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-00014

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of Award of DSF – Jury Deliberation Research, in February 2026, what methodology will be used for the research commissioned that will explore jury deliberations in rape and attempted rape cases, including whether jurors will be interviewed, surveyed, observed or otherwise asked to disclose information about their deliberations and, if so, what safeguards it will put in place for (a) juror confidentiality, (b) complainer anonymity, (c) accused persons’ rights, (d) data protection, (e) appeals and (f) the integrity of criminal proceedings in relation to the research.

Question reference: S7W-00011

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 18 May 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the publication of Award of DSF – Jury Deliberation Research, in February 2026, whether the Lord Justice General has granted leave for the research commissioned that will explore jury deliberations in rape and attempted rape cases and, if so, whether it will list any conditions that were attached to this.

Question reference: S7W-00039

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when the First Minister last met the co-leaders of Aberdeen City Council.

Question reference: S6W-44355

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-44120 by Angela Constance on 10 March 2026, in light of paragraph 12.1 of the paper, Report on the Roles and Functions of the Scottish Law Officers, which states that the “research is intended to inform the preparation of a future consultation by the Scottish Government on the roles and functions of the Scottish Law Officers", by what date this research will commence and its findings will be published.

The Report on the Roles and Functions of the Scottish Law Officers sets out the findings of the research commissioned by the Scottish Government and carried out by Malcolm McMillan, former Chief Executive of the Scottish Law Commission. As specified in the terms of reference, the research analyses the history of the Law Officers’ roles and why and how they have developed to the current position; examines their current functions in detail (including the legal bases for those functions); considers examples of arrangements for Law Officers and prosecuting authorities in a number of other jurisdictions; and sets out the constitutional and legislative competence requirements for any reforms to the Law Officers’ roles in Scotland.

The research was not intended to make recommendations for any model or approach: rather, its purpose was to provide a detailed, robust foundation to inform any future consultation on the Law Officers’ roles. Decisions on that will be a matter for the next administration.

Question reference: S6W-44100

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6F-04705 by John Swinney on 26 February 2026, in which he confirmed that Malcolm McMillan's report on the dual role of the Lord Advocate "will be published before the end of the parliamentary session", on what date it plans to publish the report.

Question reference: S6T-02951

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on Police Scotland of the Budget 2026-27 allocation being £50 million less than the amount requested by the Chief Constable.

Question reference: S6W-44403

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 16 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the current status is of the Scottish Civil Justice Council's investigation into the introduction of an opt-out system for group proceedings.

The development of rules for group proceedings, including any proposals to introduce opt-out procedures, is the responsibility of the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC).

The SCJC is an independent body established by the Scottish Civil Justice Council and Criminal Legal Assistance Act 2013, and as such Scottish Ministers are not responsible for its operations.

The SCJC Group Procedure Working Group established to investigate the introduction of an opt-out system for group proceedings publish updates of their work online, which can be found here:

https://www.scottishciviljusticecouncil.gov.uk/council/group-procedure-working-group

Question reference: S6O-05665

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it expects NHS Grampian to address a projected deficit of £76 million for 2026-27, in light of it having already made £62 million of savings in 2025-26 and requiring a further £40 million of budget reductions in 2026-27.

Question reference: S6O-05613

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it is supporting the long-term sustainability of Scottish Opera.

Question reference: S6W-43762

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 16 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 27 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to the second supplementary question to question S6O-05504 by Kate Forbes on 12 February 2026, when she stated that "at least 230 jobs being created and safeguarded" through the Just Transition Fund, what date the fund was first initiated and approximately how many jobs in oil and gas have been lost in the north east since that date.

The Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray’s initial year of funding began in May 2022.

The Scottish Government does not hold statistics on job losses by year in any given sector of the economy. We do, however, monitor a range of sources of evidence around employment in the Scottish energy sector. For example, independent analysis has shown that over the period 2019 to 2022 the numbers of direct and indirect jobs supported by the Scottish offshore oil and gas sector decreased from 57,000 to 53,000.

We recognise that the energy transition will have particular impacts in the NE region. Alongside the JTF for NE and Moray, other examples of support provided by SG include the Oil and Gas Transition Training Fund for offshore oil and gas workers and the North East Scotland Investment Zone.