Parliamentary questions
Stephen Kerr
2,595 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
20 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the £1 million funding given to Clackmannanshire Council to support residents of Coalsnaughton Road, Tillicoultry, affected by ground movement in the area, whether this funding was supplied through other agencies to act as grant money and/or security during the construct…
20 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the incident of subsidence in Coalsnaughton Road, Tillicoultry, how much public money has been spent and paid out to various authorities and organisations throughout the construction period and the subsequent recovery period.
20 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the incident of subsidence in Coalsnaughton Road, Tillicoultry, what the anticipated cost would be of any additional payments or financial assistance that it is considering providing to support the accommodation of evacuated households.
20 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the incident of subsidence in Coalsnaughton Road, Tillicoultry, what role it will play regarding compensation for houses that may have to be demolished, repaired and secured.
13 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide a breakdown by local authority for male victims and female suspected perpetrator domestic abuse incidents in each of the last five financial years.
13 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what specific support pathway exists for male victims of domestic abuse who are also dealing with addiction recovery, family breakdown, child contact loss and suicide risk.
13 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether current domestic abuse services, addiction services and mental health services are trained to recognise male victimisation, post-separation abuse and coercive control where the victim is male.
9 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what work it has undertaken to assess the relationship between domestic abuse experienced by men, addiction recovery, suicide risk, family court-related stress, loss of child contact and post-separation coercive control, including factors that can push recovered fathers further away fro…
9 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase specialist national provision to support male victims of domestic abuse.
7 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what powers Police Scotland has to search vehicles, and how often these powers have been used in each of the last five financial years.
Answer · Neil Gray: Police Scotland has a range of statutory powers to search vehicles where these are provided for in legislation, including where an officer has reasonable grounds to suspect that a vehicle contains controlled drugs, offensive weapons, knives, firearms, stolen …
7 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information regarding the processes that are in place to monitor an individual's interactions through the different stages of the justice system, from their first interaction with the police to their last interaction with the justice system, including whether they…
Answer · Neil Gray: As each Justice organisation has their own administrative system to record information for operational purposes, it is not possible to monitor an individual’s interactions throughout the different stages of the justice system. Whilst a Scottish Criminal…
2 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding vehicle searches conducted by Police Scotland, (a) how many were carried out, (b) what reasons were recorded for each search and (c) what proportion of these searches resulted in a positive outcome, in each of the last five financial years.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Data relating to vehicle searches conducted by Police Scotland is held by Police Scotland.
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what due diligence and financial probity checks it requires public bodies to carry out on prospective recipients of grant or contracts, and whether these requirements differ for procurement (a) below and (b) above the £50,000 threshold at which the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regul…
Answer · Ivan McKee: Public procurement and grants are subject to different requirements.In relation to public procurement, the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 (2015 Regulations) do not apply from a threshold of £50,000, but from the relevant threshold set out …
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the average time taken to process an individual in police custody has been, from arrival at custody to completion of processing, in each of the last five financial years.
Answer · Neil Gray: Table 1 shows the average combined police custody waiting and processing times from 2021-22 to 2025-26.Waiting time is the time spent from the point the person arrested and the arresting officers arrive at a custody centre, to the point police custody officer…
1 Jul 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the time taken to approve a criminal warrant, what was (a) the average time, (b) the longest time and (c) the shortest time, in each of the last five financial years.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Decisions on criminal warrants are judicial decisions taken independently by sheriffs or justices, and the data requested are not routinely recorded.Search warrants are prepared by the Crown Office and P…
25 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether its proposed mandatory price cap on essential food items will only apply to those produced in Scotland.
Answer · Tom Arthur: We recognise that many people are facing significant challenges due to the rising cost of living, with households across Scotland finding it increasingly difficult to afford healthy and nutritious food. The final list of items to be covered by the legislation…
25 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what geographical protections are in place to protect producers in Scotland from food fraud.
