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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-37279

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34000 by Angela Constance on 7 February 2025, and in light of the recent judgment by the Supreme Court on the legal definition of "woman”, whether it plans to publish a bill to implement the recommendations of the Working Group on Misogyny in the current parliamentary session, and, if so, when.

Question reference: S6W-37144

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any risks posed by Scottish universities maintaining research and commercial partnerships with Chinese institutions identified by UK national security agencies as being linked to the Chinese military or state.

Question reference: S6W-37169

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the Scottish National Party 2021 manifesto commitment to abolish non-residential care charges, for what reason the number of local authorities introducing or raising such fees has reportedly increased since 2022.

Question reference: S6W-36911

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it has undertaken with prison officers and women's advocacy groups on the reported proposal to make wigs and underwear available to transgender prisoners through a centralised repository.

Question reference: S6W-37046

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the live streaming of tribunals involving public bodies, and what guidance exists on this issue.

Question reference: S6W-36907

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what costs have been incurred by the Scottish Prison Service since 2021 in sourcing any wigs, underwear and other gender-affirming items for transgender inmates.

Question reference: S6W-37166

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 01 May 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has issued any guidance or expectations to university governing bodies regarding executive pay restraint during periods of public funding pressure, in the last five years.

Question reference: S6W-37158

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 1 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that only around a quarter of assaults on shop workers in 2023 have resulted in a conviction.

Assaults committed against anyone including retail workers are unacceptable and law enforcement has a range of powers available in dealing with such behaviour.

Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistics define a conviction rate as the proportion of people prosecuted in court that are subsequently convicted and are recorded in the financial year in which the case concluded in court. Where the main charge (the most serious offence) was under section 1 of the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-Restricted Products) (Scotland) Act 2021, the latest official data relates to the period 2022-23 and this showed a conviction rate of 95%, with 163 convictions out of 172 prosecuted persons.

More generally, the number of charges reported to Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service of offences under the 2021 Act in the period since it was introduced in August 2021 is 6,577. This is for the period up to March 2025. Please note it takes time for criminal cases to flow through the justice system from being recorded by the police through to reporting to prosecutors, decisions being made whether there is sufficient evidence to prosecute and a prosecution proceeding through to conviction and sentence. In addition, a single case may include multiple charges and in general counts of charges, cases and people are distinct and provide different perspectives on the justice system. As such, care must be taken in use of data which seeks to assess the rate at which reports made and recorded by the police lead to prosecution and conviction.

The next set of criminal proceedings data for the period 2023-24 is currently being processed and will be available later in the year. This will contain conviction rates for 2023-24, including the second full year under the 2021 Act.

Question reference: S6W-37091

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 1 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the use of Preference Informed Allocation to be an appropriate and effective method of allocating applicants to the Scotland Foundation School as part of the UK Foundation Programme, and what assessment it has made of any potential impact on applicants.

The move to the Preference Informed Allocation (PIA) model was supported by the Medical Schools Council, the British Medical Association and all four UK governments. Medical students were extensively consulted on the changes and their impact, with 66% in favour of the change.

2024 recruitment data shows that 75.42% of applicants to UK Foundation programmes received their first choice of foundation school, an increase from the 2023 cycle (pre-PIA) of 71.02%. This has risen further in 2025 to 83.78%, indicating that more applicants are being allocated to their first choice compared with previous years, an improvement that has continued since PIA was first introduced.

The first year of the PIA process has resulted in more resident foundation doctors wanting to train in Scotland being allocated a place in Scotland and has resulted in a more even and equitable distribution of Foundation doctors across NHS Scotland Boards.

More information about the move to the PIA can be found at the following link: https://foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/resources/foundation-programme-allocation-process-stakeholder-engagement/

Question reference: S6W-37121

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 1 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any risks to marine life and environmental sustainability resulting from a lack of Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal visibility in Scottish coastal waters.

Shipping safety is a matter reserved to the UK Government. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is responsible for shipping regulations and safety, including Automatic Identification System (AIS) requirements. The Scottish Government expects the highest shipping safety standard to be applied on those vessels accessing Scotland’s waters and ports.

The Marine Directorate of the Scottish Government uses a range of tools and technologies to support the integrated management of Scotland’s seas, including the use of Vessel Monitoring Systems and Remote Electronic Monitoring on fishing vessels. Data generated from such technology can be used for fisheries management, environmental protection and marine planning purposes.

The Scottish Government’s Fisheries Management Strategy and its Delivery Plan (updated 2025) sets out our policy initiatives to further protect the environment. In 2025, we will be taking forward the outcomes of a consultation on requiring tracking and monitoring technology on all under 12 metre fishing vessels in Scottish waters.