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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-36840

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) support and (b) funding it has provided to the Vision Schools Scotland project, run jointly by the Holocaust Educational Trust and the University of the West of Scotland.

Myself and the previous Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills have supported the annual Vision Schools Scotland Awards ceremony by attending and contributing to the ceremonies where achievement of schools and pupils in Holocaust Education are recognised.

Since 2021, Scottish Government has provided £126,247 in funding to the Vision Schools Scotland programme to further support Holocaust education in schools. This includes funding up to £36,352 for the 2024-25 financial year.

Question reference: S6W-36834

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the Curriculum for Excellence to include mandatory teaching of the Holocaust in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools.

Scotland does not have a mandatory curriculum. Instead, Curriculum for Excellence is a flexible framework for teachers to determine what they wish to teach and how, including providing learning and teaching about the Holocaust.

The Curriculum Improvement Cycle will begin the review of Social Studies this academic year, where all aspects of the social studies curriculum will be reviewed. Practitioners will play a central role in this process.

Question reference: S6W-36702

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 08 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many deaths in custody have occurred in each of the last five years, and how many of these were followed by internal disciplinary or criminal investigations.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

Any death of an individual whilst is the care of SPS is a tragedy, irrespective of the cause. All deaths in custody are reported to the Procurator Fiscal and Fatal Accident Inquiries (FAI) are held in due course. Information on deaths in custody can be found on the SPS Website.

The number of deaths in custody over the past five calendar years is shown in the following table:

Year	Deaths in Custody
2024	64
2023	40
2022	44
2021	53
2020	34

Since 2020, a total of 16 internal gross misconduct investigations have been conducted in relation to matters thought to be connected to deaths within prison custody.

As the Member will be aware, any criminal investigation is a matter for Police Scotland, and as such SPS is unable to comment on the number of criminal investigations that may have been progressed.

Question reference: S6W-37134

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what additional measures it will introduce to increase recruitment to Professional Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) courses in subjects that are reportedly well below the target level, including maths, computing and chemistry.

Local authorities are responsible for the recruitment and deployment of teaching staff. We are providing £186.5 million to local authorities this year as part of an agreement with COSLA to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels and will continue to support them to maximise the number of jobs available in certain subjects, including Computing Science / STEM.

Our Teaching Bursary Scheme provides a £20,000 bursary to career changers wishing to undertake a one year Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) in the hardest to fill teaching subjects, including Computing Science / STEM.

We are working with Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science (STACS) to consider wider initiatives to promote teaching as a valued career choice for computing students, and support a pilot programme with Aberdeen University to enable students with relevant HND qualifications, including in computing fields, to convert to teaching.

We have also asked Strategic Board for Teacher Education to develop advice on how to encourage more people into teaching, particularly in subjects that are challenging to fill.

Question reference: S6W-37159

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether any decrease in police budgets has had an impact on retail crime levels and worker safety.

The Scottish Police Authority Budget has not decreased. We have increased police funding year-on-year since 2016-17, investing more than £14.6 billion since the creation of Police Scotland in 2013. This includes a record £1.64 billion investment in policing in 2025-26, an increase of £90 million compared to 2024-25.

In addition, £3 million has been made available to Police Scotland to enable it to work in partnership with the Retail Industry Leadership Group, to help tackle retail crime. We recognise that this issue costs businesses millions of pounds each year, and has a knock-on effect on the prices we pay in the shops.

Question reference: S6W-37118

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure the financial sustainability of cereal and milk producers, in light of the reported financial losses in those sectors in 2023-24.

Question reference: S6W-36889

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason inmates who reportedly breached prison rules were included in the early release scheme to alleviate overcrowding.

I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6O-04553 on 23 April 2025. All answers to Oral Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at Official Report: search what was said in Parliament | Scottish Parliament Website

Question reference: S6W-36848

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a detailed breakdown of the funding sources required to deliver its net zero targets, including the proportion anticipated to come from the private sector.

Scottish Government intends to provide estimates of the costs and benefits of the policies and proposals in the draft Climate Change Plan when that is published later this year. Information on the expected distribution of costs may not be available for all policies and proposals at the time of CCP publication but will be provided through the normal processes (impact assessments, financial memoranda) as the policies and proposals are developed and introduced over the coming years.

Question reference: S6W-36852

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that cost information for publicly funded care home places is being withheld on the grounds of commercial confidentiality, and what its position is on whether this is acceptable.

The Scottish Government understands concerns regarding the withholding of cost information for publicly funded care home places under claims of commercial confidentiality. While commercial interests are protected under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), such exemptions are subject to a public interest test. While respecting legitimate commercial interests, the Scottish Government encourages public authorities and care providers to adopt best practices in information sharing

Question reference: S6W-36827

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 11 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what immediate steps it is taking to address the reported alleged breach of exam marking security procedures at the Scottish Qualifications Authority.