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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-38942

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of its Public Service Reform Strategy and plans to reduce costs by £1 billion, whether it will identify the areas in which savings can be made without impacting on frontline services.

Question reference: S6W-39582

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39106 by Ivan McKee on 8 July 2025, what the projected cost is of the development of the Scottish Government mobile app.

Question reference: S6W-39182

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many police officers with second jobs also claim benefits, including in-work benefits.

Question reference: S6W-39186

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 25 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding whether its current trajectory on social security spending is fiscally sustainable, in light of the findings of the recent Scottish Fiscal Commission Fiscal Sustainability Report.

Question reference: S6W-39297

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what proportion of new cars registered in Scotland in 2024 were acquired through the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme.

As of year-end 2024 there were 36,884 new cars registered in Scotland through the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment (AVE) Scheme, representing 22% of all cars registered in Scotland throughout the year. We are proud to have delivered vital mobility support to disabled people through the AVE Scheme.

The AVE Scheme offers disabled people a range of vehicles on affordable leasing terms, including vehicles with no advanced payment required, a comprehensive package of care and maintenance for no more than the weekly cost of the mobility component of their qualifying benefit.

Question reference: S6W-39153

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what due diligence it undertook prior to it reportedly approving £300,000 of public funding for the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Ministers took the decision on 28 March 2025 to provide this funding for the Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) to support their Schools Programme.

This programme aims to provide each of the 5,000 children participating annually with a range of free, in-person events, free books and supporting accessibility through a Transport Fund. Engaging children with reading is an aim that the Scottish Government strongly supports.

There was a range of engagement between the EIBF and officials regarding the programme. The organisation’s past performance in delivering educational and community projects was considered, alongside its financial governance and reporting processes. The review found that the proposal was financially robust and achievable, with a clear plan for sustainable delivery.

Analysis concluded that, without the aforementioned support, the festival would need to stop their schools programme, a key part of their strategic plan. Therefore the decision was taken to protect the schools programme following the loss of corporate sponsors.

Question reference: S6W-39190

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it held with auction markets before implementing the bluetongue virus (BTV-3) movement restrictions.

The Scottish Government has hosted regular meetings with representatives of livestock markets and other key stakeholders since the first cases of Bluetongue Serotype 3 (BTV-3) were identified in England in autumn 2024. This is in addition to attending regular meetings with industry stakeholders hosted by Defra at least twice a week, which includes market representatives. Scottish market representatives were also invited to meetings to directly feed into reports conducted by the Scottish Government’s centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks (EPIC), which analyse the levels and value of cross border trade and the impacts on Scottish livestock movements in response to an extended all England- restricted zone. The Scottish Government continue to closely with markets, particularly those on the Scotland-England border, to seek innovative solutions to the disruptions from BTV-3 restrictions.

Question reference: S6W-39156

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many jobs in Scotland are reliant on the naval shipbuilding programme.

Question reference: S6W-39189

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 07 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any economic losses to Scottish farming from the bluetongue virus (BTV-3) movement restrictions.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish Government's Centre of Expertise on Animal Disease Outbreaks (EPIC) to conduct research into the economic value of live cattle and sheep movements cross-border from the extended England-Wide Bluetongue restricted zone. Representatives from the Institute of Auctioneers and Appraisers Scotland (IAAS) supplied livestock valuations based on the latest livestock trends to establish an estimated value of regular monthly trade which could be affected by the movement restrictions. EPIC have also undertaken a supplementary study aiming to understand the impacts on Scottish livestock movements in response to the extended England-wide bluetongue restricted zone.

Question reference: S6W-39160

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what immediate action it will take to address the reported 52% increase in police officer mental health absences over the last three years.

Officer wellbeing is an operational matter for Police Scotland. I refer the member to my response to S6W-35420 on 17 March 2025 and S6W-37984 on 9 June 2025.

The Chief Constable has stated to the Criminal Justice Committee that the wellbeing of police officers and staff is one of her main priorities. Police Scotland has made a £17 million investment in workforce wellbeing, which includes a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme and enhanced occupational health services, to support officers and staff wellbeing.

Police Scotland has provided reassurance that they have a healthy recruitment pipeline and has recruited around 1,370 officers since the start of 2024.