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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-38933

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what recent discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding Scotland’s participation in the nuclear energy programme, which was announced in the UK Spending Review 2025.

Question reference: S6W-38934

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is regarding the role of nuclear energy in supporting industrial growth and reducing energy costs.

Question reference: S6W-38932

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many jobs it estimates have been lost in Scotland due to its policy against the building of new nuclear power stations under current technologies.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested and has not had any recent discussions with the UK Government regarding Scotland's participation in the nuclear energy programme.

The Scottish Government has been clear that it does not support the building of new nuclear power stations under current technologies due to the legacy of radioactive waste that is created and the cost of nuclear development. Regarding cost, the Seventh Carbon Budget, published in March 2025, shows that the unit cost of onshore wind capacity in 2025 is £1410/KW compared to £12920/KW for nuclear.

The Scottish Government is instead focussed on supporting the deployment of renewables, which are both cheaper and faster to deploy than nuclear. This focus is delivering benefits to Scotland’s people and economy, with the Fraser of Allander Institute Report, published in May 2025, finding that Scotland hosts a thriving renewable energy sector, which supported approximately £15.5 billion of output, £6.6 billion of Gross Value Added (GVA), and more than 47,000 jobs in 2022.

Question reference: S6W-38935

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 24 June 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 22 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has carried out an economic impact assessment of its policy against the building of new nuclear power stations under current technologies.

Question reference: S6W-39103

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

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 conclusion.

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 of programmes and was taken forward by the UK Government irrespective of the impact of that reduction on the outcomes of those programmes and activity.

Question reference: S6W-39136

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

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.

Question reference: S6W-39139

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

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.

Question reference: S6W-39149

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

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

Question reference: S6W-39138

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

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.

Question reference: S6W-39166

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 04 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 22 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding its reported target to deliver 40,000 additional operations and diagnostic tests each year by 2026, what proportion of these it currently anticipates will be delivered within that timeframe.

The commitment to deliver 40,000 additional operations and diagnostic tests was set out in the NHS Recovery Plan published in 2021. Progress reports have been published annually, the most recent being in December 2024: NHS Recovery Plan 2021-2026: annual progress update report 2024 - gov.scot.

In his speech on NHS reform and renewal in January this year, the First Minister announced that in 2025-26 the NHS will deliver of 150,000 extra appointments and procedures as part of the Operational Improvement Plan (OIP). This will be done through recruitment, extended working and regional and national working, including in the National Treatment Centres.

This additional activity will be backed by an additional investment of over £100 million this year. Activity will be targeted at long waits, ensuring that by March 2026 no one is waiting longer than a year for their new outpatient appointment or inpatient/day-case procedure.

As noted within the OIP, SG will report against progress publicly and to Parliament within 2025-26, using published statistics.