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-00124

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 May 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds regarding vacancy rates for (a) nurses, (b) midwives and (c) other frontline NHS staff, in each NHS board area, in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S7W-00400

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 26 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 May 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what portfolio responsibilities are held by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice currently.

Question reference: S7W-00104

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 28 May 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what national guidance currently exists regarding the installation and use of panic alarm or emergency alert systems in schools.

Local authorities hold statutory responsibility for managing and maintaining their school estate, and have guidance and procedures in place to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of children and young people.

In June 2025 the Scottish Government published guidance on risk assessments for violent, aggressive and dangerous behaviour. This supports schools to manage situations where there is considered to be a foreseeable risk of harm occurring or a pattern of behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause harm to self or others. Evidence-based risk assessments support the understanding of the behaviour and inform planning of appropriate control measures and mitigations. Decisions on specific risk-mitigation measures are matters for individual schools.

Question reference: S7W-00113

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 28 May 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds regarding the total amount paid out by each local authority in each of the last five years in compensation claims relating to vehicle damage caused by potholes.

Local authorities have a duty under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984 to manage and maintain local roads in their area and duties under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of traffic.

The Scottish Government does not hold information regarding the total amount paid out by each local authority in compensation claims relating to vehicle damage caused by potholes.

Question reference: S7W-00111

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 May 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any potential impact that the reported shortages of newly qualified nurses could have on NHS staffing levels and patient safety, over the next five years.

The nursing workforce has increased by 16.0% over the last decade to 65,350.2 whole time equivalent (WTE) staff as at December 2025.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with NHS Education for Scotland (NES), now part of Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSDS), to develop a workforce planning tool to assess the future size and shape of the workforce. This tool uses historical inflows and outflows, including student intake data, to support projections of future workforce requirements.

This enables NHS Boards to plan their future workforce needs effectively. Workforce considerations are reflected in the student intake process and inform decisions on setting student intake targets.

The Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Act places duties on Health Boards to ensure that at all times suitably qualified and competent individuals are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health, wellbeing and safety of patients, the provision of high-quality care and the wellbeing of staff. Ultimately, responsibility for recruitment lies with Health Boards, which must ensure safe and effective staffing levels are in place to deliver services.

Question reference: S7O-00015

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 May 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what actions it will take to help ensure clear and transparent sentencing.

Question reference: S7W-00114

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 26 May 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the local road network is currently classified as requiring maintenance or repair, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S6W-44058

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 18 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what briefings have been provided to the First Minister by the Lord Advocate on Operation Branchform that have not yet been disclosed to the Parliament.

I explained to Parliament on 18 and 25 February and in my letter to the Presiding Officer on 24 February 2026, in respect of the case known as Operation Branchform, that I did not provide briefings on the case to the First Minister. I provided limited factual information to the government on two occasions, first, on his appearance in court on petition in March 2025 and then again on the service of the indictment in January 2026.

Question reference: S6O-05651

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what further support provisions will be available to Alexander Dennis following the expiration of the current £4 million support package this month.

Question reference: S6O-05642

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to reduce the number of violent and disruptive incidents in schools.