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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-35444

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 06 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 14 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided to the Scottish Communities Climate Action Network since 2021.

The Scottish Communities Climate Action Network has received the following funding from the Scottish Government since 2021:

2021-22: £67,000

2022-23: £88,800

2023-24: £135,787

2024-25: £80,000

In addition to their core grant they received funding to support the design and set up of a number of climate action hubs. They employed regional co-ordinators to work with community groups to understand their needs and priorities and identify how this could be best delivered by a hub for their area.

To support this work they received the following:

2022-23: £441,000

2023-24: £393,921.

Question reference: S6W-35193

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the highest salary currently paid within the non-departmental public bodies, also known as quangos, is.

Question reference: S6W-35194

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many non-departmental public body, also known as quango, employees earn salaries exceeding £85,000 per year.

As part of the commitment to be an open and transparent government, we promote the disclosure of names and salary details of senior public sector staff. Since October 2010, Scottish non-departmental public bodies have been asked to list the names and salary details of members of their senior leadership teams. You can find links to each body’s website at National public bodies: directory or on the Public Sector pay website at Pay transparency - Public sector pay.

Question reference: S6W-35195

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the Scottish budget is allocated to public bodies and how this has changed over the past decade.

Question reference: S6W-34837

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills has held with the (a) chief executive of (i) the SQA and (ii) Education Scotland and (b) general secretary of the EIS since March 2023.

I undertake regular engagement with Scotland’s national education bodies and teaching professional associations at Chief Executive/General Secretary and official level. Details of these engagements are published on the Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts register.

The register is currently published up to end October 2024. Engagements are published three months in arrears in line with Ministerial Code.

Question reference: S6W-35192

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 12 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on public sector wages for non-departmental public bodies, also known as quangos, in each of the past five years.

Question reference: S6W-35198

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many non-departmental public body, also known as quango, employees are employed in roles related to equality, diversity, and inclusion, and what the total cost is of these roles.

Question reference: S6W-34840

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many meetings it has held in the last 12 months to discuss the Scottish Education Exchange Programme (SEEP), broken down by (a) date and (b) attendees; whether it will publish (i) the agenda of each meeting and (ii) any documents, briefings or correspondence it has shared with or produced over this period regarding SEEP, and what evaluation summaries or reports on SEEP it subsequently produced.

The Scottish Education Exchange Programme is a priority action within Scotland’s International Education Strategy and as such, progress is regularly discussed by IES Governance Group which is chaired by the Minister for HE/FE and includes representatives from colleges and universities. The minutes of these meetings are published online at International Education Strategy Governance Group. Updates to the programme are also published online at Scottish Education Exchange Programme: Test and Learn project - gov.scot and Scottish Education Exchange Programme: - Test and Learn: funded projects - gov.scot

As year 2 of the SEEP comes to a close at the end of March 2025, an external evaluation of the first 2 years of the programme has been commissioned and will be published this summer.

Question reference: S6W-34876

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 11 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the effect of free tuition fees on the financial situation of universities in Scotland.

The Scottish Government’s resolute commitment to free tuition means that in Scotland access to university remains based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay. Through the Scottish Funding Council, we invest over £1.1bn for teaching and research in Scotland’s universities and this investment in university education ensures that Scottish domiciled and international students benefit from the learning provided by our world-class universities in near-record numbers.

The Scottish Government fully appreciates the financial sustainability challenges being faced by many universities across the UK given the downturn in international student recruitment due to UK immigration policies, and the increase to employers’ National Insurance Contributions. The Scottish Funding Council is engaging across the sector as it responds to these challenges.

Question reference: S6W-35203

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 February 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many non-departmental public bodies, also known as quangos, receive Scottish Government funding but are not directly accountable to ministers.

Non-departmental public bodies devolved to Scotland are operationally independent from Scottish Ministers but are ultimately accountable to Scottish Ministers for their performance. The national public bodies directory contains a full list of non-departmental public bodies and shows the amount of Scottish Government funding they receive. The national directory can be viewed at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-public-bodies-directory/pages/executive-non-departmental-public-bodies/