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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-43693

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what legal advice it has received regarding pupils' rights to opt out of religious observance in schools.

Question reference: S6W-43687

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many retail workers have been threatened with weapons, including knives or machetes, in each of the last three years.

The Scottish Government does not have the information requested as the data we receive from Police Scotland is a simple count of the number and type of crimes and offences recorded. While we do hold data on Threatening and abusive behaviour of a retail worker, we do not hold further details as to whether any of these crimes involved a weapon, including knives or machetes.

The number of recorded crimes of Threatening and abusive behaviour of a retail worker in the last three years, from the most recent data available, is provided in the following table.

Police recorded crimes of threatening and abusive behaviour of a retail worker, year ending September 2023 to 2025, Scotland.

Year	Recorded Crimes
2023	2,604
2024	3,152
2025	3,465

Source: Recorded Crime in Scotland: year ending September 2025 - gov.scot

Question reference: S6W-43688

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Police Scotland officer time is currently spent on non-crime-related activity.

This information is not held by the Scottish Government as the deployment of officers is a matter for the Chief Constable.

The Scottish Government recognises the hard work and valuable contribution that officers make daily to protecting our communities and is committed to reducing wider demands on policing. We are doing this by supporting initiatives such as Digital Evidence Sharing Capability and Summary Case Management, which has helped reduce the number of police officers having to attend court to give evidence. We have also continued with our delivery on Programme for Government commitments since 2023 to reducing mental health demands on police officers through improved frontline multi-agency responses.

Question reference: S6W-43686

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 February 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions have been brought under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021 in each year since its enactment.

The following table provides data on proceedings under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021.

The most recent information on proceedings and convictions is available for the financial year 2023-24.

Number of people prosecuted in Scottish courts under the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021, where main charge, 2021-22 to 2023-24.

	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24
Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021	28	173	429

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Please note: data for 2021-22 and 2022-23 are affected by the pandemic, subsequent court closures, reduced court capacity due to physical distancing measures and delays to cases where key participants were forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, and the subsequent court recovery from the pandemic and may not be considered indicative of long term trends.

Question reference: S6T-02910

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 23 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 24 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the reported disclosure that £96.2 million has been spent by NHS Scotland on damages, legal expenses and associated costs linked to maternity and obstetric care.

Question reference: S6O-05539

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of any link between social media use and violent disruption in classrooms in Scotland.

Question reference: S6T-02885

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 09 February 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 10 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the final report and recommendations of the Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission, in light of the reported high levels of public concern regarding the findings.

Question reference: S6W-43255

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Scottish Enterprise regarding training provision linked to the furlough scheme that it created to support the retention of jobs at Alexander Dennis, and whether any training support has been accessed in the absence of the company applying for any funding through the scheme.

Question reference: S6W-43299

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 23 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its decision to draw down a further £286 million from ScotWind revenues, whether it anticipates requiring additional drawdowns from the ScotWind fund to balance future spending reviews.

Question reference: S6W-43253

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 28 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 5 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the ongoing employment position of shop-floor manufacturing workers at Alexander Dennis's site in (a) Larbert and (b) Falkirk, in light of reports that the company has not applied for any funding through the furlough scheme that was created to support the retention of jobs at the company.