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: S6O-04887

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 27 August 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with local authorities regarding solutions to the housing emergency.

Question reference: S6W-39688

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 01 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many community safety or outreach patrols it funded in 2024-25 to support drug users.

Scottish Government provide funding to local areas to allocate as appropriate based on local need. Decisions about the need for community safety or outreach patrols will be for local areas to take.

Details of 2024-25 ADP funding and activity are set out in the annual funding letter which you can access here: https://www.gov.scot/publications/alcohol-drug-partnership-adp-letters-2024-25/

In addition, details of the National Drugs Mission funds, administered by the Corra Foundation support a range of projects are also available here: https://www.corra.scot/funding/grant-holder-data/

Question reference: S6W-39687

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 31 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what research it has commissioned into the effects of nitazenes and their prevalence in Scotland.

No specific research has been commissioned into the effects of nitazenes and their prevalence in Scotland. However we do draw on the international evidence base through our public health surveillance system. Since the first detection of these substances in Scotland in 2021, Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland (PHS) have worked closely to monitor the prevalence of these substances and to provide regular updates and alerts to those using drugs and those working in drug treatment services.

PHS publishes on a quarterly basis, accessible, up-to-date information on services, harms and emerging drug trends, via the Rapid Action Drug Alerts and Response (RADAR) early warning system. This includes a range of information relating to nitazenes and can be found here: https://publichealthscotland.scot/population-health/improving-scotlands-health/drugs/surveillance/rapid-action-drug-alerts-and-response-radar.

Question reference: S6W-39759

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 26 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to support retraining for any oil and gas workers who have lost their jobs as a result of the energy transition.

Scotland’s valued and highly skilled oil and gas workers must be at the heart of a just energy transition, and the Scottish Government is supporting the workforce with the powers available to us.

In its first two years our Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray has allocated £9.7m to support a package of skills interventions, including development of the Energy Transition Skills Hub in Aberdeen, a pilot scheme with the National Energy Skills Accelerator to determine the skills required for an energy transition and support for the industry-led development of an Energy Skills Passport. More widely, we will invest a further £8.5m of capital funding through the Fund this year, on projects with a focus on jobs, skills and economic opportunities to continue to support our transition in the region.

The Scottish Government, in partnership with the UK Government, has recently launched a new Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund to help support offshore workers transition to roles in sustainable energy sectors.

We have also funded, alongside the UK Government, a targeted Skills intervention for workers facing redundancy as a result of the closure of the Grangemouth refinery. While the scheme is still ongoing, workers are already successfully progressing into good quality jobs, including in low-carbon industries.

In the unfortunate event of any employees facing redundancy, the Scottish Government will also always offer and provide support through Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, PACE. By providing skills development and employability support, PACE aims to minimise the time individuals are affected by redundancy are out of work.

Question reference: S6W-39769

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what share of recorded patient falls occurred in NHS facilities known to be in poor condition or scheduled for replacement.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information on the reasons for patient falls. Each NHS board is responsible for recording, assessing and investigating (if necessary), the reason for a patient fall. This investigation would include whether the condition of the NHS facilities was a factor.

The Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP), hosted by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, provides ongoing practical improvement support to Boards. Since 2021, SPSP has delivered a programme to reduce the rate of inpatient falls. The most recent data from this work (see report published December 2024) demonstrates that the national median rate of inpatient falls in acute hospitals had sustained a decrease of 9% (when compared to baseline data beginning in 2021). This programme of work will continue to support improvement in the years ahead.

Question reference: S6W-39768

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 21 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reasons for the reported increase in patient falls recorded in hospitals since 2019.

The Scottish Government wants all care delivered within the NHS in Scotland to be safe, effective and person-centred. As part of that, the Scottish Government established the Scottish Patient Safety Programme (SPSP), hosted by Healthcare Improvement Scotland, which provides ongoing practical improvement support to Boards. Since 2021, SPSP has delivered a programme to reduce the rate of inpatient falls. The most recent data from this work (report published December 2024: 20241211-spsp-acute-adult-collaborative-full-impact-report-v10.pdf) demonstrates that the national median rate of inpatient falls in acute hospitals had sustained a decrease of 9% (when compared to baseline data beginning in 2021). This programme of work will continue to support improvement in the years ahead.

Question reference: S6W-39750

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 20 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will suspend any further decisions on the Flamingo Land Lomond Banks development until all reported concerns about potential document falsification are resolved.

Question reference: S6W-39752

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it reportedly approved the purchase of the Glen Prosen estate without a published management plan.

The Forestry and Land Management (Scotland) Act 2018 grants FLS the powers to enter arrangements, acquire land by agreement, and/or compulsory purchase land.

Following acquisition, FLS has undertaken extensive public and stakeholder consultation, and environmental survey work, to enable the development of a comprehensive Land Management Plan to meet the aims and objectives for the acquisition.

The process undertaken by FLS to establish a Land Management Plan for Glen Prosen for subsequent approval by Scottish Forestry, follows current best practice and current legislative requirements.

Question reference: S6W-39753

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 05 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what return on investment it anticipates from the £17.6 million spent on the Glen Prosen estate.

Question reference: S6W-39770

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 August 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 20 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the percentage of total hospital buildings that currently fail basic modern safety standards for older and vulnerable patients.

While the condition and suitability of the NHS estate is assessed, these assessments are not typically presented as a single percentage of buildings failing "basic modern safety standards," but rather through a detailed, risk-based classification system. The data is managed by NHS Boards with buildings categorised based on their physical condition and functional suitability.

Through measures such as backlog maintenance and functional suitability, we are aware that parts of the NHS estate require additional investment, which is why this year we intend to invest an additional £100 million in funding in 2025-26 to support maintenance-only business continuity investment plans, which prioritises investment based on a risk-based assessment of NHS Boards infrastructure. This is in addition to a 5% uplift to core capital funding provided to boards to support maintenance and improvement of the NHS estate.