Stephen Kerr

8 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that young people are taught critical thinking skills and resilience in engaging with political debate.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Learning in the Social Studies curriculum area helps young people to develop important skills in research and evaluation, creativity, critical thinking and communication and it helps our young people develop as responsible, informed citizens with a global out…

8 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of the Techscaler budget has been spent on overseas travel since its inception.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Since its inception, excluding staff costs, 2.1% of the Techscaler budget spent to date has been invested in international activity, spotlighting Scotland’s growing reputation as a leading tech hub. This is helping our startups secure investment and com…

8 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has investigated any reports of the misuse of funds in the Techscaler scheme.

Answer · Kate Forbes: To ensure transparency and accountability, the Scottish Government commissioned an independent evaluation of the Techscaler programme following my committee appearance in 2024. EKOS were formally appointed in December 2024 to carry out this evaluation. The fi…

8 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many households are on waiting lists for social housing.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The latest available estimates from the Scottish Household Survey 2023 (available here: Households in Scotland by housing tenure: Scottish Household Survey, 2023 - gov.scot show that between 90,000-110,000 households are on housing lists and 7,000-14,000 of t…

8 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much public funding has been allocated to the Techscaler scheme since its inception.

Answer · Kate Forbes: Since its inception, the Scottish Government has provided approximately £23 million, exclusive of VAT, to the Techscaler programme. Techscaler supports a network of over 1,260 startups across Scotland, offering tailored support, education, mentoring, wo…

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of public confidence in the curriculum for excellence, and how it plans to restore any reduction in confidence.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The OECD report “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: Into the Future” commissioned by Scottish Government and published in 2021 commented that “significant efforts have been made to engage stakeholders throughout CfE’s lifecycl…

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported projected loss of over 900 police officers to retirement by summer 2026.

Answer · Angela Constance: The recruitment and deployment of police officers is a matter for the Chief Constable. Police Scotland keeps retirement rates under review to ensure that new officer recruitment intakes are underpinned by workforce planning data. Since the beginning of 2024 P…

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many police recruits are in training, and how many are expected to join the service in the next 12 months.

Answer · Angela Constance: As the recruitment and deployment of officers is a matter for the Chief Constable, the Scottish Government does not hold this information.Police Scotland has confirmed that its recruitment planning takes into account the position 12-18 months ahead to inform …

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce retention incentives to ensure experienced police officers remain in post.

Answer · Angela Constance: Police officers in Scotland remain the best paid in the UK, at the minimum and maximum salary points for basic pay at all ranks compared to counterparts in England and Wales.The recruitment and retention of officers are operational matters for the Chief Const…

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government (a) how many and (b) what proportion of police officer posts are vacant.

Answer · Angela Constance: As I sent out in response to question S6W-39931 on 1 September 2025, the recruitment and deployment of officers is a matter for the Chief Constable. The Scottish Government does not hold this information.The Scottish Government is investing a record £1.…

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it has taken to ensure that the lessons identified in the Edinburgh trams inquiry are being applied to future infrastructure projects.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: Transport Scotland already operates in line with key recommendations and best practice of the Edinburgh Tram Inquiry in the delivery of major transport infrastructure projects, as evidenced by its excellent record on projects such as the Aberdeen Western Peri…

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent reports regarding the quality of police officer uniforms, what assessment it has made of the impact of poor-quality uniforms on officer safety, morale and operational effectiveness.  

Answer · Angela Constance: The provision and procurement of uniforms and equipment is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. The Frontline focus review of tools of the trade Report by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, (HMICS),identified a number of areas where Police…

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will guarantee that no police officer has to purchase elements of their own kit.

Answer · Angela Constance: The provision and procurement of police uniform and equipment for officers is a matter for Police Scotland and the Chief Constable. I am clear that police officers and staff should be provided with the correct tools for the job.Our record £1.64 billion …

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported calls from leading clinicians for a public debate on NHS reform, including the possibility of charging for some services.

