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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1905 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S6W-38549

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will evaluate local consent for the establishment of any new safer drug consumption rooms in communities.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of securing local consent in the establishment of any new Safer Drug Consumption Facilities (SDCFs). Evaluation of such consent would need to be undertaken by any Health Board area wishing to propose establishing an SDCF and will be guided by inclusive engagement with local partners, including health and social care bodies, local authorities, community representatives and local resident.

Findings from the Thistle evaluation will serve as a reference point, generating key learning on implementation processes, health and social impacts, community-level effects, and cost-effectiveness.

Any future proposals will be subject to careful assessment, must align with public health priorities and reflect local collaboration. They would also need to meet the various requirements set out by the Lord Advocate, including the need for public consultation.

Question reference: S6W-38568

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns from the industry that the proposed building safety levy may worsen the housing crisis.

The Scottish Government recognises the current pressures on housebuilding and the importance of building more homes. We are aware of opposition from industry to the Scottish Building Safety Levy (SBSL). However, no immediate alternative solutions are being offered to address the scale of the funding challenge associated with cladding remediation. With developers contributing to cladding remediation in England through a Building Safety Levy, the Scottish Government considers it fair and proportionate that they are asked to do the same in Scotland.

A key part of our consultation and stakeholder engagement has been to determine to what extent, and in what ways, the SBSL may impact the residential development sector. The Bill includes a range of measures to minimise impacts of the Levy, including:

exemptions for social and affordable housing, and island developments;
an annual Levy-free allowance to support small developers;
the ability to vary rates in accordance with differences in house prices across geographical areas and by the type of land being developed (e.g. greenfield/brownfield);
power to set transitional provisions to deal with developments which span the commencement of the Levy.

The Scottish Government will continue to work with stakeholders to ensure the SBSL operates as frictionless as possible on the housebuilding sector, while raising vital funding for Scotland’s Cladding Remediation Programme, which in turn will rehabilitate existing housing stock and improve the sector as a whole.

Question reference: S6W-38559

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 24 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that more than 400 children a day are targeted by online predators in Scotland.

Protecting children from harm is a key priority for the Scottish Government. Child sexual abuse and exploitation are abhorrent crimes and have a devastating impact on victims and their families. In Scotland, we are working closely with partners to deliver a co-ordinated multi-agency response to preventing child sexual abuse and exploitation in all its forms. We are committed to ensuring that robust measures are in place across Scotland to make sure our services can identify and support victims of online harm, including children and young people.

We are taking forward a range of work with our partners to both prevent abuse and intervene early to ensure that risk and harm to children and young people is recognised and acted on quickly and effectively. This includes the establishment of a new National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group, comprising of operational partners, including Police Scotland, and other expert stakeholders, to review current action and agree where additional focus is needed to better protect children from abuse and exploitation, including online-enabled harm. This group’s overarching priority is prevention. Members are working together to identify priorities and actions to more effectively prevent, disrupt and provide support to victims of child sexual abuse and their families, including those facing online harms.

The Scottish Government is also a member of Police Scotland’s Multi-Agency Group on Preventing Online Child Sexual Abuse which monitors emerging online threats to develop a shared approach to using technological advancements to tackle abuse, improve data-gathering, improve support for victims and survivors and promote key activities delivered by our partners.

While regulation of the internet remains a reserved matter, we have successfully engaged with the UK Government on its Online Safety Act to strengthen protections for young people. The Scottish Government is also working closely with the UK Government on extending relevant Crime and Policing Bill provisions to Scotland, including offences relating to the possession, creation and distribution of Artificial Intelligence tools designed to create child sexual abuse material.

It is also important to emphasise the responsibility of tech firms in protecting children and young people. This is why I met Ofcom in August and again last week alongside the Minister for Community Safety to ensure pressure is put on tech companies to deliver effective safeguards for young people online, including the need for more prescriptive guidance to providers. The First Minister wrote directly to tech firms last year to remind them of their responsibilities and, alongside the Minister for Victims and Community Safety, I recently wrote to social media companies to invite them to meet to discuss the protection of children and young people from online harm.

We will continue to engage with the UK Government and Ofcom on implementation of legislation and to press for stronger protections to help keep children and young people in Scotland safe online.

Question reference: S6W-38680

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the total cost of all public inquiries in each year since 2015.

Question reference: S6W-38679

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns of the Scottish Police Federation that public inquiries are having a "detrimental impact" on policing.

Question reference: S6W-38665

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it is appropriate that the First Minister has appointed 16 special advisers, and how this compares to the number of special advisers appointed by former First Ministers.

Question reference: S6W-38677

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 13 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect households from any cold-call scams linked to green energy grants.

Consumer Scotland, as the statutory independent consumer body in Scotland, has responsibility for overseeing scams prevention and awareness work. In addition, the Scottish Government funds a post in Trading Standards Scotland to help minimise the scale and impact of energy efficiency related scams before they cause any consumer detriment.

The Scottish Government funds the Home Energy Scotland (HES) advice service, which provides free, impartial and bespoke advice and support for energy efficiency, clean heating and fuel poverty for all households in Scotland. HES is also the route for access to various Scottish Government grants and loans. No Scottish Government funding schemes participate in cold calling. We recommend that households call HES if they are unsure if a Scottish energy efficiency scheme is genuine.

Consumers can also contact the Scottish Government-funded consumer helpline, Advice Direct Scotland, to report any suspicious schemes and seek guidance on action.

Question reference: S6W-38670

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 23 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans it has in place to maintain legal representation services in the event of industrial action by the Solicitor Contact Line.

I have asked Colin Lancaster, Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board to respond. His response is as follows:-

Business continuity arrangements already exist for the Solicitor Contact Line (SLC). Should the GMB Union notify SLAB that their SCL members intend to progress to industrial action, SLAB will consider whether further contingency planning is needed to mitigate any potential impact of that action on those in police custody who do not already have a solicitor.

SLAB’s approach to discussions with the GMB has been collaborative and consultative. SLAB continues to engage regularly with the GMB and SCL staff. GMB is supportive of engaging with ACAS, which SLAB is currently arranging.

Question reference: S6W-38673

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 23 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding has been allocated to the cladding remediation programme to date, and how much of this funding has been spent.

Question reference: S6W-38534

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 23 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reported findings from the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) survey that 44% of teachers work the equivalent of an extra day each week.

The Scottish Government values the teaching profession and the important work that teachers do.

We are clear that reducing teachers’ class contact time by 90 minutes per week will help address critical concerns around teacher workload, thereby creating the space to drive improvement and reform in our schools and improve outcomes for pupils.

Reduction of teachers class contact time is ultimately a matter which will require agreement from the whole Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, and we will continue to work with COSLA and the teaching unions to make meaningful progress on this important commitment.