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 MSPs 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: S6O-02566

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to propose a parliamentary debate on the removal of nuclear weapons from Scotland, as proposed in its paper, Creating a modern constitution for an independent Scotland.

Question reference: S6O-02547

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 13 September 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 21 September 2023

To ask the Scottish Government whether Scottish Water has completed any remedial works to prevent future flooding in the Glasgow Anniesland constituency, following reports of widespread flooding in the area earlier this year.

Question reference: S6W-19907

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels for the higher education participation rate among people in the 16- to 30-year-old population in Scotland, and how this compares to the levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Information on the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR) is published by the Scottish Funding Council in their annual publication Higher Education Students and Qualifiers, table 37.

In 2020-21, the HEIPR for 16–30-year-olds in Scotland was 60.2%

HE Students and Qualifiers at Scottish Institutions 2020-21 (sfc.ac.uk)

Methodology for England isn’t directly comparable due to the inclusion of Alternative Providers and a slightly different age range (17 to 30). However, by removing Alternative Providers this gives a figure of 55.6% for England.

Participation measures in higher education, Academic year 2020/21 – Explore education statistics – GOV.UK (explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk)

No HEIPR is published for Wales.

Question reference: S6W-19905

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 7 August 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels of education spending per person in Scotland, and on how this compares to levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Estimates of education spending per person for the 2021-22 financial year were published in HM Treasury’s 2022 Country and Regional Analysis. Education spending (including school and higher and further education) per head of population across Scotland, England and Wales is shown in the following table.

	Scotland	England	Wales
Education spending per person	£1,758	£1,439	£1,680

Source: Country and regional analysis 2022 , table A.15, HM Treasury, November 2022

More recently, April 2023 research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimated that in 2022-23 school spending per pupil was around £1,300, or 18% higher in Scotland than in England and Wales. A side-by-side comparison of this spending is shown in the table below.

	Scotland	England	Wales
School spending per pupil aged 3-19	£8,500	£7,200	£7,200

Source: How does school spending per pupil differ across the UK? , Institute for Fiscal Studies, April 2023

Question reference: S6W-19906

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels for the starting salary for a qualified teacher in Scotland, and on how this compares to the levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Question reference: S6W-19904

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 July 2023
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 24 July 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on the latest known levels of average household water bills in Scotland, and on how this compares to the levels in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Question reference: S6F-02297

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 June 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 June 2023

To ask the First Minister what steps the Scottish Government is taking to help raise awareness of the importance of stem cell donation in the treatment of blood cancer and blood disorder.

Question reference: S6O-02327

Current Status: Withdrawn

Question reference: S6O-02292

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 31 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions have taken place with Forestry and Land Scotland regarding the upcoming 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships.

Question reference: S6O-02235

Asked by: Bill Kidd, MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 May 2023
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 17 May 2023

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office regarding the reported communique to UK ambassadors and diplomats and their involvement in the Scottish Government’s international engagements.