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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-32144

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 7 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people currently in receipt of Adult Disability Payment have their primary residence outside of Scotland, broken down by how many have their primary residence (a) in the rest of the UK and (b) outside of the UK.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes information on Adult Disability Payment caseload, broken down by local authority.

As of 31 October 2024, statistics showed that there were 374,655 clients on the Adult Disability Payment caseload, of which 480 were classified as ‘Other’ rather than one of the 32 Scottish local authorities. 'Other' includes cases where there is an error in the postcode, and postcodes for a property within a new development. Residence in Scotland is checked for each case by Client Advisors during the application process to ensure that the applicant normally lives in Scotland, including asking for proof of address where appropriate.

The latest Adult Disability Payment official statistics publication can be found at: https://www.socialsecurity.gov.scot/publications/statistics. The next release of Adult Disability Payment statistics which will cover the period to the end of January 2024, is due to be published on 18 March 2025.

Question reference: S6O-04179

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 9 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reform planning regulations to enable the construction of new nuclear power stations.

Question reference: S6W-31927

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether an economic impact assessment has been conducted into the impact of the closure of the Queensferry Crossing due to risks of falling ice.

Question reference: S6W-31925

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on the launch of the MV Glen Rosa in 2024.

Question reference: S6W-31926

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 17 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether an environmental report has been conducted into the impact of the closure of the Queensferry Crossing due to risks of falling ice.

No specific environmental report has been undertaken in relation to the impact of the closure of the Queensferry Crossing due to risks of falling ice. However, a detailed investigation has been undertaken by Transport Scotland, which tested solutions and mitigation measures for ice accretion on the Queensferry Crossing. This has been subject to a detailed review by a Peer Review Panel of experts from around the world on ice accretion on major bridges.

The investigation discounted physical measures such as heating of cables or mechanical removal of ice, due to impracticality and cost. Measures taken forward include bridge instrumentation, advanced weather forecasting and regular cleaning of cables. The conclusion of the investigation was that when ice accretion occurs, the best mitigation measure is to divert traffic onto the Forth Road Bridge until the risk from falling ice has passed.

Question reference: S6O-04127

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 18 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the potential impact on agriculture, what assessment it has made of the number of family farms in Scotland that will incur inheritance tax liability as a result of changes announced in the UK Budget.

Question reference: S6W-31734

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 25 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it propose the scheduling of time for a ministerial statement on funding for hospice care, in light of reports of tens of thousands of emails received by MSPs over the weekend of 23-24 November 2024.

The Scottish Government highly values the vital support independent hospices provide to people and their families, as well as supporting other health and social care services and teams delivering palliative care and care around dying.

We know Scottish Hospices have been facing financial pressures due to rising costs including costs associated with providing Agenda for Change (AfC) pay parity. We have listened to these concerns, and that is why in the Scottish Budget published on 4 December we set out a commitment to provide £4 million for the hospice sector in 2025-26. From 2025-26 we will align the support we provide for pay uplifts in the Hospice sector to the outcomes of the NHS Agenda for Change negotiations. This will ensure that hospices will get the additional funding needed to see their healthcare staff match pay increases with NHS staff.

Question reference: S6O-04117

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 04 December 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what recent assessment it has made of the effectiveness of its funding for active travel.

Question reference: S6W-31281

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how much it spent on the guidance, School uniform and clothing in Scotland: Guidance for schools and education authorities, which was published in September 2024.

Question reference: S6W-31280

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 15 November 2024
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 2 December 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the reported £28 million that it has spent on the National Care Service.

The National Care Service is an ongoing programme of work with funding allocated as set out in last year’s Budget.

The reported £28 million reflects the amount of funding allocated to developing the National Care Service proposals since August 2021. The majority of funding allocated to the programme is funding for existing Scottish Government staff and therefore business as usual spend.

Other areas of funding allocation include co-design and engagement work ensuring people with lived experience of accessing and delivering social care services, social work and community health are partners in developing the National Care Service proposals. We further provide grant support to lived experience groups to ensure they remain at the forefront in the design of a National Care Service. Whilst the majority of development work is carried out by Scottish Government staff, the Scottish Government occasionally requires external professional advice on complex issues, as previously set out.

The breakdown of spend on the NCS since August 2021 is as follows;

Staff - £24.4 million
Staff Related - £0.3 million
NCS Programme Development – Non-Staff - £4.1million
Total Spend - £28.7 million.