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-42369

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the full (a) legal, (b) financial and (c) operational considerations that underpin its proposals for new nationally agreed minimum standards on pupil learning hours.

We reached a formal agreement with COSLA in December 2024 which commits to freezing learning hours in 2025-26.

Through our announcement of a ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have set out a range of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week, including exploration of new nationally agreed minimum standards on pupil learning hours.

This will include work to consider minimum standards on pupil learning hours and explore the legal, financial and operational considerations which will underpin any agreed approach.

Question reference: S6W-42364

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what consultation it undertook with the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers prior to announcing proposals for changes to class contact time.

The Scottish Government is represented at all committees and subgroups of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), including the SNCT subgroup on Reducing Teacher Class Contact Time.

Government officials regularly provide updates and table proposals to SNCT committees and subgroups, in line with Government policy positions and ministerial direction. It’s quite appropriate for ministers to signal a desired policy direction in advance of this being taken as a formal proposal to be discussed at the SNCT.

Question reference: S6W-42358

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding it currently provides to local authorities to support safety and violence prevention in schools.

The Scottish Government is supporting safety and violence prevention in schools by directly investing £4.3 billion in Scotland’s education system in the 2025-26 budget. This investment includes £186.5m to local authorities in 2025-26 to help protect teacher numbers and maximise the number of teaching posts available. It also includes £29 million to support the recruitment, retention and training of the Additional Support for Learning workforce, backed by an additional £29 million in 2025-26 in local and national programmes; and £16m a year to ensuring access to counselling services for all children and young people aged 10 and over.

In addition, we have invested more than £6 million since 2023 to support implementation of the Violence Prevention Framework, which supports the work of schools in relation to violence prevention. Through this framework we are working with partners such as YouthLink Scotland, Medics Against Violence, and Police Scotland to provide targeted education programmes for our young people on the risks of and impacts of violence.

In 2025-26 we are also providing £298,480 to respectme, Scotland’s national anti-bullying service, to provide advice and resources to schools, parents and carers to support and educate young people on the impact of bullying and build confidence and capacity to address bullying.

Question reference: S6W-42357

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the reported link between rising school violence and reductions in school-based police officer numbers.

The safety of our children, young people and staff at school is paramount. Through the Relationships and Behaviour in Schools national action plan, the Scottish Government continues to work with local authorities, Education Scotland and other partners to support positive relationships and behaviour and to promote safe, inclusive learning environments for all children and young people.

The most recent Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research provides the national evidence on behaviour in schools. It highlights a range of contributing factors to changes in relationships and behaviour, including the impact of the pandemic, poverty and wider societal pressures.

It is for individual schools to decide how to respond to challenging behaviour. They can use a number of approaches including: good behaviour management and behaviour support teams, solution-orientated, nurture and restorative approaches and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

The use and funding of campus-based officers is a matter for the local authority to decide. The Scottish Government does not hold national data on these officers.

Question reference: S6W-42359

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to address reported concerns that reductions to campus police will reduce early intervention and deterrence of young people from committing crimes.

The use and funding of campus-based officers is a matter for each local authority to decide in line with local needs. It is for individual schools to identify how to provide early intervention and deterrence programmes for young people who are at risk of involvement in crime. They can use a number of approaches, including good behaviour management and behaviour support teams, solution-orientated, nurture and restorative approaches and programmes to help develop social, emotional and behavioural skills.

We also actively work with schools and local authorities to provide both targeted education and programmes for our young people to help tackle violence and disruptive behaviour, including those delivered through our Violence Prevention Framework which we have supported with more than £6 million since 2023.

Question reference: S6W-42362

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what measures it is taking to support any local authorities that are experiencing budget pressures that are putting (a) school safety and (b) child protection services at risk.

Local authorities are responsible for managing their statutory duties in relation to school safety and child protection.

The vast majority of funding allocated to councils is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on school safety and child protection services, on the basis of local needs and priorities, having first fulfilled their statutory obligations and the jointly agreed set of national and local priorities.

The 2025-26 budget delivered record funding of over £15.1 billion for Local Government, a real terms increase of 5.5 per cent.

Question reference: S6W-42365

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the feasibility of delivering a 90-minute reduction in class contact time without additional teachers.

The Scottish Government commissioned independent research, published on 7 May 2024, which outlined how the delivery of a 90 minute reduction in class contact time could be achieved through a range of scenarios, at that time.

The research can be accessed at: .

This report has informed our engagement with partners on the commitment to reduce class contact time for teachers.

We remain committed to working with local government and teacher unions through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) to make meaningful progress on reducing teacher class contact time.

Question reference: S6W-42367

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on rural schools of any changes to the structure of the school week.

We recognise the challenges that many remote and rural schools face, including challenges with teacher recruitment.

Through our announcement of a ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have set out a range of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week, which we plan to pilot and explore with local government and schools.

This will include working with Schools in remote and rural communities to pilot new ways of structuring the teaching and learning week, which take account of their local contexts and provide the flexibility they need to address these challenges. This work will allow us to asses impact, and build the data and evidence needed for future national approaches.

Question reference: S6W-42363

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 19 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish detailed modelling of the potential impact of a four-day teaching week on (a) learning hours and (b) attainment.

Through the ‘New National Deal for Scotland’s teachers’, we have announced a set of proposed changes to the teaching and learning week which we plan to pilot and explore with local government and schools.

We intend to undertake pilot approaches to further develop the most innovative and evidence led solutions to restructuring the teaching and learning week.

The data and evidence we will gather through the pilots, which we wish to begin swiftly, will allow us to model the impact of specific changes, to the teaching and learning week, on a national basis, and demonstrate the efficacy of individual measures and approaches.

Question reference: S6W-42699

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether there are staff shortages in maternity services and, if so, what steps it is taking to address this.