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-00845

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Criminal Justice Programme Board has not met since summer 2024.

We recognise the findings of the Audit Scotland report and the importance of continuing to strengthen governance arrangements. The Scottish Government continues to work with justice partners to improve coordination, oversight and delivery across criminal justice reform work.

Individual areas of work remain subject to the governance arrangements of the relevant justice organisations. However, we are working with partners to strengthen system-wide coordination, including through the proposed Justice Efficiencies and Effectiveness Collaboration group, subject to the necessary resource and support arrangements being put in place.

Question reference: S7W-00798

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a policy in place to ensure that every public building has an accessible defibrillator for use in an emergency.

There is no policy requiring the placement of an accessible defibrillator on every public building, as there is limited evidence that legislation mandating devices in certain locations would improve cardiac arrest outcomes.

Instead, the Scottish Government and Save a Life for Scotland partners use a data-driven, localised approach to increase defibrillator availability and use.

We funded the development of PADmap - Increasing cardiac arrest survival through optimal defibrillator placement, a tool that helps defibrillator guardians identify locations where devices will have the impact. We are also funding the expansion of Cardiac Arrest Rescue Zones (CARe Zones), which support increased defibrillator placement through community engagement.

Question reference: S7W-00846

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 05 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the Justice Efficiencies and Effectiveness Collaboration (JEEC), which first met in August 2025, has not met again since that date or been formally established.

Question reference: S7W-00796

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether police vehicles have a defibrillator as standard practice.

Decisions on equipment within the Police Scotland fleet, including defibrillators, are an operational matter for the Chief Constable.

The Chief Constable is responsible for the policing of Scotland and is accountable to the Scottish Police Authority, rather than to Scottish Ministers directly. Therefore, the information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Police Scotland may be able to provide this information.

Question reference: S7W-00777

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in each of the last five financial years with the group, Total Politics, and for what purpose.

The Scottish Government has spent a total of £25,082.4 in the last 5 financial years with Total Politics for the purpose of Women into Leadership conference tickets and training events. £10,752 in Financial Year 24-25 and £14,330.40 in 25-26.

Financial Year	Total Politics	Reason – Total Politics
2021-22	Nil Spend	N/A
2022 – 23	Nil spend	N/A
2023 – 24	Nil spend	N/A
2024-25	£10,752	Women into Leadership - Conference tickets / training events – all transactions had a similar description
2025-26	£14,330.40	Women into Leadership - Conference tickets / training events – all transactions had a similar description

As these are Electronic Purchase Card (ePC) transactions, any purchases over £500 are published routinely Government spend over £500: monthly reports - gov.scot

Question reference: S7W-00797

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether there is a national defibrillator strategy to ensure that every community has easy access to these in an emergency.

Scotland’s Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Strategy 2021-2026 sets out a national approach to improving survival from cardiac arrest, including work to improve access to defibrillators. We are working with our Save a Life for Scotland partners to improve access to defibrillators by ensuring that they are publicly accessible, registered and to take a data driven approach to their placement.

As part of this strategy, the First Minister has announced an investment of £2.5 million to strengthen local response to cardiac arrest. This includes placing an additional 1,000 – 1,250 defibrillators in areas of greatest need.

Question reference: S7W-00795

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of each emergency service's vehicles currently carry a defibrillator.

Question reference: S7W-01030

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of armed policing capacity in Greater Glasgow.

Question reference: S7W-01029

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding counter-terrorism preparedness in Glasgow.

Question reference: S7W-01026

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has provided any funding to local authorities to support them to prepare for the implementation of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025, and, if so, how much has been provided in each financial year to date.