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-04567

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government which NHS boards are a) offering thrombectomy procedures to eligible patients and b) not yet offering thrombectomy procedures to eligible patients.

Question reference: S7W-04577

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the characteristics of school leavers who move from a positive initial destination to a non-positive follow-up destination, including differences by (a) ethnicity, (b) sex and (c) socioeconomic background.

Question reference: S7W-04578

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what targeted support is available to groups of young people with lower rates of participation in education, employment or training, broken down by specific group, and what evaluation it has undertaken of the effectiveness of that support in reducing inequalities by (a) ethnicity, (b) sex and (c) socioeconomic background.

Question reference: S7W-04589

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 11 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether local authorities were consulted prior to any decision to tender the future provision of the Scottish Education Management Information System (SEEMiS) and, if so, which local authorities were consulted.

Question reference: S7W-03933

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 02 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 28 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-02880 by Angela Constance on 17 September 2026, when it plans to integrate prison healthcare IT systems with GP IT systems following the completion of the rollout of the Vision system, which is expected by mid-2027.

The prison IT healthcare system uses the same core Vision clinical system that is being rolled out across GP practices in Scotland and is expected to be fully deployed by mid-2027. This will support greater sharing of information between prison healthcare services and community GP practices.

The timing of any further integration will depend on the completion of supporting work, including enhanced data-sharing functionality, appropriate information governance arrangements, and improvements to the transfer of clinical information when people enter or leave custody.

The Scottish Government and NHS partners will continue to consider opportunities for further integration as these programmes progress.

Question reference: S7W-03828

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) Thematic Inspection of Police Response to Drug Harm Reduction stating that police officers should not be filling gaps left by other agencies, what action it is taking to ensure that people experiencing mental health crises receive support from the most appropriate service.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that people receive the right support, in the right place, at the right time and reducing the demand on officer time.

Progress to date was discussed at a recent members debate S7M-01039, questions in the chamber S7O-00252 on 22 September 2026 and at Criminal Justice Committee – where Assistant Inspector of Constabulary Brian McInulty highlighted that: ‘Six recommendations have been closed off and eight are in progress. My assessment is that there has been significant progress.’

The Programme for Government sets out further actions and reinforces our prevention-first approach.

All answers to oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

Question reference: S7W-03829

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 27 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland (HMICS) Thematic Inspection of Police Response to Drug Harm Reduction finding that Police Scotland has no published national drug harm reduction strategy, what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding the publication of such a strategy.

Drug and Alcohol Support Division officials meet with Police Scotland colleagues on a regular basis and as part of that have discussed the HMICS inspection and subsequent recommendations. These included the recommendation that Police Scotland ‘should publish a clear policy on drug harm reduction, ensuring it is accessible to officers, staff and partner agencies to support a consistent and co-ordinated approach’.

Police Scotland are key partners to Scottish Government in our efforts to reduce drug deaths and harms. As a result, discussion around the implementation plan in respect of the HMICS recommendations has taken place and further updates are provided by Police Scotland colleagues at Police Scotland Drug Strategy Board meetings.

Question reference: S7W-03731

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 26 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many students receiving support from the Student Awards Agency Scotland are recorded as (a) living at the parental home and (b) living away from the parental home during their studies, broken down by year since 2016-17 and, if available, by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation quintile.

Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) does not collect the information requested, as Higher Education student support is not assessed on the basis of whether an individual resides in the parental home or lives away from the parental home during their studies.

SAAS does publish information relating to supported students by Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile within its annual statistical publication. However, these figures represent the overall population of full-time supported Higher Education students for whom SIMD data is available. The published data is not segmented according to whether students live in the parental home or away from home.

