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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.

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Question reference: S6W-42368

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Holding Answer by Jenny Gilruth on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with COSLA regarding the (a) feasibility and (b) funding implications of a restructured school week.

Question reference: S6W-42367

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Holding Answer by Jenny Gilruth on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on rural schools of any changes to the structure of the school week.

Question reference: S6W-42358

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Holding Answer by Jenny Gilruth on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it currently provides to local authorities to support safety and violence prevention in schools.

Question reference: S6W-42365

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Holding Answer by Jenny Gilruth on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the feasibility of delivering a 90-minute reduction in class contact time without additional teachers.

Question reference: S6W-41567

Asked by: Richard Leonard, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of older and vulnerable people who will have their insurance policies for funeral costs withdrawn as a result of the termination of the Family Protection Plan by C Mutual and Maiden Life Försäkrings from 30 November 2025.

We understand that around 4,900 individuals across 71 UK credit unions will lose cover without compensation. The impact in Scotland is estimated to be c1,400 individuals across 29 credit unions in Scotland. Some of those may be eligible for alternative policies on similar terms however individuals over 81 years of age, or with pre-existing medical conditions, may be unable to secure alternative cover and may have insufficient funds to pay for their funeral. The Scottish Government has engaged with the Financial Conduct Authority and impacted credit unions in Scotland to understand the implications of the withdrawal and the support being provided to current policyholders.

The Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government and I met with Paul Sweeney MSP and a representative of impacted credit unions on Tuesday 18 November and I have continued to engage with the credit union to discuss this further.

The regulation of financial services is fully reserved; however, the Cabinet Secretary wrote to Lucy Rigby, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 21 November to ask her to consider the requests of the coalition of Scottish Credit Unions with an offer to meet to discuss this issue.

We stand ready to work with the UK Government to avoid some of our most vulnerable people from being forced into funeral poverty or having to resort to debt to enable them and their families to have peace of mind at the end of their life.

Question reference: S6W-42353

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it routinely cancels meetings with UK ministers at short notice, and, if so, what analysis it has undertaken of the impact on inter-governmental relations.

Question reference: S6W-42366

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Holding Answer by Jenny Gilruth on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has undertaken of the potential impact of its proposals for a restructured school week on (a) pupil supervision, (b) timetabling and (c) parental working patterns.

Question reference: S6W-42362

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Holding Answer by Jenny Gilruth on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to support any local authorities that are experiencing budget pressures that are putting (a) school safety and (b) child protection services at risk.

Question reference: S6W-42359

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Holding Answer by Jenny Gilruth on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address reported concerns that reductions to campus police will reduce early intervention and deterrence of young people from committing crimes.

Question reference: S6W-42656

Asked by: Kevin Stewart, MSP for Aberdeen Central, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 December 2025
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 18 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the finalised Vision Implementation Plan and route map will be published, and what progress has been made toward delivering approximately 24,000 additional public electric vehicle charge points by 2030.

The Scottish Government met its target for 6,000 public electric vehicle (EV) charge points in October 2024, two years ahead of schedule. Between October 2024 and October 2025 Scotland’s public charging network grew by a further 22.5%, resulting in a further 1,349 public charge points being added to the network.

Since 2011 the Scottish Government has provided over £65 million to support the development of public EV charging infrastructure across Scotland and we are continuing to support the expansion of public EV charging across Scotland. Over the course of 2025 the Scottish Government’s £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund was fully allocated, and Scotland’s local authorities are now using this funding to progress public procurement to deliver approximately 6,000 additional public charge points across Scotland, in partnership with the private sector. In August I announced a further £4.5 million to specifically support the expansion of public EV charging infrastructure in our rural and island communities.

In August I also launched a new cross pavement charging pilot offering up to £3,500 in financial support to enable residents without access to off-street parking to benefit from lower-cost domestic EV charging. On top of this, the Scottish Government has worked closely with the Scottish Collaboration of Transport Specialists (SCOTS) to develop national guidance on cross-pavement charging which will be published by SCOTS shortly.

Scotland continues to have one of the most comprehensive public charging networks in the UK, but I recognise there is more work to do to ensure Scotland has a public charging network that is fit for the future. We consulted on a Draft Vision Implementation Plan earlier this year, however since the publication of that consultation, the UK Government has announced a number of policy changes, including a new pence per mile tax on EVs and business rates relief for eligible electric vehicle charging points in England in the Autumn Budget, as well as a review of public EV charging costs early next year. The publication of the finalised Vision Implementation Plan has therefore been delayed until 2026 to ensure that the impact of such changes can be considered in the final Plan.