Stephen Kerr

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commission an independent review of records retention and data gaps that affect the identification of people exposed to the pregnancy medication, stilbestrol (DES).

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government has no plan to commission an independent review of records retention and data gaps that affect the identification of people exposed to the pregnancy medication, stilbestrol (DES). This is because there was no central system for recordi…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will introduce direct dermatology referral pathways from community optometry and pharmacy, where appropriate.

Answer · Neil Gray: There are currently no plans to introduce direct dermatology referral pathways from community optometry and pharmacy.Our Digital Dermatology programme has provided GPs across Scotland with access to a new app which allows them to securely use their own mobile…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will establish a public information campaign outlining the potential risks associated with historic exposure to the pregnancy medication, stilbestrol (DES), and providing advice on accessing NHS care in light of these risks.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care has accepted an invitation for a meeting with stilbestrol campaigners and will consider what actions can and should be taken in relation to their concerns following this discussion.

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of people in Scotland likely to have been exposed in utero, or otherwise, to the pregnancy medication, stilbestrol (DES), and how this estimate has been derived.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The number of women and their offspring who were exposed to diethylstilbesterol (DES) during pregnancy between the 1940s and 1970s in the UK is unknown because there was no central system for recording which medicines were prescribed for individuals at that t…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support services are available for families affected by exposure to the pregnancy medication, stilbestrol (DES), including fertility, cancer screening and psychological support.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the professional body for Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in the UK, has recommended that women who believe they may have been exposed to stilbestrol (DES) in utero and who are concerned about the risks of vag…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has received regarding the compatibility of large-scale emergency prisoner release with victims’ rights legislation, also broken down by who provided this advice.

Answer · Angela Constance: Legislation does not require Scottish Ministers to consult before using the Emergency Early Release (EER) power contained within the Prisoners and Criminal Proceedings (Scotland) Act 1993 (as inserted by Section 11 of the Bail & Release from Custody Act 2…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any of its departments are operating informal compressed hours or four-day working week arrangements, and, if so, what governance applies.

Answer · Ivan McKee: In line with the Employment Rights Act 1996 and the Flexible Working Regulations 2014 employees have a statutory right to make a flexible working request and for that to be considered by their employer. This includes requests to work a compressed hours workin…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, to reduce violence and drug harm, what additional investment it will make in secure accommodation and in-prison rehabilitation.

Answer · Angela Constance: To maintain a safe and secure prison estate, the Scottish Government increased Scottish Prison Service (SPS) investment by 10% to £481.5m in 2025-26. SPS has invested in a range of initiatives aimed at tackling violence across the prison estate, includi…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what monitoring it will publish on reoffending rates of people released early under the previous emergency release scheme.

Answer · Angela Constance: In February 2025, the Scottish Prison Service published a report on the number of prisoners released under emergency early release (EER) in June-July 2024, who returned to custody before the date when they would originally have been liberated had EER not been…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of offenders likely to be released early in the next 12 months under further emergency measures, and how victims will be notified.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Act 2023 introduced the ability for the Scottish Ministers to instruct the early release of specified groups of prisoners where is it "necessary and proportionate" to do so in response to the effects an emergency s…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of Scottish Fire and Rescue Service appliances are beyond their recommended service life, and what the replacement (a) programme and (b) timescale is.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has 456 rescue pump appliances in operation. 211 of these are more than 15 years old, however all SFRS appliances are properly maintained to ensure they remain fully operational, and the oldest vehicles are placed i…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many Scottish Fire and Rescue Service stations require major works to (a) provide separate facilities for women firefighters and (b) meet modern health and safety standards.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: All wholetime fire stations have some form of segregated washing facilities for staff and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) estates strategy ensures all premises are risk assessed and that suitable alternative washing facility arrangements and mitig…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact on service delivery timescales for (a) taxpayers and (b) businesses of a reduced working week.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government continues to monitor the impact of changes to working patterns, including the recent transition to a 35-hour working week within the organisation.Previous Public Sector Pay Policies have set an expectation that employers work towards s…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its plan is to address the reported capital backlog of more than £800 million across the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service estate and fleet.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government has increased the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) capital budget by £10.5 million in 2024-25 and by a further £4 million in 2025-26, bringing the total annual budget to £47 million. SFRS is currently conductin…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what alternatives to custody it is developing for persistent low-level offending, to alleviate prison pressure while protecting the public.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government continues to progress a range of actions in collaboration with justice partners to support a sustainable reduction in the prison population, whilst maintaining a focus on protecting the public.At present, Community Payback Orders (CPOs…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that (a) Police Scotland and (b) the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is not forced to delay or decline custodial remand decisions because of prison overcrowding.

