- 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 Maree Todd on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with football (a) clubs and (b) supporter groups regarding the potential impact of allowing alcohol sales inside grounds, and whether it will publish any feedback it has received on this.
Answer
I have discussed this issue a number of times with the SPFL and directly with some football clubs. More recently, the round table on enhancing Scottish football which has representatives from the footballing governing bodies and supporter groups, has discussed the reintroduction of alcohol in football stadia alongside other issues pertinent to Scottish football. We plan to publish the minutes of these meetings on the Scottish Government website in due course.
- 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 Maree Todd on 1 April 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the findings of the University of Stirling project, Football and Alcohol Scoping Study, and what its position is on what impact controlled, responsible alcohol sales inside football grounds could have on (a) levels of so-called binge drinking before matches, (b) matchday revenues and (c) the overall supporter experience.
Answer
The University of Stirling research was commissioned by the Scottish FA and SPFL. The Scottish Government has not undertaken any detailed analysis of the report to date. Our position remains that we have no plans at the current time to amend the legislation governing alcohol at football but we will consider any proposals put forward by the football authorities, and which we would expect to address the issues set out in the University of Stirling report.
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 March 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2025
To ask the First Minister what engagement the Scottish Government has had with the UK Government regarding what assessment has been made of the potential impact of an extension of US tariffs on Scottish businesses that export to the US market.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 3 April 2025
- 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 Alasdair Allan on 31 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish all communications, meeting notes and correspondence between ministers and (a) SSE and (b) Equinor regarding the Peterhead gas-fired power station project.
Answer
To avoid accusations of bias or undue influence in planning and consenting decisions, Minsters cannot undertake any discussions with developers or objectors about the merits or otherwise of forthcoming, or live applications.
Ministers may of course undertake meetings with companies, as part of everyday Scottish Government business. However, these meetings do not contain conversations about specific planning applications and are properly recorded to ensure full transparency.
- 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 Neil Gray on 31 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what the cost to date has been for the development of the NHS Scotland app, including the cost of any contracts awarded, and whether there has been any budgetary overspend compared with initial projections.
Answer
Delivery of the health and social care app for Scotland is being taken forward by NHS Education Scotland (NES) as part of the wider Digital Front Door programme. The majority of costs to date have been on mobilising the team required and developing the Outline Business Case. NHS NES staff have participated in the Civtech Challenge, which has allowed NES to understand what is required to develop the app in a way that integrates into Scottish Government plans to digitise postal communications. More information about this can be found at:
The bulk of development costs on the app specifically will be incurred from 2025-26 onwards, as part of the indicative programme budget for 2025-26 set at £12 million.
The Scottish Government has provided NES with the following funding for the Digital Front Door Programme:
Scottish Government has also awarded no contracts associated with this work, although NES, as the delivery partner, did spend £210,000 from their allocated budget on a contract to develop the Outline Business Case and further contracts will be awarded by NES as they move into this delivery phase. There has been no budgetary overspend compared with projections to date.
- 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 Jenny Gilruth on 31 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has had any discussions with (a) educational organisations, such as School Leaders Scotland, and (b) teachers' unions regarding restricting mobile phone use by pupils in school.
Answer
In August 2024, I published refreshed guidance to schools on the use of mobile phones, as part of the joint action plan to respond to the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research.
This guidance was developed in collaboration with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABIS). All members of SAGRABIS were involved in discussions about the content of the guidance and agreed to its publication. Members of SAGRABIS include School Leaders Scotland (SLS), the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), NASUWT, Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA), the Association of Head Teachers and Deputes in Scotland (AHDS), and UNISON. Other members of SAGRABIS include COSLA, the Association of Directors of Education (ADES), the Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE), the Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP), parents’ representatives and respectme.
- 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 Jenny Gilruth on 31 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many local authorities have (a) reduced or (b) eliminated modern language teaching in (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in the last five years.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not publish local authority level data for the items requested.
Scottish Government does, however, publish related data on language learning and teaching at a national level. The table below provides a summary of data from the biennial 1+2 languages survey, summarising provision of language teaching for the first additional language (known as “L2”) and the second additional language (known as “L3”) in 2019, 2021 and 2023.
| | Primary schools | Secondary schools |
| | L2 | L3 | L2 | L3 |
2019 | 88% full* | 48% | 70% full | 83% |
2021 | 98% (69% full, 29% partial) | 64% | 100% (70% full, 30% partial) | 87.5% |
2023 | 99% (68% full, 31% partial) | 76% | 100% (61% full, 39% partial) | 88% |
*Note: Full implementation of L2 indicates it is taught continuously from P1-P7 in primary and S1-S3 in secondary. Partial implementation indicates the L2 is offered, but not taught continuously. The 2019 Survey only gathered data on full L2 implementation. The L3 entitlement does not require it to be taught continuously so full/partial figures are not provided.
The full Survey reports are available on the Scottish Government website:
- 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 Graeme Dey on 31 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to prevent future financial distress at universities, and whether it is considering a review of the higher education funding model.
Answer
We have a world-leading higher education sector to be proud of, and I value greatly the contribution that universities make to our economy and society. Ministers have been clear that the Scottish Government’s position on tuition fees will not change. The policy ensures that access to higher education is based on the ability to learn and not the ability to pay.
The Scottish Government do not accept that the current model is broken, but we accept that it is under severe pressure, largely because of circumstances that are outwith our control. Universities across the UK are facing financial challenges due to a range of factors, including the hostile immigration policies enacted by the UK Government in recent years hampering the ability of universities to welcome the brightest and best talent from across the world; inflationary pressures and the current UK Government’s increase to employer national insurance contributions, which has resulted in a £48m million pressure across the sector.
Despite the challenging financial circumstances, our commitment to Scotland's universities is demonstrated through our investing over £1 billion every year in the sector since 2012/13. This is continued in the 2025-26 budget which provides over £1.1bn of investment in teaching and research in Scotland’s universities. In addition, since February we have also announced a further £25 million to support universities facing financial challenges. The university funding allocations for 2025-26, which institutions will receive sight of in the next few weeks, will also show an uplift in the teaching price.
We are committed to engaging constructively with the sector to future proof the funding approach. The Cabinet Secretary and I have had a preliminary conversation with Universities Scotland on this and have agreed to return to the subject before the summer. While the sector is keen to lead on the development of potential solutions, Ministers wish to encourage others who want to engage constructively on the issue and bring forward ideas, albeit starting from the position that we will not reintroduce tuition fees. In addition, the Scottish Government fulfilled a Programme for Government commitment by publishing its first International Education Strategy (IES) on 7 February 2024, setting out how we will work with partners to promote Scotland’s education offer globally, including how we will maintain our links with the EU.
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 work closely with the sector and offer appropriate support as institutions develop plans to mitigate their financial challenges.
- 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 Richard Lochhead on 31 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what funding commitments it has made to AI skills training, and how these compare with UK Government-led initiatives.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to supporting the development of digital skills across the public sector, with the Scottish Digital Academy serving as the centre of excellence for digital capability. While there have been no specific funding allocations solely for AI skills training, the Academy is actively building on existing capability and provision, including through the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) Profession and strategic partnerships with organisations such as The Data Lab and the Scottish AI Alliance.
Rather than duplicating effort, the Scottish Government takes a collaborative approach, sharing resources where appropriate with the UK Government Digital Service and engaging through the national Digital Capability Advisory Group to identify and address digital skills gaps across the public sector. This ensures a more strategic, joined-up response to emerging technologies like AI, while leveraging existing investment and expertise.
- 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 Richard Lochhead on 31 March 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has conducted on the potential role of AI in the economy over the next decade, and what steps it is taking to ensure that Scotland competes globally in AI innovation.
Answer
Soon, Scottish Enterprise will publish analysis which assesses the economic opportunities for AI in Scotland including Scotland’s AI strengths as well as how Scotland’s AI ecosystem compares to other countries. Scottish Government also regularly measures and assesses business activity and the use of AI amongst businesses through the .
To ensure that Scotland competes globally in AI innovation, The Scottish Government is working with our enterprise agencies to promote investment and growth for Scotland’s AI ecosystem. Our agencies and partners are working to support AI companies at all stages of growth and to facilitate collaboration between AI companies, academic institutions and other partners for knowledge exchange and innovation. We are working closely with the Data Lab and the National Robotarium, to maximise the impact of our programmes and help the AI sector to flourish. We also support economic opportunities for AI through the Scottish AI Alliance, which is the delivery body for our AI strategy.
