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: S7O-00438

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
Current Status: Due to be taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of increasing classroom violence against teachers, staff and pupils in Scotland’s schools.

Question reference: S7W-04077

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 percentage of eligible young people received a bus pass through the Young Persons' Free Bus Travel scheme in 2024, 2025 and since April 2026, broken down by local authority area.

YP Cardholders	As at the end of
Local Authority	Mar-24	Mar-25	Mar-26	Sep-26
Aberdeen City	30,476	32,754	33,943	34,108
Aberdeenshire	35,908	39,081	40,571	41,195
Angus Council	14,253	15,176	15,629	15,834
Argyll and Bute	8,985	10,069	10,583	11,068
City of Edinburgh	85,138	90,751	94,713	94,979
Clackmannanshire	5,081	5,723	6,012	6,186
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar	2,814	3,141	3,245	3,272
Dumfries and Galloway	13,572	16,141	16,812	17,746
Dundee City	23,107	24,302	24,913	24,890
East Ayrshire	17,300	18,389	18,604	18,634
East Dunbartonshire	13,534	14,942	15,639	16,372
East Lothian	16,294	16,947	17,694	18,329
East Renfrewshire	14,557	15,892	16,760	17,181
Falkirk	18,468	21,146	22,364	22,717
Fife	57,787	61,236	63,409	63,492
Glasgow City	81,721	94,615	102,089	101,674
Highland	22,550	25,846	28,385	29,137
Inverclyde	11,695	11,660	11,560	11,457
Midlothian	13,564	14,751	16,224	16,937
Moray	10,671	11,845	12,598	12,887
North Ayrshire	19,905	20,758	20,879	21,077
North Lanarkshire	48,187	52,411	54,522	54,726
Orkney Islands	2,164	2,469	2,775	2,858
Perth and Kinross	18,355	19,910	21,216	21,518
Renfrewshire	23,788	26,286	27,982	28,778
Scottish Borders	12,336	13,559	14,960	15,677
Shetland Islands	3,160	3,485	3,670	3,749
South Ayrshire	11,846	13,335	13,904	14,189
South Lanarkshire	43,720	50,344	53,159	54,748
Stirling	11,079	12,336	12,954	13,175
West Dunbartonshire	12,598	14,250	14,693	14,826
West Lothian	23,041	25,291	26,531	27,185
Totals	727,654	798,841	838,992	850,601

Please note:

This data is supplied by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO).
The data refers to the number of people with a valid card but does not include products which either start in the future or have expired.
NECPO work with stakeholders and partners to carry out regular data cleansing of the customer database which may impact cardholder numbers when records are updated.

Transport Scotland no longer track and record the uptake of cardholder numbers versus the estimated population. It should be noted that some young people may have chosen to access free bus travel through the Older and Disabled Persons’ Scheme if they have a disability that meets the eligibility requirements.

The following links provide details of population estimates:

NRS Link current: Mid-2025 population estimates - National Records of Scotland (NRS)

Previous year: Mid-2024 population estimates (outdated) - National Records of Scotland (NRS)

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-04283

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any analysis that (a) supports its position that increasing sources of renewable electricity generation capacity, including wind, will lower household energy bills, and (b) shows what reduction in the average annual electricity bill of a Scottish household it expects will result from any such expansion.

Question reference: S7W-04282

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 13 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 10 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7O-00361 by Jamie Hepburn on 7 October 2026, regarding the £5.15 million that has been provided to the Acorn carbon capture project, (a) to what activities or expenditure the funding has been allocated, (b) for what purpose it was provided, (c) to which body it was awarded, (d) the nature of the funding application through which it was secured, and (e) when it anticipates to disburse the balance of the £80 million that was announced without preconditions by the then Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero, Energy and Transport in January 2022.

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