Stephen Kerr

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

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.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: We recognise the challenges that many remote and rural schools face, including challenges with teacher recruitment.Through our announcement of a ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have set out a range of proposed changes to the …

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

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.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Through our announcement of a ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have set out a range of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week, which we plan to pilot and explore with local government and schools.The Scottish Gover…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

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.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government commissioned independent research, published on 7 May 2024, which outlined how the delivery of a 90 minute reduction in class contact time could be achieved through a range of scenarios, at that time.The research can be accessed at: Pu…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it undertook with the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers prior to announcing proposals for changes to class contact time.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is represented at all committees and subgroups of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), including the SNCT subgroup on Reducing Teacher Class Contact Time.Government officials regularly provide updates and table propo…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish detailed modelling of the potential impact of a four-day teaching week on (a) learning hours and (b) attainment.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Through the ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have announced a set of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week which we plan to pilot and explore with local government and schools.We intend to undertake pilot approach…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

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.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: Local authorities are responsible for managing their statutory duties in relation to school safety and child protection.The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Police Scotland regarding police visibility and proactive community policing in rural areas.

Answer · Angela Constance: Deployment of resources is a matter for the Chief Constable based on operational priorities. This is very clearly set out in the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 which received cross party support in this chamber.Police Scotland already work very cl…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has made of the reported rise in attempted murders perpetrated by children.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold information on the number of youth perpetrated attempted murders, as the data we receive from Police Scotland for the Recorded Crime statistics is a simple count of the number of recorded crimes by crime type.Police Scotl…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

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.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The use and funding of campus-based officers is a matter for each local authority to decide in line with local needs. It is for individual schools to identify how to provide early intervention and deterrence programmes for young people who are at risk of invo…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

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

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The Scottish Government is supporting safety and violence prevention in schools by directly investing £4.3 billion in Scotland’s education system in the 2025-26 budget. This investment includes £186.5m to local authorities in 2025-26 to help…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reported link between rising school violence and reductions in school-based police officer numbers.

Answer · Jenny Gilruth: The safety of our children, young people and staff at school is paramount. Through the Relationships and Behaviour in Schools national action plan, the Scottish Government continues to work with local authorities, Education Scotland and other partners to supp…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what processes are in place to avoid contradictory public statements regarding its inter-governmental engagement with the UK Government.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government is consistent in requesting early and meaningful engagement with the UK Government on matters of significant importance for Scotland, particularly where there is a clear devolved read-across such as the UK Budget.

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) UK and (b) Scottish Budget-related meetings have taken place between Scottish and UK ministers since September 2025.

Answer · Shona Robison: Since September 2025, there have been five meetings between Scottish and UK ministers in which the UK Budget was covered. In these meeting, Scottish Ministers have raised the implications of the UK Budget for the Scottish Budget.

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the article in The Scotsman on 23 November 2025, which reported that a recent meeting scheduled between the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and the UK energy minister had been cancelled, whether it will publish all correspondence related to this cancelled meeting.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The meeting referred to was reconvened and I was pleased to meet with Minister McCluskey on 3 December to discuss the Warm Home Discount and the UK Government’s proposed Warm Homes Plan.

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

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.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: Scottish Ministers do not routinely cancel meetings with their UK Ministerial counterparts. Scheduling of meetings is subject to normal diary considerations.

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the article in The Scotsman on 23 November 2025, which reported that a recent meeting scheduled between the Cabinet Secretary for Housing and the UK energy minister had been cancelled, in light of the comment that the cabinet secretary had found that "communica…

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The comment about difficulties in establishing communication referred directly to inter-ministerial discussion on the contents of the UK Budget. The meeting between the UK Minister for Energy Consumers and I was reconvened and I was pleased to meet with Minis…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of public access to real-time sewage discharge data across Scotland.

Answer · Gillian Martin: As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:"The near real-time overflow map was launched on the Scottish water website on 16 December 2024 to fulfil commitments in the ‘Improving Urban Wat…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to address alleged dry weather sewage discharges reported by Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) and Environmental Standards Scotland.

Answer · Gillian Martin: As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:"Environmental Standards Scotland has recently welcomed that Scottish Water and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) are working to develo…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to require Scottish Water to install monitors on all unsatisfactory overflows.

Answer · Gillian Martin: I refer the member to the answer to S6W-42347 on 16 December 2025 for information on Scottish Water’s approach to installing Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) monitors.CSOs must be licensed by the independent regulator, the Scottish Environment Protection A…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of the impact of SEPA not publishing Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR) licence compliance data since 2019.

Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government has not undertaken an analysis of the impact of the SEPA not publishing Controlled Activities Regulations (CAR) licence compliance data since 2019. However, there is no evidence of any significant increase in non-compliance with respec…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure 100% monitoring of combined sewage overflows by 2030.

Answer · Gillian Martin: As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:Scottish Water currently has around 1,400 overflow monitors in place (covering over one third of all intermittent discharges). Scottish Water has plans…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland findings regarding gaps in sewage pollution regulation and enforcement.

Answer · Gillian Martin: We have a robust framework in place, through the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018, for the regulation of wastewater activities.The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is Scotland’s independent environment regulator. SEP…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to increase patient capacity in community and social care settings in order to reduce hospital overcrowding.

Answer · Neil Gray: We have a clear plan to reduce delayed discharge and are investing more than £200 million to tackle waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove blockages that are keeping some patients in hospital longer than they need to be. Improving patient fl…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to prevent the normalisation of corridor care within NHS Scotland.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government is clear that corridor care should not be normalised. Any care out with standard care areas should be avoided where possible and if required, all actions to mitigate the risks of this should be undertaken, and the length of time in whi…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that patients have access to suitable equipment and facilities when they are treated outside standard hospital wards.

Answer · Neil Gray: This year the Scottish Government published our Operational Improvement Plan and we continue to work with local system leaders to support their health and social care improvement reforms to improve access to treatment and shift the balance of care from acute …

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the Royal College of Nursing's findings in its report, On the frontline of the UK's corridor care crisis, regarding staff providing daily care in unsuitable settings.

Answer · Neil Gray: We accept that caring for patients in non-standard patient areas is sub-optimal and we are clear that no patient should be treated in a space not fit for clinical care.We recognise the need to improve the acute care experience for patients and work has been u…

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will investigate any reported incidents of harm, including cardiac arrests, linked to corridor care in hospitals, in the last five years. 

Answer · Neil Gray: NHS Boards are responsible for investigating incidents of harm. If an incident occurs, we expect NHS Boards to fulfil their statutory duty to be open with patients about what happened and to learn lessons to prevent it happening again.

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that NHS boards record and publish corridor care data consistently.

Answer · Neil Gray: Currently there is no requirement or ability for NHS Boards to record and submit data on corridor care to Public Health Scotland for publication, not least as there is not an agreed definition for ‘corridor care’.

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the number of patients treated in unsuitable settings due to hospital overcrowding in each of the last five years.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested.

3 Dec 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the safety risks associated with patients being treated in corridors and other non-clinical areas in hospitals.

Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government expects all healthcare to be safe, effective and person-centred. On the occasions where non-standard care areas have to be used, it is the NHS Boards who are responsible for ensuring that effective and documented risk assessments, that…