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-04092

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 23 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the 2026 Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to “continue to work with campaigners to advance consideration” of reopening rail services to Ellon, Peterhead and Fraserburgh, what specific action it has taken.

Since publication of the 2026 SNP manifesto, Transport Scotland has continued to work with regional partners to advance consideration of proposals to reintroduce rail services to Ellon, Peterhead and Fraserburgh.

Following receipt of the 2024 Case for Change and Preliminary Options Appraisal, further work was identified to strengthen the evidence base, including consideration of future freight demand. In February 2025, Transport Scotland agreed to support Nestrans, Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce and the Campaign for North East Rail (CNER) in taking this work forward.

Nestrans is now leading the Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Ellon Corridor Place Based Connectivity Assessment, with support from Transport Scotland. The study is expected to conclude in early 2027, after which any next steps will be considered through the established transport appraisal process.

Question reference: S7W-04094

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 23 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the next decision point will be following the completion of the further work by Nestrans on rail connectivity to Ellon, Peterhead and Fraserburgh, and what criteria it will use to determine whether the proposal progresses to a Transport Scotland business case.

As set out in the answer to question S7W-04092 on 23 October 2026, additional work is currently being undertaken by Nestrans.

Following consideration of the findings, a decision will be taken on whether the proposals should progress further through the transport appraisal process. Any such decision will be made in line with the Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) and established transport appraisal and business case processes, taking account of the evidence base, strategic fit, value for money, affordability and deliverability.

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: S7W-04093

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 23 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the scope and purpose is of the Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Ellon Corridor Place Based Connectivity Assessment being commissioned by Nestrans, and whether it will assess the feasibility and business case for reinstating passenger and freight rail services to these towns.

The Peterhead, Fraserburgh and Ellon Corridor Place Based Connectivity Assessment is being led by Nestrans to strengthen the evidence base for improving connectivity in the corridor. This includes consideration of future passenger and freight demand, including for rail.

The study is not a business case and no decisions have been taken on the progression of rail proposals. Any future appraisal by Transport Scotland will be considered once the study has concluded, in line with the established transport appraisal process.

Question reference: S7W-04075

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 23 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions (a) ministers and (b) its staff have flown (i) out of and (ii) in to Glasgow Prestwick Airport since 2021, broken down by year.

Question reference: S7W-04076

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 22 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of the electric vehicle charge points managed by ChargePlace Scotland, broken down by local authority area and whether the charge points are (a) slow, (b) fast, (c) rapid or (d) ultra-rapid.

The following table shows the number of public electric vehicle charge points managed by ChargePlace Scotland on behalf of charge point owners, broken down by local authority area and charge point type.

These figures are based on the ChargePlace Scotland asset register data and represent the position as at 9 October 2026.

Local Authority Area	Slow	Fast	Rapid	Ultra-rapid
Aberdeen	0	3	0	0
Aberdeenshire	12	4	0	0
Angus	7	27	23	0
Argyll and Bute	3	10	0	0
City of Edinburgh	6	2	1	0
Clackmannanshire	17	15	5	0
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	0	8	2	0
Dumfries and Galloway	130	27	21	0
Dundee	15	4	0	0
East Ayrshire	22	32	14	0
East Dunbartonshire	5	17	4	0
East Lothian	9	11	0	0
East Renfrewshire	10	7	5	0
Falkirk	30	31	20	1
Fife	59	48	10	0
Glasgow City	117	86	20	1
Highland	16	12	0	0
Inverclyde	0	26	3	0
Midlothian	15	38	4	0
Moray	0	7	0	0
North Ayrshire	17	17	18	0
North Lanarkshire	61	49	33	0
Orkney Islands	0	3	7	0
Perth and Kinross	15	33	31	0
Renfrewshire	40	13	15	0
Scottish Borders	10	9	18	0
Shetland Islands	0	3	0	0
South Ayrshire	12	18	8	0
South Lanarkshire	42	79	38	0
Stirling	68	52	15	0
West Dunbartonshire	13	6	4	0
West Lothian	23	16	13	0
Scotland Total	774	713	332	2

Question reference: S7W-04392

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 21 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 18 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it remains its policy that there should be a presumption against new exploration for oil and gas, as set out in its Draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan and, if not, (a) when and (b) for what reason that policy was changed.

Question reference: S7W-02079

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 2 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-01538 by Stephen Gethins on 23 July 2026, which states that officials have been monitoring the scheme on an on-going basis and that consideration has been given to any adaptations that can be made since the scheme launched on 1 April 2026, what adaptations (a) have actually been made, (b) were proposed as being prudent, necessary or advisable but were not made, and who made such a decision.

The Scottish Government has recently announced that the Scottish Emergency Heating Oil Scheme is to be extended into winter, ensuring the most vulnerable households are supported throughout winter as prices remain volatile.

Alongside the extension of the scheme, I would encourage households that use heating oil or LPG to contact Home Energy Scotland for free and impartial advice on reducing energy bills, improving energy efficiency and exploring clean heating options. Advisers can help households identify the support available to them and navigate funding schemes for home energy improvements.

No other adaptations/amendments have been made to the scheme. Officials continuously monitor the scheme ensuring it is targeted at those most in need; any decisions on adaptations/amendments will be made by Scottish Ministers and communicated accordingly.

Question reference: S7W-03391

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 1 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government (a) whether it will provide an update or make a statement to Parliament on whether the A90/A937 Laurencekirk Junction Improvement Scheme will be delivered as part of its Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline 2026-2030 or its post-2031 Development Pipeline and, if so, when it provide such an update, and (b) what criteria it uses to determine whether Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline 2026-2030 projects should be transferred to the Development Pipeline.

The A90/A937 Laurencekirk Junction Improvement Scheme is currently included in the Development Pipeline as set out in Annex B of the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline 2026. Annex C of the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline 2026 sets out that projects in Annex B, which includes Laurencekirk, will be added to the Delivery Pipeline once the statutory authorisation process has been completed and the project Outline Business Case and funding are agreed.

Question reference: S7O-00375

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 8 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of NHS Grampian’s preparedness to respond to any further cases of measles.

Question reference: S7W-03423

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 29 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether emails sent or received by special advisers via official Scottish Government email accounts are considered to be information that is held by the Scottish Government for the purposes of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Calendar year	Ministers	Officials
2021	0	0
2022	0	0
2023	0	0
2024	1	1
2025	0	0
2026	0	0