Answer · Neil Gray: We recognise the challenges facing Scotland’s health and social care system. That is why we have already taken significant steps to set out clear, short and longer term actions to improve access to treatment, shift the balance of care, harness digital i…

2 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many recommendations from the Penrose Inquiry have been fully implemented.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Penrose Inquiry’s report, published on 25 March 2015, contained a single recommendation, which was that the Scottish Government take all reasonable steps to offer a hepatitis C virus (HCV) test to everyone in Scotland who had a blood transfusion bef…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will respond to the reported claims by the British Dental Association that the current NHS Scotland dentistry model is “flawed” and causing widening oral health inequalities.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Scottish Government maintains a regular dialogue with BDA Scotland; and is committed to addressing oral health inequalities.The latest Public Health Scotland statistics to June 2025 show that NHS patient registration in SIMD 1 areas is higher than the Scotlan…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs in Scotland it estimates will be lost if oil and gas production falls in the reported timescales suggested in a recent report  by Offshore Energy UK suggesting that, without replacing the Energy Profits Levy in the next year with a profits-based mechanism to encou…

Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government is deeply concerned by any planned job losses in the North East.We continue to monitor and consider a range of evidence in relation to Scotland’s energy sector. As part of this approach, we review reports on employment from indus…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made on the impact on Scotland's economy of the report by Offshore Energy UK suggesting that, without replacing the Energy Profits Levy in the next year with a profits-based mechanism to encourage investment and output, North Sea oil and gas production could disapp…

Answer · Shona Robison: The fiscal regime for offshore oil and gas, as well as the regulatory regimes for licensing and consenting, are all matters that are currently reserved to the UK Government.We continue to call on the UK Government to listen carefully to concerns being express…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to increase social housing completions, which reportedly fell by 16% in 2024-25.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has a strong track record in the investment in and delivery of affordable homes. Since 2007 we have supported the delivery of more than 139,000 affordable homes, with 99,000 of these being made available for social rent. This has resul…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what specific steps it is taking to ensure that all NHS Scotland dental practices can meet patient demand within three months.

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what response it has given to the reported calls from the Scottish Retail Consortium for no new business tax rises in the forthcoming Scottish Budget.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40219 on 19 September 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-commit…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of there being a reported over 40,000 live applications for homelessness assistance, what urgent measures it is taking to reduce homelessness.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: In my statement to Parliament on 2 September, I set out a suite of urgent actions to be taken in response to the housing emergency. Some of the measures to reduce homelessness include:Committing to a multi-annual, multi-billion pound affordable housebuilding …

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered narrowing the tax divergence between Scotland and the rest of the UK for business rates.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government committed, in the Framework for Tax 2021, to reducing the combined poundage rate for the largest properties to match the equivalent rate in England over the course of the Parliament.The Intermediate Property Rate was introduced in Apri…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the effect of (a) rent controls and (b) other policies on the withdrawal of landlords from the rental market.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: A fairer, well-managed private rented sector is in the interest of both tenants and landlords, and the private rented sector measures in the Housing (Scotland) Bill have been developed following extensive engagement with the sector.The Scottish Government car…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of it declaring a housing emergency, how it will respond to the reported loss of 12,000 homes from the landlord register since May 2023.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: It is unclear where the figure for the reported loss of 12,000 homes from the landlord register since May 2023 has come from. The most recently published figures show an increase in registered properties of almost 8,000 from May 2023 to July 2025.According to…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding reform of the energy profits levy.

Answer · Shona Robison: The fiscal regime for offshore oil and gas is reserved to the UK Government.We have continued to call on UK Government to listen carefully to concerns being expressed by businesses around the impacts of its Energy Profits Levy, this was repeated by the Deputy…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to address the reported figures suggesting that 47,417 children from the most deprived areas had contact with an NHS dentist in June 2025, compared with 55,539 in the least deprived areas.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Our flagship Childsmile programme has supported a reduction in child oral health inequality over the long term, with the latest National Dental Inspection Programme results showing that the gap between P1 children with no obvious tooth decay living in the mos…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports of a net loss of over 30,000 private landlords since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: It is unclear where the figure of a net loss of over 30,000 private landlords since the COVID-19 pandemic has come from.The most recently published figures show a reduction in registered landlords of 6,644 from January 2022 to July 2025, although it should be…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding how many people abandoned calls to NHS 24 in the last year due to long wait times.

Answer · Neil Gray: NHS 24 is working to ensure calls to its 111 service are answered quickly and safely. Some calls may go unanswered due to callers disengaging after automated messaging, being signposted to other services, or opting for a callback during peak times.While data …

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what activity it is carrying out to promote (a) the early presentation of skin health concerns and (b) sun-safety, particularly among younger adults.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government has established the sunbed safety group to review the existing sunbed regulations and procedures for enforcing those regulations.As part of the group's work, the Scottish Government has worked with Young Scot, NHS Inform and education …