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-41136

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working to prevent the sale of illicit cigarettes through street traders.

The Tobacco and Nicotine Vapour Product Register is a Scotland specific register that is governed by legislation. Scottish Ministers have a commitment to keep and maintain a register of all sellers of tobacco and vapes. The register has been an asset to enforcement authorities in Scotland for over 15 years. The refreshed register, launched in January this year, has improved this important tool for enforcement as well as a more efficient vehicle for engagement with retailers on compliance.

In addition, we work closely with the Society of Chief Officers of Trading Standards in Scotland (SCOTSS) to support enforcement of existing legislation, including on illicit tobacco. SCOTSS manages the Enhanced Tobacco Sales Enforcement Programme (ETSEP) in Scotland, which is a key component in the Scottish Government’s Tobacco and Vaping Framework.

In 2025-2026, Scottish Government provided funding of £46k to SCOTSS support a National Coordinator post and specific enforcement projects that vary year on year.

In 2024-2025 SCOTSS received an additional £75k to support the UK-wide Operation CeCe, which is a joint initiative between National Trading Standards and HMRC to remove illicit tobacco product from sale. SCOTSS plays a key role in this operation, coordinating local authority activity in Scotland. From 2025-2026 Operation CeCe is being funded directly by UKG.

Scottish Government Officials also meet regularly with HMRC, who work with Border Force to take action to tackle the import of illicit tobacco and vaping products at the border.

Question reference: S6W-41138

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 09 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any potential revenue that was lost due to the illicit cigarette trade in Scotland, over the last 12 months.

Question reference: S6W-41060

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information on the number of high-value car thefts committed and the location where they were reported, broken down by year since 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-41062

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address keyless car thefts.

Question reference: S6W-41147

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40336 by Angela Constance on 16 September 2025, how many Drug Treatment and Testing Orders were (a) imposed by Edinburgh Sheriff Court and (b) successfully completed in (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24, also broken down by calendar month.

The information is provided in the following tables:

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders imposed by Edinburgh Sheriff Court in 2022-23 and 2023-24, broken down by calendar month [Note 1][Note 2]

Month	2022-23	2023-24
April	5	6
May	7	8
June	16	12
July	6	0
August	c	c
September	c	c
October	0	0
November	c	c
December	c	c
January	0	0
February	c	c
March	c	c
Total for year	38	29

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders from Edinburgh Sheriff Court which were successfully completed in 2022-23 and 2023-24, broken down by calendar month [Note 1][Note 3]

Month	2022-23	2023-24
April	5	4
May	7	5
June	c	8
July	6	c
August	c	5
September	9	6
October	6	c
November	c	c
December	8	c
January	5	c
February	c	c
March	c	c
Total for year	59	39

Notes

1. [c] in tables refers to values between 0 and 3, which may have been suppressed to prevent against the identification of individuals.

2. For some DTTOs imposed by Edinburgh Sheriff Court, the person may live outwith the City of Edinburgh council area.

3. Orders can be successfully completed in a different year to the one in which they were imposed. Persons included in these figures may live outwith the City of Edinburgh council area.

Question reference: S6W-41059

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address high-value car thefts.

The investigation and prevention of high-value or keyless car theft is a matter for Police Scotland. To support policing capacity and capability, the Scottish Government has provided £1.64 billion in funding for the year 2025-26. This represents an increase of £90 million compared to 2024-25.

The Scottish Government does not hold information specific to high-value or keyless car thefts. However, statistics on motor vehicle theft more generally are published in our quarterly Recorded Crime in Scotland bulletin, available here.

Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, recorded crimes of Theft of a motor vehicle fell by 7%, from 5,090 to 4,753. Compared to 2006-07, this represents a 68% reduction. The standard data supplied by Police Scotland does not identify the type or value of vehicles stolen, nor does it capture specific items taken during housebreaking or robbery incidents where a vehicle may have been among the stolen property.

Police Scotland continues to tackle organised criminal activity through the Serious Organised Crime Taskforce, which coordinates multi-agency efforts to disrupt networks involved in offences including vehicle theft.

The UK Government’s Crime and Policing Bill proposes new offences related to the possession of electronic devices used in vehicle theft, such as signal jammers and CAN bus exploit tools. The Scottish Government has lodged a Legislative Consent Memorandum recommending that these measures extend to Scotland, and is proposing that the offences be added to the list of Scottish Criminal Lifestyle Offences.

Question reference: S6W-41063

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information on the number of keyless car thefts committed and the location where they were reported, broken down by year since 2021-22.

Question reference: S6W-41061

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 07 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with Police Scotland to address high-value car thefts committed by organised gangs.

Question reference: S6W-41598

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement is has had with the National Records of Scotland regarding the operation of the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977 and whether it needs to be updated.

Question reference: S6W-41599

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 October 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to update the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977.