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-00894

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many knives have been seized by Police Scotland over the last five years.

Data provided by Police Scotland shows the number of stop and searches where an item categorised as ‘bladed instrument’ was found. However, more than one type of item can be recovered in a stop and search. These figures do not reflect the quantities of items that were recovered. The additional categories for weapon recoveries include, ‘blunt instrument’, ‘pointed article’ and ‘other weapon’.

Year Bladed Instrument (positive stop search)

2020-21 561

2021-22 458

2022-23 457

2023-24 550

2024-25 528

2025-26 569

Question reference: S7W-01000

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 12 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 19 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-00117 by Kirsten Oswald on 29 May 2026 and in light of reported comments by the First Minister regarding the Northern Ireland Troubles and Sinn Féin, whether any ministers have met with veterans groups on the matter.

Question reference: S7W-00778

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 18 June 2026

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

The Scottish Government has spent a total of £2,577.32 in the last 5 financial years with Dance Ireland for the purpose of Supporting Dance Ireland/ Dance base Exchange Programme. £2,577.32 in Financial Year 2024-25 is the only expenditure.

Financial Year	Dance Ireland	Reason – Dance Ireland
2021-22	Nil spend	N/A
2022 – 23	Nil spend	N/A
2023 – 24	Nil spend	N/A
2024-25	£2,577.32	Support of Dance Ireland/ Dance base Exchange Programme
2025-26	Nil spend	N/A
Total	£2,577.32

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: S7O-00104

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 June 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 23 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to improve openness, transparency and accountability across the public sector.

Question reference: S7W-00888

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 16 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government by what date the procurement of AI in stroke diagnosis will be finalised, and what the timetable is for delivery.

Question reference: S7W-00850

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, in light of the Audit Scotland report, Criminal Courts Backlog Follow-Up, what action it will take to address challenges within the transformational change programme, including (a) insufficient staff, (b) a lack of coordination and oversight of projects led by various justice partners, (c) ineffective management of risks, and (d) complex governance and accountability arrangements.

Question reference: S7W-00851

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, in light of the Audit Scotland report, Criminal Courts Backlog Follow-Up, for what reason was the body worn video pilot rolled out without any formal evaluation of its impact.

Audit Scotland’s follow-up report recognises significant progress in reducing the court backlog since its peak in 2022. This reflects targeted investment from the Scottish Government and positive collaboration across justice partners.

On body worn video, decisions on operational deployment are rightly for the Chief Constable, based on policing priorities and operational need.

However, it is important to be clear that body worn video is not new or untested technology. Its benefits are already well established across policing in other parts of the UK and internationally. It can improve the quality of evidence, support earlier guilty pleas, reduce demands on officer time, and enhance transparency and public confidence in policing.

It also has clear benefits for officer and public safety, helping to de-escalate incidents and provide an accurate record of interactions, which is of particular value to victims and witnesses.

Police Scotland has now completed the rollout to the first planned tranche of 10,500 devices and is considering next steps. This has been made possible through record Scottish Government investment of over £1.7 billion in policing for 2026–27.

The Scottish Government will continue to support Police Scotland and justice partners to ensure that this technology delivers its full potential, including contributing to a more efficient justice system and improved outcomes for victims.

Question reference: S7W-00849

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, in light of the Audit Scotland report, Criminal Courts Backlog Follow-Up, how it plans to address the persistent vacancies in the criminal justice system.

The Scottish Government recognises the workforce pressures across the criminal justice system identified by Audit Scotland, including the impact that the increasing volume of serious and complex cases is having on the system.

Recruitment and retention are operational matters for individual justice bodies. The Scottish Government is supporting partners through funding, workforce planning and reform, and will continue to work with partners to improve system capacity, agree clear priorities and responsibilities, and assess the resources required to support sustainable reform.

Question reference: S7W-00843

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, in light of reports that the number of outstanding High Court trials reached 1,002 at the end of 2025-26, what measures are being taken to increase capacity within the courts system.

The Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) is an independent body with its own board led by the Lord President. The efficient disposal of business with the courts system is a matter for the Lord President.

For 2026-27, £153.5m of resource funding has been provided for SCTS – this is an increase of £5.6m 4.5%) compared to the published opening 2025-26 budget to support increased workforce, operational and judicial costs. The allocation of the budget is a decision for the SCTS board.

Question reference: S7W-00855

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, in light of the Audit Scotland report, Criminal Courts Backlog Follow-Up, and given its acknowledgement that previous engagement with the third sector was too late to be effective, what action it is taking to ensure that third sector partners are formally involved from the outset in shaping the refreshed 2026 strategy.

We acknowledge Audit Scotland’s findings that engagement with the third sector on the Delivery Plan happened late in the process. However, engagement with stakeholders is a key part of the policy process ensuring our key stakeholders were involved in the activities that were reflected in the plan. We are working with our partners on the next version of the delivery plan and appropriate engagement with stakeholders will be considered as part of that process.