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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-38168

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what urgent action it is taking to address the governance weaknesses in the NHS in Scotland as identified by Audit Scotland in its recent publication, NHS in Scotland: Spotlight on governance.

Question reference: S6W-35968

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any data analysis that it has carried out on any regional differences in health outcomes for young women.

Question reference: S6W-38174

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 17 June 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the budget for the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill in 2025-26 is £11 million, in light of its decision to withdraw plans for a national care service.

Question reference: S6W-38567

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether small developers will be exempt from the proposed building safety levy.

A study by the Competition and Markets Authority on the housebuilding industry noted that small and medium housebuilders face higher costs, in per-plot terms, than larger competitors, due to the small-scale nature of their developments. The Scottish Government recognises that this could lead to smaller developers being disproportionately impacted by the introduction of the Scottish Building Safety Levy.

The Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill, therefore, includes provisions for an annual allowance of housing units that are to be levy-free, which will apply over and above exemptions for social and affordable housing, and island developments. This will mean that developers who are building annual numbers of new homes below the threshold will be fully protected from the costs associated with the Levy.

The threshold for the allowance will be set in regulations. We are committed to setting the threshold in a way that is fair, balanced, and that provides certainty for industry. The Scottish Government will work with residential property developers and other industry stakeholders throughout the passage of the Bill to inform the final decision on where the threshold should be set.

Question reference: S6W-38560

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Dorothy Bain on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions for online child sexual abuse have taken place in each of the past five years.

There is no available data on the number of prosecutions for online child sexual abuse that have taken place in each of the past five years.

COPFS uses a live, operational database to manage the processing of reports submitted to Procurators Fiscal by the police and other reporting agencies throughout Scotland. The database is designed to meet business needs in the processing of criminal cases, rather than for statistical analysis, and the information within it is structured accordingly.

Question reference: S6W-38434

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any safety risks associated with transferring mothers and premature babies over long distances for specialist neonatal care.

The transfer and repatriation of mother and babies is a normal component of neonatal care provision in Scotland, ensuring babies receive the most appropriate care at the correct time.

The intention with the new model of care is that mothers in suspected extreme pre-term labour are transferred before they give birth (in-utero transfer) to maternity units in the hospitals that have neonatal intensive care units. We expect that those maternity units will have planned capacity to receive those women.

It is recognised that it will not always be possible to transfer mothers before they give birth, and in that case our specialist neonatal transfer service, ScotSTAR will transfer those babies in specialist ambulances equipped to care for neonates, as this has been established practice for many years. Babies receiving care in one of the three intensive care units will be transferred back to their local neonatal unit for ongoing care as soon as possible.

The Scottish Perinatal network has developed and published guidance for all Boards across Scotland to support identification and transfer of mothers in suspected extreme preterm labour. Experiences of testing the new model of neonatal intensive care showed that the vast majority of mothers in suspected pre-term labour were identified and transferred before giving birth.

Question reference: S6W-38422

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 06 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what impact any delayed discharges are having on (a) hospital capacity and (b) elective surgery cancellations.

No one should remain in hospital when they no longer need to be there, and we are clear that the current level of delay is unacceptable. It is important to reflect that 97% of all hospital discharges happen without delay. The latest published statistics show that the level of delayed discharges has fallen. At the end of April 2025, 1,868 people were delayed in hospital, 162 fewer than the high point of 2,030 delays at the end of October 2024.

In the 12 months to April 2025, there were 261,980 operations performed, 1.6% increase from the previous 12 months. Out of all the planned operations, only a small proportion were cancelled due to capacity reasons.

Addressing the variation in delays across the country is the focus of significant and sustained attention and effort by this Government. The NHS Scotland Operational Improvement Plan sets out a clear plan to reduce waiting times and delayed discharges, supported by £200 million targeted investment as part of the 2025-26 Budget.

Question reference: S6W-37876

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 05 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what safeguards exist to prevent public bodies from associating with charities whose safeguarding records are in question.

The Scottish Government has safeguarding guidance on child protection and working with vulnerable adults, etc. Public bodies are expected to ensure any partner organisation aligns with this framework, particularly when working with vulnerable groups.

Public bodies are therefore expected to carry out due diligence, include safeguarding compliance, in funding and partnership agreements and ensure regulatory oversight, risk management and safeguarding policies are in place. This will support public bodies to assess any safeguarding concerns and enable appropriate action to be taken.

The Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator may, where necessary, inform relevant public authorities where there are concerns about a charity.

Question reference: S6W-38175

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the total projected cost of the Care Reform (Scotland) Bill over the next five years.

Question reference: S6W-35823

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 17 June 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Scottish Education Exchange Programme (SEEP) currently supports (a) work placements and (b) vocational training exchanges, and if this is not the case, whether it has considered expanding the programme to cover such activities.

In 2025-26, applications will be assessed on their ability to support the ambitions set out in Scotland’s Destination Scotland – inward attraction of international students, staff, and researchers - Scotland's international education strategy - gov.scot and a separate strand will be assessed against Community Learning and Development priorities.

Projects within this criterion are able to provide opportunities for both staff mobility and vocational training exchanges.

Since SEEP began in 2003, opportunities have been provided for staff mobility and vocational training. Further information on funded projects can be found at: Scottish Education Exchange Programme: - Test and Learn: funded projects - gov.scot.