- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 27 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to reduce the size of the civil service workforce, and, if so, what the anticipated impact would be on (a) government efficiency and (b) service delivery.
Answer
The Budget has established the total operating cost for the next financial year and workforce plans will be adjusted accordingly, with an expectation that there will be reductions in the workforce.
The Scottish Government continually monitors the cost of its operations. This aligns resources to our Programme for Government commitments, whilst ensuring our workforce is fiscally sustainable. This is achieved through prioritisation, effective vacancy management and recruitment controls and adapting to changing needs.
Investments in technology, as well as wider public service reform, seek to drive efficiency and effectiveness of public services.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shona Robison on 27 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any review of workforce planning within the Scottish civil service to ensure that staffing levels are appropriate and offer value for money to taxpayers.
Answer
Our workforce plans remain under regular review as we deploy the workforce in line with Ministerial priorities, providing public services as efficiently and effectively as possible, and operating within the direction set out in the Budget.
Since 2022 enhanced recruitment controls have been in place to manage total workforce numbers. From March 2022 to December 2024, the total workforce has reduced by 4%.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 26 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its policy is on reducing the number of public bodies, in light of the UK Government’s decision to abolish NHS England and streamline health administration.
Answer
Scotland does not have an equivalent body to NHS England, health services are managed by NHS boards, which operate within Scotland’s devolved system of government.
The UK Government’s decision to move the functions of NHS England to the relevant UK government department bring it in line with the situation in Scotland where NHS Scotland is already a part of the core Scottish Government civil service.
Regarding public bodies more widely our programme of Public Service Reform is addressing all opportunities identified to remove duplication from the public sector landscape, including consolidation of public bodies where appropriate and where a value for money case can be made. This work is part of our wider focus on driving a culture of continuous improvement to support efficiency and effectiveness across the delivery of public services.
The Scottish Government has already streamlined the public sector landscape by reducing the number of Scottish public bodies under our control from 199 in 2007 to 131 at the end of 2024. The Ministerial Control Framework also makes clear that establishing any new public bodies should be a last resort, ensuring any new bodies are established only when absolutely necessary.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the reported £19.5 million spent on consultants for the A83 Rest and Be Thankful upgrade.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to delivering a long-term solution to the landslip risks at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful and in December we made further progress by publishing draft Orders for the long-term solution and also for future phases of the medium-term solution to provide an improved diversionary route along the Old Military Road.
A breakdown of the £19.5 million spent on consultant’s fees can be found on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202500451605/.
These fees are associated with engineering design, environmental assessment (including environmental survey work), traffic and economic assessment, stakeholder engagement, and supervision of ground investigation works associated with the development of the medium and long term solutions as well as medium term solution construction works to the Old Military Road.
This expenditure is not unreasonable given the complexity and challenges of the scheme and the extent of the work being carried out to complete it.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 26 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether free bus passes make active travel less likely.
Answer
Use of public transport and active travel both support reductions in car use. The impact of free bus travel on sustainable travel behaviours is complex, and is affected by demographics, geography and trip purpose. Evidence from the existing National Bus Travel Concession Scheme for Older and Disabled Persons indicates that people who benefit from free public transport tend to be more active as a result. These journeys can be used to access outdoor activities and most will involve an active component, for instance to get to or from the bus stop.
The Year One Evaluation of the Young Persons Scheme was conducted between April and August 2023 and found early signs of changes in mode choice, with young people opting to use the bus rather than car, train and potentially some active modes. We will continue to monitor the impacts of the scheme, including any continued impact to use of other modes and active travel.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how much it anticipates it will spend on disability-related benefits by 2030, and what steps it is taking to ensure the sustainability of Scotland’s devolved social security system.
Answer
Based on the latest Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts, the Scottish Government anticipates to spend around £7.1 billion on disability-related benefits in 2029-30.
Of the £7.1 billion, around £6.7 billion (94% of the total) will be covered by the Social Security Block Grant Adjustment received from the UK Government with around £0.4billion (6% of the total)to be met from the Scottish Government’s Budget).
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that finances remain on a sustainable trajectory and that we continue to reach a balanced position each year, as we have done for the last 17 years. We will continue to take forward our programme of work for doing this, which will be updated in the next Medium-Term Financial Strategy due to be published later this year, alongside the Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan.
The UK government’s welfare reform proposals are an attempt to balance the books on the backs of disabled people. It is disappointing that the UK Government decided not to engage with the Scottish Government before this announcement.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported concerns that any increasing social security costs could reduce the funding available for other public services such as health and education.
Answer
Social security is an investment in the people of Scotland. Our priority is to ensure that people receive the support to which they are entitled and that in doing so they are treated with dignity, fairness and respect. The Scottish Government are investing around £6.9 billion in Social Security benefits in 2025-26, this is projected to increase to around £8.9 billion by 2029-30.
The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that finances remain on a sustainable trajectory and that we continue to reach a balanced position each year, as we have done for the last 17 years. We will continue to take forward our programme of work for doing this, which will be updated in the next Medium-Term Financial Strategy due to be published later this year, alongside the Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 26 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of its Budget is projected to be allocated to social security by the end of the decade, and whether it anticipates any need for future tax increases to cover any rising costs.
Answer
Based on the latest Scottish Fiscal Commission forecasts, it is estimated that the budget allocated to Social Security will be 14.8% of the Scottish Government’s total Resource Budget by 2029-30. The proportion of the budget which the Scottish Government has chosen to invest in to enhance our Social Security offering, compared to England and Wales (i.e. above the Social Security Block Grant Adjustment), is projected to be 2.6% of the total Scottish Government Resource Budget by 2029-30.
Alongside the 2025-26 Budget the Scottish Government published a Tax Strategy which sets out the next steps in the evolution of the tax landscape in Scotland. This set out that there would be no increases to Income Tax rates or new bands added to the tax system for the remainder of this Parliament.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 25 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answer expected on 22 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its procedures are for vetting and reviewing ministerial memoirs.
Answer
Answer expected on 22 April 2025
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Graeme Dey on 25 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted of the long-term viability of its free university tuition policy, in light of the reported financial pressures being experienced by universities.
Answer
The Scottish Government is resolutely committed to free tuition, and the position that access to university should remain based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay. This commitment to free tuition also means that, unlike elsewhere in the UK, Scottish students studying in Scotland do not incur additional debt of up to £27,750 and average student loan debt in Scotland is the lowest in the UK.
The Scottish Government fully appreciates the financial sustainability challenges being faced by many universities across the UK due to a range of factors, including the impact of UK Government immigration policies on international student recruitment, and the increase to employers’ National Insurance Contributions. While universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own strategic and operational decision making, the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council will continue to offer support to individual institutions as they develop their own plans to mitigate financial challenges.
The Scottish Government listened closely to the university sector in the development of this year’s budget, which is why we are investing over £1.1 billion in university teaching and research in 2025-26. Since February we have also announced a further £25 million to support universities facing financial challenges.
