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: S5W-09453

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 13 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government where residential patients at the Mulberry Unit at Stracathro Hospital have been transferred to since it was temporarily closed in February 2017.

Question reference: S5W-09436

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it takes to raise classroom teachers’ esteem and morale.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting teaching as a high status profession that plays a critical role in society.

We are aiming to raise moral and esteem through our inspirational ‘Teaching Makes People’ recruitment campaign which aims to generate a longer term shift in perception about teaching as a career and has drive a 19% increase in PDGE student intakes to Scottish universities. We are also investing in high quality professional leaning for teachers through the Scottish College for Educational Leadership and by supporting teachers to undertake professional learning at masters level.

Allied to this we have also announced concrete proposals to address workload issues designed to allow teachers to focus on teaching.

Question reference: S5W-09434

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what the average length of time classroom teachers remain in the profession after qualification, and what analysis it has carried of how many leave (a) before one year, (b) between one and five years and (c) after five years.

Question reference: S5W-09432

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 6 June 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what analysis it has carried out of the reasons given by (a) classroom and (b) additional support teachers for leaving the profession.

Question reference: S5W-09151

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 May 2017
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 12 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government whether a procedure is in place to ensure that all planning appeal reporters are issued with specific timescales for issuing decisions.

Question reference: S5W-08879

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Humza Yousaf on 2 May 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of recent fatal accidents, what its position is on installing street lighting at the Toll of Birness junction on the A90.

In the last five years, no injury accidents at the A90 Toll of Birness junction have occurred in the hours of darkness, therefore there is no evidence to suggest that street lighting would reduce the risk of accidents occurring and we have no plans to install it.

The recent tragic fatal accident on 5 April 2017 did not occur at the junction itself and took place in daylight. There have been no other fatal accidents at the junction in the last ten years.

Question reference: S5W-08753

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 10 April 2017
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 25 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government what action it took to ensure that transport (a) to, (b) from and (c) within the United States for the First Minister's recent visit was completed in the most environmentally sustainable way possible.

The First Minister visited the United States between 2 and 7 April attending events and meetings in California and New York.

The visit focused on promoting trade and investment, boosting tourism, sharing best practice across the public and private sector and promoting Scottish innovation and entrepreneurship. I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-08856 on 20 April 2017 for more details on the visit. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at

Transport arrangements for the visit were made in line with Scottish Government's sustainable Travel Strategy.

Question reference: S5F-01182

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 24 April 2017
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 April 2017

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's position is on the accuracy of the GERS figures.

Question reference: S5W-08471

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 19 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5T-00479 by Keith Brown on 28 March 2017 (Official Report, c. 5), on what date the cabinet secretary was advised of the possible delay to the opening of the Queensferry Crossing; how much the delay will add to the overall cost of the project, and what the economic impact will be.

I met with the contractor, Forth Crossing Bridge Constructors, on Monday 27 March 2017 when they advised me that, due to the continued impacts of wind on the construction operations, they were unlikely to be able to achieve an opening date in May for the Queensferry Crossing.

As I stated at the Rural Economy Connectivity Committee any increase in delivery time will not result in any increase to the overall cost to the taxpayer which stands at £1.35 billion as before. The £245 million of savings that have been released since the construction started are secure.

The Forth Road Bridge is operating well. Consequently, there will be no further economic impact as a result of the revised timescales.

Question reference: S5W-08350

Asked by: Liam Kerr, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 March 2017
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 18 April 2017

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the comment by a Transport Scotland spokesman in The Courier on 23 March 2017 regarding the date of the opening of the Queensferry Crossing that “it is difficult to give a cast iron guarantee at this stage”, whether it will provide an update regarding what date it expects the crossing to open.