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-01433

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government and the National Energy System Operator to ensure that Scotland's offshore wind potential, including the ScotWind and Innovation and Targeted Oil & Gas (INTOG) leasing rounds, is fully reflected in the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan.

Question reference: S7W-01428

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 28 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the development of the Scottish Marine Recovery Fund, including what steps remain to be completed before it becomes operational.

Question reference: S7W-01394

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 29 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 27 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the November 2025 report by the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce, Nuclear Regulatory Review 2025, and whether it plans to implement the recommendations in relation to devolved policy areas.

Question reference: S7W-01271

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether any Barnett consequential funding has arisen from the introduction of the Places of Worship Renewal Fund in England, which replaced the UK-wide Listed Places of Worship Scheme.

Question reference: S7W-01270

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 22 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government following the closure of the Listed Places of Worship Scheme, whether it will implement a replacement scheme as has been done in England.

Question reference: S7W-01222

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 22 June 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 20 July 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what strategic transition plan it has in place to move from Scottish-generated nuclear energy to renewables, and whether it will publish this.

Question reference: S7W-00868

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 18 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many trees have been felled to accommodate (a) windfarms and their associated infrastructure and (b) other energy projects in each calendar year since 2022.

On Scotland’s national forests and land, tree felling associated with windfarm developments and associated infrastructure since 2022 is 922.30 hectares. Based on the average of 2000 trees per ha, this gives an estimated total of 1.84 million trees felled over this period.

Financial Year	No of Trees Felled
FY 22-23	450,300
FY 23-24	911,960
FY24-25	88,560
FY 25-26	393,780

Many of these trees will have been due for felling through ongoing forest management and will have been replaced through replanting and compensatory planting.

The Scottish Government’s Control of Woodland Removal Policy expects that compensatory replanting will take place in cases where trees are proposed to be felled for the purpose of building a wind farm or other energy development. This requirement would typically be imposed as a condition attached to a planning permission.

We do not hold information on wind farms regarding land that is not owned by Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S7W-00866

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 08 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 18 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings ministers have held with GB Energy sice May 2025, who attended and what was discussed.

The former Deputy First Minister, Kate Forbes, met Juergen Maier, interim Chair of GB Energy, and Dan McGrail, CEO of GB Energy, on 14 May 2025. A range of matters were discussed, focusing on how the Scottish Government, public bodies and GB Energy can work together to progress opportunities for Scotland’s businesses and communities.

I met Dan McGrail at the Global Offshore Wind conference on 17 June and we discussed GB Energy’s priorities in Scotland, the need to align with existing delivery mechanisms and the importance of support for our supply chain.

Question reference: S7W-00792

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Hannah Mary Goodlad on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to extending permitted development rights for small-scale geothermal and heat networks.

The Scottish Government last year consulted on potential new permitted development rights for the installation (and subsequent repair and maintenance) of underground pipework and associated apparatus for the purposes of connecting individual buildings to a heat network. The Scottish Government decided not to make changes to permitted development rights at that time. We have recently committed to further explore improving permitted development rights, including for small-scale renewable energy production.

Question reference: S7W-00744

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 17 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Culture and Gaelic on 2 June 2026 on phone-free classrooms, whether it plans to limit the extent of any ban to classrooms and/or formal classroom time, or whether it plans to implement a ban across the whole school day and/or campus.

We have committed to implement a national ban on smart phones in learning environments and will begin a consultation to inform this legislation in the first 100 days of this government. The consultation will gather views on the potential scope of the restrictions and will help ensure a range of views from children, young people, parents and carers, and school staff are able to shape the new law.

Our current guidance, published in 2024, is clear that headteachers and education authorities can any take steps they see fit to respond to the disruption caused by mobile phones, including up to full restrictions across the school estate and the school day. We are working with education authorities to update the current guidance to encourage schools to bring in restrictions from the start of August, in advance of the change in law. This guidance will be published this summer, in preparation for the new school year.

I confirmed during my Parliamentary statement that, in line with the government’s public health approach to online harms, my preference is for a full campus ban but that I will consider the consultation responses on this matter.