottish Government funding.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S7W-03044

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff employed by the Scottish Government are engaged in activity related to the Scottish Youth Parliament.

The Scottish Youth Parliament (SYP) helps to facilitate young people’s engagement in policy-making and, as such, SYP engages in activity with policy teams throughout the Scottish Government (including mental health, education reform, and children’s rights).

We do not hold information on the number of staff across all of the policy areas who are currently engaged in activity with SYP. However, there are 3 members of staff within the Children’s Rights Unit who spend at least some of their time liaising with SYP about the core finding that SYP receive from The Children, Young People and Families Early Intervention and Adult Learning and Empowering Communities Fund.

Question reference: S7W-03042

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government which ministers have met with representatives of the Scottish Youth Parliament over the last 12 months.

As part of the annual meeting between the Scottish Cabinet and children and young people, which took place in November 2025, the following ministers met with representatives of the Scottish Youth Parliament:

the First Minister;
all previous Cabinet Secretaries (with the exception of Miri McAllan, then Cabinet Secretary for Housing); and
the previous Minister for Children, Young People and The Promise.

The previous Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills also met with representatives of the Scottish Youth Parliament (alongside representatives from Children's Parliament, Children in Scotland and Young Scot) in February 2026, as part of the Education Reform Project.

Question reference: S7W-02898

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 September 2026
Current Status: Holding Answer by Siobhian Brown on 18 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the draft report from workstream one of the Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Data Short Life Working Group, Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation data captured within Joint Investigative Interviews, dated 22 June 2026, which states that, in 2024-25, there were at least 5,087 sexual crimes involving a victim under the age of 18 recorded by Police Scotland compared with 155 children on the Child Protection Register with a child sexual abuse concern and 20 with a child sexual exploitation concern, what its assessment is of the difference between these figures.

Question reference: S7W-03405

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what business cases it has received from Police Scotland and/or the Scottish Police Authority regarding increasing police officer numbers.

Question reference: S7W-03404

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 September 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority regarding increasing police officer numbers.