The available SIMD information for the period held is set out in the following table:

Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) analysis of full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students (all support), 2016-17 to 2025-26
	Statistic	Most deprived				Least deprived
	Statistic	SIMD 1	SIMD 2	SIMD 3	SIMD 4	SIMD 5	All full-time students matched to SIMD
2016-17	Number of students	19,960	21,090	24,985	29,090	35,250	130,375
	Percentage composition	15.3%	16.2%	19.2%	22.3%	27.0%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	140.0	138.1	155.6	173.9	196.7	804.3
	Average per student	7,010	6,550	6,230	5,980	5,580	6,170
2017-18	Number of students	21,635	22,175	25,175	29,450	36,775	135,210
	Percentage composition	16.0%	16.4%	18.6%	21.8%	27.2%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	153.3	147.7	160.2	177.6	212.2	851.0
	Average per student	7,080	6,660	6,360	6,030	5,770	6,290
2018-19	Number of students	22,340	22,195	25,355	29,765	36,760	136,420
	Percentage composition	16.4%	16.3%	18.6%	21.8%	26.9%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	158.7	148.4	161.6	180.8	214.0	863.4
	Average per student	7,100	6,680	6,380	6,070	5,820	6,330
2019-20	Number of students	22,805	22,130	25,000	29,675	36,630	136,240
	Percentage composition	16.7%	16.2%	18.3%	21.8%	26.9%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	165.4	151.1	163.4	184.2	218.3	882.5
	Average per student	7,250	6,830	6,540	6,210	5,960	6,480
2020-21	Number of students	23,845	23,740	25,840	31,650	38,260	143,335
	Percentage composition	16.6%	16.6%	18.0%	22.1%	26.7%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	169.9	159.9	166.6	195.5	225.4	917.3
	Average per student	7,120	6,740	6,450	6,180	5,890	6,400
2021-22	Number of students	22,870	22,870	24,945	30,650	37,350	138,685
	Percentage composition	16.5%	16.5%	18.0%	22.1%	26.9%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	157.6	148.9	156.5	185.3	217.5	865.8
	Average per student	6,890	6,510	6,270	6,050	5,820	6,240
2022-23	Number of students	21,245	21,140	23,295	29,390	36,010	131,080
	Percentage composition	16.2%	16.1%	17.8%	22.4%	27.5%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	149.9	141.9	150.6	182.3	215.2	839.8
	Average per student (£)	7,050	6,710	6,460	6,200	5,980	6,410
2023-24	Number of students	21,155	20,765	22,830	29,275	35,650	129,670
	Percentage composition	16.3%	16.0%	17.6%	22.6%	27.5%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	161.2	150.8	159.7	197.8	230.6	900.1
	Average per student (£)	7,620	7,260	7,000	6,760	6,470	6,940
2024-25	Number of students	21,925	21,260	23,055	29,845	36,705	132,790
	Percentage composition	16.5%	16.0%	17.4%	22.5%	27.6%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	205.1	187.9	195.0	242.3	284.7	1,115.0
	Average per student (£)	9,350	8,840	8,460	8,120	7,760	8,400
2025-26	Number of students	22,555	22,115	23,620	31,110	37,515	136,915
	Percentage composition	16.5%	16.2%	17.3%	22.7%	27.4%	[z]
	Amount (£ million)	209.0	193.6	197.3	247.1	284.5	1,131.5
	Average per student (£)	9,265	8,755	8,350	7,945	7,585	8,265

Source: SAAS

Note: Analysis is based on those students where the provided home address is a valid Scottish postcode. Home address is that provided by the student and may not necessarily reflect where their permanent residence is - for example, they may declare their term-time address as being the home address. As such the analysis may not reflect the actual residence circumstances of the students.

Note: Data for 2016-17 is based on SIMD 2012, data for years 2017-18 to 2019-20 is based on SIMD 2016 and data for years 2020-21 to 2025-26 is based on SIMD 2020.

z – not applicable

Question reference: S7W-03729

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Alyn Smith on 26 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the extent to which the cost and availability of student accommodation is resulting in more students choosing to live at home while attending university.

UCAS recently started to publish data on a student’s intention to stay at home, however they do not collect information on the reasons why students make this choice.

Latest data from UCAS shows that 48.4% of Scottish 18 years old intend to live at home.

Published data from the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) shows that the number of students actually choosing to stay at home while studying has remained steady over the last 3 years.

Scottish Government commissioned research by the UK Collaborative Centre for Housing Evidence (CaCHe) in 2022 on students’ experiences of PBSA, including affordability and accommodation choices. Only 3.5% of respondents to that research were living at home, and so the findings were not conclusive.

Question reference: S7W-03717

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 26 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to preventing vape shops from operating in listed, historic or other architecturally significant buildings, in light of the potential fire risk associated with the storage and charging of lithium-ion batteries and the vulnerability of historic buildings to fire.