Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S6W-36431

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of families in Scotland in relative poverty are in working households.

Question reference: S6W-36539

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a quarterly update on progress against each objective in the new NHS operational improvement plan.

Question reference: S6W-36275

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what projections it has made for the period 2025-75 for the overall (a) birth and (b) mortality rates in Scotland.

I have asked Alison Byrne, Chief Executive of NRS to respond. Her response is the National Population Projections (NPPs) for Scotland are produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on behalf of National Records of Scotland (NRS). They are based on assumptions about future levels of fertility, mortality and migration. The latest set are 2022-based and were published on 28 January. Projections are typically produced every 2 years.

The assumptions are developed by analysing trends in past and current data and taking into account advice from NPP Expert Advisory Panels, devolved administrations and, in the case of mortality assumptions, the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD).

The ONS produce a principal projection and a number of variant projections based on alternative assumptions. The information referred to below relates to the principal projection. Equivalent information for variant projections is also available from the ONS website.

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is the average number of children that a group of women would expect to have if they experienced the observed age specific fertility rates in each of their childbearing years. Projected total fertility rates (TFR) can be found in Table 1 of the Scotland summary tables. Between 2025 and 2075 these are projected to vary between 1.26 and 1.29. This compares to a TFR of 1.30 in 2023.

The same table also provides figures for Expectation of Life at Birth (EOLB) which are based on assumed projected mortality rates. EOLB is projected to rise to 83.3 years for males and 86.6 years for females by 2075. The more detailed information on the projected mortality rates on which these are based can be found in the mortality assumptions sheet within the machine readable dataset.

Projected mortality rates are based on an assumed long-term rate of annual mortality improvement in 2047 of 1.1% for ages 0 to 90 years. Mortality rates are assumed to converge to this long-term level of improvement over the first 25 years of the projection.

Question reference: S6W-36224

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 28 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on the average cost of childcare provision of increasing childcare staff-to-child ratios.

Adult to child staff ratios are set by the Care Inspectorate as the regulatory body for the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) sector and as experts in assessing high quality, safe and nurturing ELC provision.

The Care Inspectorate has no plans to update the current guidance, published 2018. Therefore, the Scottish Government has made no assessment of the potential impact on the average cost of childcare provision relating to ratios.

Question reference: S6W-36205

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 27 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 22 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to support the teaching of Latin in state schools.

Question reference: S6W-36896

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has held any discussions with Petroineos regarding public ownership of Grangemouth refinery, and if so, whether it will publish the minutes of those discussions.

Question reference: S6W-36888

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish a full cost-benefit analysis of the four-day working week pilot carried out at (a) the South of Scotland Enterprise and (b) NHS Scotland through its Agenda for Change initiative.

Question reference: S6W-36893

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to fund the £191 million cost of the proposed NHS pay offer without diverting resources from frontline services or other key health priorities.

Question reference: S6W-36890

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment was made of any potential risk to public safety from the early release of any inmates who had breached prison rules.

Question reference: S6W-36898

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with (a) the UK Government and (b) other partners to secure additional investment in the Grangemouth Flood Protection Scheme.