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: S6W-42359

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address reported concerns that reductions to campus police will reduce early intervention and deterrence of young people from committing crimes.

The use and funding of campus-based officers is a matter for each local authority to decide in line with local needs. It is for individual schools to identify how to provide early intervention and deterrence programmes for young people who are at risk of involvement in crime. They can use a number of approaches, including good behaviour management and behaviour support teams, solution-orientated, nurture and restorative approaches and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

We also actively work with schools and local authorities to provide both targeted education and programmes for our young people to help tackle violence and disruptive behaviour, including those delivered through our Violence Prevention Framework which we have supported with more than £6 million since 2023.

Question reference: S6W-42362

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to support any local authorities that are experiencing budget pressures that are putting (a) school safety and (b) child protection services at risk.

Local authorities are responsible for managing their statutory duties in relation to school safety and child protection.

The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on school safety and child protection services, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The 2025-26 budget delivered record funding of over £15.1 billion for Local Government, a real terms increase of 5.5 per cent.

Question reference: S6W-42365

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the feasibility of delivering a 90-minute reduction in class contact time without additional teachers.

The Scottish Government commissioned independent research, published on 7 May 2024, which outlined how the delivery of a 90 minute reduction in class contact time could be achieved through a range of scenarios, at that time.

The research can be accessed at: Pupil projections and implications for teacher resourcing needs: education workforce modelling and research.

This report has informed our engagement with partners on the commitment to reduce class contact time for teachers.

We remain committed to working with local government and teacher unions through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) to make meaningful progress on reducing teacher class contact time.

Question reference: S6W-42367

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on rural schools of any changes to the structure of the school week.

We recognise the challenges that many remote and rural schools face, including challenges with teacher recruitment.

Through our announcement of a ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have set out a range of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week, which we plan to pilot and explore with local government and schools.

This will include working with Schools in remote and rural communities to pilot new ways of structuring the teaching and learning week, which take account of their local contexts and provide the flexibility they need to address these challenges. This work will allow us to asses impact, and build the data and evidence needed for future national approaches.

Question reference: S6W-42363

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish detailed modelling of the potential impact of a four-day teaching week on (a) learning hours and (b) attainment.

Through the ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have announced a set of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week which we plan to pilot and explore with local government and schools.

We intend to undertake pilot approaches to further develop the most innovative and evidence led solutions to restructuring the teaching and learning week.

The data and evidence we will gather through the pilots, which we wish to begin swiftly, will allow us to model the impact of specific changes, to the teaching and learning week, on a national basis, and demonstrate the efficacy of individual measures and approaches.

Question reference: S6W-42699

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are staff shortages in maternity services and, if so, what steps it is taking to address this.

Question reference: S6W-42735

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of wider access to continuous glucose monitoring systems for children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

Question reference: S6W-42745

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the cost implications for health, education and social services in Scotland arising from the reported increase in immigrant relocations.

Question reference: S6W-42734

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish an audit of diagnostic pathways for paediatric diabetes.

Question reference: S6W-42706

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted on the causes of the increase in avoidable A&E deaths linked to prolonged waits for admission, as reported by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine.