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-39493

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-38738 by Ivan McKee on 3 July 2025, whether the total running costs provided include the total lease cost for each of its properties.

Question reference: S6W-39502

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it considers the potential development of special economic zones for AI data centres and related investment to be a devolved responsibility.

Question reference: S6W-39495

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the number of jobs in Scotland that could be lost due to AI over the next decade.

Question reference: S6W-39496

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it is developing to support any workers who lose their jobs due to AI.

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: .

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.

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-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-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-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.