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-01366

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 14 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether its proposed mandatory price cap on essential food items will only apply to those produced in Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-01684

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what specific support pathway exists for male victims of domestic abuse who are also dealing with addiction recovery, family breakdown, child contact loss and suicide risk.

Question reference: S7W-01682

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether current domestic abuse services, addiction services and mental health services are trained to recognise male victimisation, post-separation abuse and coercive control where the victim is male.

Question reference: S7W-01083

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, to prevent future business closures, what plans it has to provide immediate short-term financial aid to pig producers.

The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs announced the Pig Producers Scheme on Friday 10 July. This is a £2 million scheme for independent pig producers in Scotland to help with the significant market challenges facing the sector. The funding aims to support farms most at risk from a prolonged drop in pig prices, and those eligible will be able to claim the difference between the price they received for their pigs and 85% of the Standard Pig Price (SPP). The scheme will open to applications from 15 July, and the support will apply retrospectively to losses incurred since March, with provision for the scheme to continue until the end of August 2026.

Question reference: S7W-01642

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase specialist national provision to support male victims of domestic abuse.

Question reference: S7W-01643

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 10 July 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 7 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to assess the relationship between domestic abuse experienced by men, addiction recovery, suicide risk, family court-related stress, loss of child contact and post-separation coercive control, including factors that can push recovered fathers further away from their children.

Question reference: S7W-01368

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 26 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 9 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what geographical protections are in place to protect producers in Scotland from food fraud.

Scotland has 16 registered product names with the UK’s protected food and drink scheme. This protection is called a Geographical Indication (GI) and is protected as intellectual property. Geographical Indication protection guarantees a product’s characteristics or reputation, authenticity, and origin. It protects the product name from misuse or imitation. The UK GI schemes protect registered product names when they are sold in Great Britain and in some international markets. Northern Ireland is covered by the EU GI scheme. Each product registered with the scheme is subject to rigorous audit on an annual basis by an independent body, most commonly the relevant local authority.

The UK register of protected food names is found here - https://www.gov.uk/protected-food-drink-names

Question reference: S7W-01033

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 9 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Glasgow City Council regarding security planning for major public events in the city.

For any major public events in the city, Glasgow City Council will chair a Safety Advisory Group (SAG). This is a non-statutory body, comprising of council departments and safety and security multi-agency partners, that advises the Council on public safety and licensing for sports grounds and events. The SAG reviews event management plans and provides specialist advice regarding crowd safety, traffic management, and emergency procedures. This is a recognised practice across all Local Authorities and ensures compliance with statutory requirements across a range of safety and security-related legislation. Scottish Government are not a core member of such groups.

For major events, such as the Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2026, the event organiser is also expected to chair a safety and security group with all relevant partners, including Scottish Government, to ensure safety and security risks are planned for, assessed and proportionately mitigated in a collaborative manner.

Question reference: S7W-01087

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 9 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect the long-term future of Scotland's pig processing infrastructure.

The Scottish Government has a strong track record of support for Scotland’s meat processing industry in general, including pig processing. The Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation (FPMC) Grant Scheme has previously provided support to pig processing; details of awards given under the Scheme can be found here: Food-Processing-Marketing-and-Co-operation---Funding-Awards-2014-20-and-2021-24-Nov-2025.pdf.

In addition, the Small Producers Pilot Fund has in recent years provided resource support to explore solutions to challenges surrounding abattoirs and small producers’ access to private kill services. Over £400,000 was invested in 2025-26, and support will continue for small producers with a budget of £1m in resource and £1.5m in capital this year.

The Scottish Government’s Food and Drink Processing Scheme Scotland was open between 17 March and 15 May this year. The competitive Scheme is aimed at supporting the food and drink processing industry through capital grants and is part of a £9 million capital investment package. Applications are currently being assessed.

Question reference: S7W-01085

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 16 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 9 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on Scotland’s pig sector, what representations it has made to the UK Government regarding imposing stricter import controls on pork from countries affected by African swine fever (ASF).

Personal imports of pork from ASF affected countries represent a high risk of bringing the disease to the UK. The Scottish Government recognises the urgent need for more stringent controls on personal imports of animal products from Europe, particularly in light of the spread of ASF in many European countries.

Scottish Ministers have written to previous Defra Secretaries of State on at least six occasions in the last five years, seeking urgent action, in particular calling for increased resources and investment to improve biosecurity standards at border posts.

In November 2019, Scottish Ministers agreed to the establishment of a dedicated detector dog service delivered by Border Force for the detection of products of animal origin (PoAO) in Scotland’s airports and ports. The dogs have been a great addition to the Border Force team and are highly efficient in the detection of PoAO, stopping these products from entering Scotland.