Answer · Angela Constance: Police Scotland and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service are independent, operationally and constitutionally, from the Scottish Government.The rising and increasingly complex prison population remains a major challenge as it does across the UK, and …

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what evaluation it has made of the outcomes of take-home naloxone and opioid-substitution programmes in prisons, including relapse and re-offending rates post-release.

Answer · Maree Todd: The provision of opioid-substitution treatment in prisons is a matter for local services. The Scottish Government notes that the transition from prison to the community is a high-risk event in a recovery journey and welcomes moves to join up prison health ser…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the remuneration package for the chief executive of the National Social Work Agency conforms to the public sector pay policy, and what benchmarking was undertaken.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Chief Executive of the National Social Work Agency is a Senior Civil Service (SCS) post and SCS pay and terms and conditions of employment are reserved to the UK Government. The advertising process for this role ended prior to the announcement of the rece…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what exemptions or reliefs will apply under the Building Safety Levy for (a) affordable housing, (b) small builders and (c) build-to-rent projects.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill includes an exemption for new homes intended for social or affordable use, defined as homes let under Scottish secure or short secure tenancies and those funded under the Housing (Scotland) Acts of 1988 or 2001. The Bi…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has assessed the risk that the Building Safety Levy costs will be passed on to homebuyers through higher prices, and, if so, what mitigations are proposed.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment published alongside the Building Safety Levy (Scotland) Bill sets out Scottish Government’s assumptions on the likely impact of a Building Safety Levy in Scotland, including those relating to homebuyers.New …

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the implementation timetable is for targeted lung cancer screening, and what steps it will take to accelerate delivery.

Answer · Jenni Minto: Following the UK National Screening Committee’s recommendation for a targeted lung cancer screening program, the Scottish Government established a Scottish Expert Advisory Group for lung screening to provide advice on the scoping, implementation, establ…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what capital and maintenance investments are required to bring the prison estate to safe operating capacity, and what the timescales are for delivery.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that Scotland’s prison estate is safe, secure, and fit for purpose. In 2025-26, the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) was allocated £355m of capital funding to enable them to progress the major pro…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the most recent forecast is for the prison population to the end of 2025-26, and how this compares to the design capacity of the prison estate.

Answer · Angela Constance: On 7 August, the Scottish Government published the latest 6-month prison population projections, based on court activity and prison population data, up to the end of 2025. Due to the uncertainty surrounding factors that influence prison population flows - suc…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans it has to avoid routine refusal of new admissions to custody due to overcrowding in the prison estate.

Answer · Angela Constance: The health, safety, and wellbeing of everyone who lives and works in Scotland’s prisons is a priority for this government and the Scottish Prison Service.We have taken a range of actions in relation to the rising and increasingly complex prison populati…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated annual running cost of the National Social Work Agency is for 2025-26, and for each of the next three years.

Answer · Angela Constance: The establishment of the National Social Work Agency is underway. It will be an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government and will be established by Spring 2026. The Agency will be created from within existing budgets and will not add any additional cost to…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it expects to raise each year from the Building Safety Levy, and how this will be ringfenced for cladding remediation.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The Scottish Government aims to raise around £30 million per annum from the Scottish Building Safety Levy. This is in proportion to the revenue that the equivalent UK Government Levy for England is intended to generate and in line with the Barnett conse…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what (a) workforce, (b) equipment and (c) IT constraints might prevent the national rollout of targeted lung cancer screening.

Answer · Jenni Minto: In 2023 the Scottish Government commissioned a Scottish Expert Advisory Group (SEAG) to inform implementation considerations for a targeted Lung Cancer screening programme.The SEAG provided the Scottish Government with an evaluation of costs and set out detai…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what pilots are operating for lung cancer screening, and what interim results have been reported.

Answer · Jenni Minto: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40236 on 16 September 2025 regarding the planned lung screening pilot. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at htt…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish in full the evaluation reports from the public-sector four-day-week pilots, including productivity, cost and service-quality data.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Scottish Government committed to a Four Day Working Week pilot in the public sector to explore the wellbeing and productivity benefits that a shorter working week could bring. No additional funding was allocated to either Accountancy in Bankruptcy or South of…

1 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the estimated annual cost of targeted lung cancer screening would be at full rollout, and how this compares to the costs of late-stage treatment.

Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Expert Advisory Group on Lung Screening have produced an initial evaluation of costs, which estimated the annual cost of a national screening programme at between £29 million and £39 million. The lower and upper estimates of this cost…