Questions and answers

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 ��˿�� 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-42348

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025

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.

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 respect to CAR authorisations in recent years.

SEPA historically published annual compliance data under its Compliance Assessment Scheme (CAS), which rated licences under CAR and other regimes. This publication stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic but SEPA has continued to check compliance and tackle non-compliance where necessary, and some authorisation information is available on request.

SEPA has consulted on a new Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme (EPAS) for reporting on performance against regulatory requirements. Reporting under EPAS is expected to start during 2027. More information is available on SEPA’s website at .

In parallel, SEPA transitioned from CAR licencing to Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 on 1 November 2025. This will create a more streamlined and integrated system for environmental authorisations in Scotland by bringing together the processes for authorising, enforcing and managing activities that may impact the environment.

Question reference: S6W-42333

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the (a) minutes, (b) remit and (c) membership criteria for the Mossmorran ethylene plant taskforce.

Question reference: S6W-42331

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what advice it has received from Scottish Enterprise regarding potential alternative investors for the site of the Mossmorran ethylene plant.

The Scottish Government is working with Scottish Enterprise at pace to identify a route forward that will support a sustainable future at Mossmorran. They will update the Scottish Government in due course on the most viable proposals and ways in which they could be deployed to support an industrial transition for impacted workers and the wider community.

The Scottish Government has also commissioned an independent assessment of the potential economic impact of ExxonMobil’s planned closure of the Mossmorran Fife Ethylene Plant.

Question reference: S6W-42330

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it undertook with ExxonMobil between April 2025 and the date of the announcement of the closure of the Mossmorran ethylene plant.

The Scottish Government was informed of ExxonMobil’s plans to market the Fife Ethylene Plant in November. On 4 November, Scottish Government officials met with representatives of the business who initially informed them and subsequently, on 11 November, I met with the Chairman of ExxonMobil, who confirmed the company’s position. The Scottish Government was notified of the businesses’ decision to close the plant on 17 November. I have engaged closely with ExxonMobil on a number of occasions since 17 November, including on her visit to the site on 25 November.

Question reference: S6W-42332

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding the closure of the Mossmorran ethylene plant, what its reasons were for establishing its own taskforce rather than participating in that proposed by Fife Council.

Question reference: S6W-42350

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025

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.

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 develop an approach to identify overflows where action is needed to prevent dry weather spills from happening.

In the first instance, Scottish Water responds to and carries out any operational interventions to check for blockages, misconnections or other potential faults where any overflow events appear to be happening in dry weather. Scottish Water has also proposed a definition for dry day overflow events and is working in the background to investigate overflows using data from Event Duration Monitors installed as part of commitments made in its ‘Improving Urban Waters Route map’. Where overflow events are confirmed to be occurring in dry weather because of insufficient capacity in the sewerage system, a process is being developed whereby these will be identified as Unsatisfactory Intermittent Discharges (UIDs) and will be agreed with SEPA as a priority for improvement."

Question reference: S6W-42361

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 16 December 2025

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

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 closely with local communities, including local authority representatives and the Act requires Police Scotland to involve individual local authorities in setting of priorities and objectives for the policing of its area.

Furthermore, a local policing plan which sets out the main priorities and objectives for their area must be approved by local authorities.

The importance of community policing is recognised in the Scottish Government’s Strategic Police Priorities which were revised in 2023.

Police Scotland’s three year business plan also includes a number of measures aimed at enhancing local policing to help keep our communities safe.

Question reference: S6W-42347

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025

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

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 to increase monitor coverage to around 2,000 locations in total (nearly 50% of intermittent discharges) and will look to determine an approach to establish how many more monitors should be installed in 2026 and beyond.

A significant number of overflow locations are predicted never to spill and monitoring these locations would generate limited value beyond proving that overflow events do not occur. Monitors are relatively expensive to install and deploying these without generating any environmental benefit is unlikely to represent good value for customers.

Question reference: S6W-42322

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the alleged lack of crucial detail in the UK Warm Homes Plan and the impact on the Scottish Government's plans to introduce a Heat in Buildings Bill, what discussions it has had with UK Government ministers on this matter, and whether it will publish any related correspondence.

Question reference: S6W-42338

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 12 December 2025

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.

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 detail the mitigating measures, are in place to support staff who are required to deliver care to patients in these areas.

The use of non-standard areas of care is scrutinised by Healthcare Improvement Scotland as part of their inspection process. HIS has encouraged NHS Boards to implement strategies to enhance patient flow and eliminate the routine use of non-standard care areas for patient care.