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-42713

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on the Scottish economy, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding what the status is of the memorandum of understanding signed with MingYang in 2021, and whether it remains active.

Question reference: S6W-42738

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many formal complaints have been raised by its civil servants regarding hybrid working directives since October 2025, also broken down by how many claims have been (a) upheld and (b) rejected.

Question reference: S6W-42744

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that the increased demand for temporary accommodation for immigrants does not displace low-income households already on waiting lists.

Question reference: S6W-42747

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that communities experiencing rapid population increases due to immigration receive adequate support to maintain cohesion and public confidence in services.

Question reference: S6W-42368

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with COSLA regarding the (a) feasibility and (b) funding implications of a restructured school week.

Scottish Government officials regularly meet with COSLA officers to discuss operational matters related to the delivery of education.

Through our announcement of a ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have set out a range of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week, which we intend to pilot with the assistance of Schools and Local Authorities.

This approach will allow us to gather the data and evidence needed to fully consider issues such as the feasibility and funding implications of a restructured teaching and learning week and discuss these with local government partners.

Question reference: S6W-42366

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the potential impact of its proposals for a restructured school week on (a) pupil supervision, (b) timetabling and (c) parental working patterns.

Through our announcement of a ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have set out a range of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week, which we plan to pilot and explore with local government and schools.

The Scottish Government is fully committed to assessing the impact of any proposal. We intend to gather data and evidence via pilots which will consider the impact of a range of potential changes to the teaching and learning week on timetabling, learners, families and school staff as part of the pilot period.

Question reference: S6W-42369

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the full (a) legal, (b) financial and (c) operational considerations that underpin its proposals for new nationally agreed minimum standards on pupil learning hours.

We reached a formal agreement with COSLA in December 2024 which commits to freezing learning hours in 2025-26.

Through our announcement of a ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have set out a range of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week, including exploration of new nationally agreed minimum standards on pupil learning hours.

This will include work to consider minimum standards on pupil learning hours and explore the legal, financial and operational considerations which will underpin any agreed approach.

Question reference: S6W-42364

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it undertook with the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers prior to announcing proposals for changes to class contact time.

The Scottish Government is represented at all committees and subgroups of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), including the SNCT subgroup on Reducing Teacher Class Contact Time.

Government officials regularly provide updates and table proposals to SNCT committees and subgroups, in line with Government policy positions and ministerial direction. It’s quite appropriate for ministers to signal a desired policy direction in advance of this being taken as a formal proposal to be discussed at the SNCT.

Question reference: S6W-42358

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it currently provides to local authorities to support safety and violence prevention in schools.

The Scottish Government is supporting safety and violence prevention in schools by directly investing £4.3 billion in Scotland’s education system in the 2025-26 budget. This investment includes £186.5m to local authorities in 2025-26 to help protect teacher numbers and maximise the number of teaching posts available. It also includes £29 million to support the recruitment, retention and training of the Additional Support for Learning workforce, backed by an additional £29 million in 2025-26 in local and national programmes; and £16m a year to ensuring access to counselling services for all children and young people aged 10 and over.

In addition, we have invested more than £6 million since 2023 to support implementation of the Violence Prevention Framework, which supports the work of schools in relation to violence prevention. Through this framework we are working with partners such as YouthLink Scotland, Medics Against Violence, and Police Scotland to provide targeted education programmes for our young people on the risks of and impacts of violence.

In 2025-26 we are also providing £298,480 to respectme, Scotland’s national anti-bullying service, to provide advice and resources to schools, parents and carers to support and educate young people on the impact of bullying and build confidence and capacity to address bullying.

Question reference: S6W-42357

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reported link between rising school violence and reductions in school-based police officer numbers.

The safety of our children, young people and staff at school is paramount. Through the Relationships and Behaviour in Schools national action plan, the Scottish Government continues to work with local authorities, Education Scotland and other partners to support positive relationships and behaviour and to promote safe, inclusive learning environments for all children and young people.

The most recent Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research provides the national evidence on behaviour in schools. It highlights a range of contributing factors to changes in relationships and behaviour, including the impact of the pandemic, poverty and wider societal pressures.

It is for individual schools to decide how to respond to challenging behaviour. They can use a number of approaches including: good behaviour management and behaviour support teams, solution-orientated, nurture and restorative approaches and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

The use and funding of campus-based officers is a matter for the local authority to decide. The Scottish Government does not hold national data on these officers.