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: S6W-36928

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many secondary schools are currently rated as posing a (a) moderate and (b) high risk to life safety in the event of a fire.

It is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate, therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Schools do not generally fall into high-risk to persons from fire, due to their numbers of access and egress points, familiarity of occupants, regular training and drills, and ordinarily users are non-sleeping.

However, if there were concerns raised to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) regarding perceived high levels of risk to life from fire, the SFRS would undertake an urgent audit and, if necessary, could prohibit the use, or parts, of a school until the situation was satisfactorily rectified.

Question reference: S6W-37788

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 29 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of how many barber shops in Scotland are linked to money laundering, and what steps are being taken to tackle any such incidences of financial crime.

Question reference: S6W-37025

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to publish a detailed comparative analysis of any differences in post-S4 retention rates between Scotland and the rest of the UK.

Question reference: S6W-36929

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 28 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether schools that have been assessed as having “inadequate” means of escape and “intolerable” housekeeping standards should remain open to pupils.

Although, it is the statutory responsibility of local authorities to manage their school estate, we expect them to provide safe learning environments for all school users.

If there were concerns raised to Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) regarding perceived high levels of risk to life from fire, the SFRS would undertake an urgent audit and ultimately could, if necessary, prohibit the use, or parts, of a school until the situation was satisfactorily rectified.

Question reference: S6F-04139

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 27 May 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 May 2025

To ask the First Minister, in light of it being almost five years since the Scottish Government committed to spending £60 million to renew every play park in Scotland and of reports that less than half of the funding has been spent, what action the Scottish Government is taking to ensure that children do not miss out on renewed facilities.

Question reference: S6W-37026

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 19 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to its public service reform programme, what proportion of its planned £280 million savings by the end of 2024-25 will have come from reductions in pay costs for the board members of (a) public sector and (b) other non-departmental bodies.

The Scottish Government is committed to driving key efficiency programmes such as Scottish Single Estates, Commercial Value for Money (CVfM), Collaborative Procurement frameworks, the Intelligence Automation Centre of Excellence, and Digital programme. There has been strong progress across these programmes which are expected to reach up to £280 million of cost avoidance and cash releasing savings over a two-year period by the end of 2024-25. This figure is not related to pay costs for board members of public sector or other non-departmental bodies.

Question reference: S6W-37629

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many representations it has received from parents, schools and MSPs in the last five years regarding bereavement-based appeals not being accepted by the SQA.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-37627 on 27 May 2025.

The following table sets out any representations that officials have identified as being received by the Scottish Government referencing bereavement-based exceptional circumstances or appeals arrangements in relation to the National Qualifications.

It should be borne in mind that different exceptional circumstances and appeals arrangements were in place in 2020, 2021 and 2022 as a result of the alternative awarding processes in place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Year	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
Representations on bereavement based EECCS or appeals	One case identified from an individual on behalf of young people raising concerns around the approach taken to appeals in 2020.	One case identified from an MSP on behalf of a parent raising concern about school and SQA handling of a bereavement request under different awarding approach taken in 2021.	One case identified from a parent raising concerns about grade awarded through EECCS request.	One case identified from a parent raising concerns about the EECCS process in relation to a bereavement where insufficient evidence available.	No cases identified.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

Question reference: S6W-37674

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it spent £2,609.78 on belongto.org on 12 March 2025.

The Ireland Scotland Joint Bilateral Review 2021-25, co-produced by both Scottish and Irish governments, recognises the strong cultural and people-to-people links between the two countries and commits to strengthening these.

The funding from the Scottish Government to Belong To in Ireland is a contribution to the Empowering Voices project, which is also supported by the Welsh Government and British Council. The project is coordinated by Belong To (Ireland), and involves LGBT Youth Scotland (Scotland), Education Authority (Northern Ireland), The Proud Trust (England), and Viva LGBT+ (Wales). The project provides a platform for young LGBT+ people from each of the five nations to share their lived experiences.

Question reference: S6W-36975

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the main reasons are for the highest S4 school leaver numbers in more than a decade, in light of recent statistics for 2023-24.

While the percentage of school leavers in S4 remains unchanged in 2023-24 from the previous year at 14.4%, we acknowledge the importance of understanding the factors influencing early school leaving.

After a rise last year, the Scottish Government have been exploring with partners factors influencing young people deciding to leave school at S4. These include the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost of living crisis, and also an increase in availability of entry-level jobs.

We are continuing to work with our partners to find ways to support young people to stay in learning.

Scotland continues to demonstrate strong participation in education among 15–19-year-olds, as recognised by the OECD, with over half of pupils (57.1%) leaving school at S6.

Question reference: S6W-36973

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 May 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 27 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that any ideological language or policies do not undermine the professional judgment of staff working with vulnerable young people.

There are a range of approaches in place which support the prevention of harm to vulnerable young people by those who work with them.

If an organisation has employees or volunteers doing a regulated role, it has a legal duty to report harmful behaviour to Disclosure Scotland. This duty applies whether the person is a member of the PVG scheme or not.

There are also a range or regulatory organisations whose function are to maintain professional standards. For example, the General Teaching Council for Scotland.

We are committed to tackling the underlying issues which influence ideologies and seek to protect the rights of all young people. For example, in schools we have undertaken work, aligned to the implementation of the Equality Act to prevent discrimination; through challenging racism, misogyny, and bullying and through approaches such as LGBT Inclusive Education and Supporting Transgender Young people in Schools Guidance which makes clear the responsibility of schools to support young people who are considering or who have changed their gender identity in order to ensure that they do not experience discrimination within schools and can reach their full potential.