Parliamentary questions

Stephen Kerr

2,595 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reform Social Security Scotland in order to deliver better value for money.

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland is successfully delivering 16 benefits - seven of them only available in Scotland. Since it was established in 2018 it has provided essential support to help more than one million people heat their homes, feed their families and meet …

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether any increasing welfare costs will require higher taxation in Scotland.

Answer · Shona Robison: Projections for social security costs in the coming years are established in the recently published Medium-Term Financial Strategy. Our approach to taxation is established in the Tax Strategy, which has already set out that we will not introduce any new bands…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what data it collects on the scale of organised sexual exploitation of children.

Answer · Natalie Don-Innes: The Scottish Government does not collect data on the scale of organised child sexual exploitation. External agencies such as Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and local authorities collect and record concerns and/or offences rela…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking in response to reports that almost 400 landlords are leaving the rental market every month. 

Answer · Mairi McAllan: In the last three years, from June 2022 to June 2025, the average monthly decrease in the number of active registrations on the Scottish Landlord Register has been 137. However, the average monthly increase in registered properties has been 304. The overall c…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish any terms for enhanced benefits that were requested by unions representing its civil service as part of any agreement on increased office attendance.

Answer · Shona Robison: Scottish Government consultation with the trade unions is ongoing and at this stage of the process there are no outcomes to report.

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much public money will be spent on any (a) rebranding, (b) relocation and (c) restructuring associated with the new body to replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA).

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The SQA are currently located in the Lowden Building in Dalkeith and Optima Building in Glasgow. These locations will transfer to Qualifications Scotland and so there will be no relocation cost.The transition from the Scottish Qualifications Authority to Qual…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that nearly half of the people in Scotland who have paid for private healthcare did so because they could not access timely NHS treatment.

Answer · Neil Gray: While a patient has the right, at any time, to exercise choice and seek private treatment, we recognise that excessively long waits for NHS treatment are not acceptable.We’re determined to reduce patient waits in the year ahead and our investment of &po…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will issue new guidance regarding the equal treatment of all school pupils in relation to NHS outreach and preventative services.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The guidance on the education of children and young people unable to attend school due to ill health was published in June 2015 and remains current.Ministers have committed to ensuring the national guidance remains up to date and will review, if appropriate, …

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what estimate it has made of the number of tenancies that have been lost as a result of landlord exits from the market since November 2024.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government publishes monthly figures on the number of registered landlords and properties using information from the Scottish Landlord Register Housing statistics: Scottish Landlord Register data - gov.scot.

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has modelled any potential energy security risks for Scotland as a result of completely removing nuclear from the energy mix.

Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government commissioned a report into the security of supply of Scotland’s electricity system. This report, Electricity system security of supply in Scotland, was published on the ClimateXChange website in December 2023.The report found tha…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on what proportion of private landlords who exited the sector in 2024-25 were small investors with only one property.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government does not hold the data requested as exits from the Scottish Landlord Register and changes in portfolio size are not tracked.The following table shows active registrations on the Register in March 2024 and March 2025.DateNumber of Regis…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff are currently employed in the nuclear sector in Scotland, and what alternative employment or training will be available following the closure of any nuclear facilities.

Answer · Gillian Martin: The Low Carbon and Renewable Energy Economy (LCREE) Survey, published by the Office of National Statistics, estimates that in 2023 there were 2100 direct Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) roles in the nuclear industry in Scotland.Decommissioning of nuclear sites in …

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many people received more than one social security payment type in the financial year 2024-25. 

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland does not currently publish statistics on the number of people who receive more than one benefit from Social Security Scotland. Social Security Scotland recently published Official Statistics on the number of individual clients paid an…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care received a formal briefing on cancer waiting time data during his recent visit to Japan.

Answer · Neil Gray: I was informed of the publication of cancer waiting times, scheduled for 24 June 2025, and provided with pre-release access to the statistics on 19 June 2025.

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a full impact assessment of any new tax proposals by the end of the current financial year.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government recently published the Tax Strategy for Scotland, which along with Scottish Budget 2025-26 and the Medium-Term Financial Strategy, sets out the next steps in our approach to tax, identifying priorities to support economic growth and Go…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total anticipated cost is of any severance, redundancy and pension liabilities resulting from its planned reductions to its workforce.

Answer · Shona Robison: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39142 on 23 July 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-committees/…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many skilled jobs it estimates will be lost when Torness nuclear power station closes, and whether it will implement a transition plan.

Answer · Gillian Martin: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-39128 on 29 July 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-committees/…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many compulsory redundancies it anticipates there will be within its workforce by the end of 2025.

Answer · Shona Robison: In support of the Budget and wider Public Service Reform agenda, the Scottish Government is proactively addressing the need to control workforce size.From March 2022 to March 2025, the total workforce in the Scottish Government has reduced by 5%. This reducti…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to taking action to simplify tax codes in Scotland or aligning them with the rest of the UK in order to attract investment.

Answer · Shona Robison: Tax code matters such as allowances and reliefs are reserved to the UK Government. The Scottish Government has no plans currently to change the number of Income Tax bands

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many former Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) senior staff will transfer to the new body without needing to apply for a role as part of an open recruitment process.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Schedule 3 (Transfer of staff, property etc to Qualifications Scotland) Section 2 (Transfer of staff) of the Education (Scotland) Bill as passed sets out that all employees assigned to the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) at the point of Qualifications…

2 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether independent schools are entitled to receive NHS-delivered services in the same way as state schools.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: All children and young people in Scotland are entitled to receive the same level of access to NHS-delivered services, regardless of which school they attend.Decisions around fees for hospital education services are a matter for local authorities and NHS Board…

1 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the launch of the GOV.UK app, whether it has plans to develop a Scottish Government mobile app.

Answer · Ivan McKee: The development of a Scottish Government Mobile App is a Digital Public Servies commitment within the Government's Public Service Reform Strategy published in June 2025.The proposed App will be a gateway to personalised public services. The first use case is …

1 Jul 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-29546 by Shona Robison on 17 September 2024, and regarding any implications for the Scottish Budget, what its position is on whether it considers "Westminster austerity" to be ongoing or to have ended, and what justification it has for such a c…

Answer · Shona Robison: Westminster austerity does continue to impact on public services. For example, the increase to employers’ national insurance without fully funding the impact of this on public service delivery has the impact of reducing the actual funding for delivery o…