Answer · Stephen Flynn: Scotland has 16 registered product names with the UK’s protected food and drink scheme. This protection is called a Geographical Indication (GI) and is protected as intellectual property. Geographical Indication protection guarantees a product’s c…
25 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address food fraud, including the deliberate use of misleading labelling to suggest that an item was produced in Scotland and the United Kingdom rather than only packaged in Scotland.
Answer · Tom Arthur: Tackling food fraud has been one of the main functions of Food Standards Scotland since the Scottish Government decided to set up the organisation from 2015. The Scottish Food Crime and Incidents Unit combines the investigative and intelligence functions of F…
25 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of individuals held on remand subsequently received a custodial sentence in each of the last five financial years.
Answer · Neil Gray: The information requested is not held centrally.The data held by Scottish Government (SG) on individuals held on remand is taken from the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) Prisoner Records System. SG do publish information on the number of departures from the rem…
23 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will bring forward legislation or guidance to address the issue identified by the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Strategic Group that all but one of the crime codes in the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 defines children as aged 15 and under, rather than unde…
Answer · Neil Gray: The crime codes exist to convert breaches of criminal law into useable operational data, and ultimately the Official Statistics on recorded crime in Scotland. For those codes that specifically relate to crimes committed against children under the Sexual Offen…
23 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what progress has been made with the three workstreams of its Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Data Short Life Working Group, which was established in January 2026, including by what date the output from workstream one, which is an analysis of available data on child sexual abuse and …
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Data Short Life Working Group has met four times so far since being formed in January 2026. At each meeting, updates were given on progress made on each of the three workstreams. You can find these updates in the minute…
16 Jun 2026 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to improve openness, transparency and accountability across the public sector.
16 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, to ensure food security, how it plans to reverse the 7.3% decrease in total pig numbers that was recorded in 2025.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: While the Scottish Government has no policy to reduce herd numbers, we do not set targets for livestock numbers, including breeding pigs, as these are primarily driven by market conditions and individual business decisions. However, we recognise the reported …
16 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator to ensure fair treatment of pig producers by (a) processors and (b) retailers.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs met with the Agricultural Supply Chain Adjudicator at the Royal Highland Show on 18 June. The Fair Dealings Obligations Regulations seek to ensure greater fairness and transparency in the supply chain…
16 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to protect producers in Scotland from being undermined by cheaper pork imports from the EU.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: The current challenges affecting the pig sector include complex trade issues which appear to be affecting prices, as opposed to there being evidence of an increase in imports. Trade data indicates that UK pigmeat imports fell by nearly 5% in volume in 2025, a…
16 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, to prevent future business closures, what plans it has to provide immediate short-term financial aid to pig producers.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs announced the Pig Producers Scheme on Friday 10 July. This is a £2 million scheme for independent pig producers in Scotland to help with the significant market challenges facing the sector. The …
16 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on Scotland’s pig sector, what representations it has made to the UK Government regarding imposing stricter import controls on pork from countries affected by African swine fever (ASF).
Answer · Jim Fairlie: Personal imports of pork from ASF affected countries represent a high risk of bringing the disease to the UK. The Scottish Government recognises the urgent need for more stringent controls on personal imports of animal products from Europe, particularly in li…
16 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to protect the long-term future of Scotland's pig processing infrastructure.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government has a strong track record of support for Scotland’s meat processing industry in general, including pig processing. The Food Processing, Marketing and Cooperation (FPMC) Grant Scheme has previously provided support to pig processi…
12 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what guidance it has provided to local authorities regarding the implementation of the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025.
Answer · Kirsten Oswald: The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act 2025 (also known as Martyn’s Law) is a reserved piece of legislation. It introduces a legal duty on those responsible for publicly accessible premises and events to improve preparedness for terrorist attacks. T…
12 Jun 2026 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding counter-terrorism preparedness in Glasgow.
Answer · Kirsten Oswald: The Scottish Government regularly discusses Counter-Terrorism preparedness with our emergency services through the CONTEST strategy structures in Scotland.