Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-42841

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 21 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it expects the Sentencing and Penal Policy Commission to publish its final report, and whether it plans to make a statement to the Parliament on the Commission's recommendations following publication.

Question reference: S6W-42695

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether reducing the number of neonatal intensive care units will improve or compromise safety for premature and underweight babies, and what evidence it has to justify its position.

The recommendations for the new neonatal model of care are underpinned by strong clinical evidence that population outcomes for the most premature and sickest babies are improved by delivery and care in units looking after a critical mass of these babies.

The change in service delivery will bring Scotland in line with established practice across the rest of the UK and indeed the way neonatal care is delivered across the Western world.

This evidence has since strengthened with the publication in 2021 of the British Association for Perinatal Medicine (BAPM) ) Optimal Arrangements for Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the UK (2021) | British Association of Perinatal Medicine which sets out optimal arrangements for neonatal intensive care and is the recognised optimal model for neonatal intensive care in the UK.

A review of evidence was also carried out by Dr Anna Gavine, Dr Steve MacGillivray and Prof Mary Renfrew of the University of Dundee - Maternity and neonatal services: efficient evidence review. The evidence showed that outcomes for very low birth weight babies (VLBW) are better when they are delivered and treated in NICUs with full support services, experienced staff, and a critical mass of activity.

In November 2023, I asked the Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Marion Bain, to review the evidence, the options appraisal report and the post COVID review.

Marion Bain confirmed the process was robust and took account of the available evidence, relevant clinical advice and confirmed that her investigations produced no concerns about the process, or the validity of the conclusions reached.

She also noted that it involved clinical experts from both within Scotland and beyond, and that the process was informed by and considered existing guidance from well-respected clinical organisations.

Question reference: S6W-42713

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 19 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the potential impact on the Scottish economy, what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding what the status is of the memorandum of understanding signed with MingYang in 2021, and whether it remains active.

Question reference: S6W-42711

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 7 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding any security concerns relating to MingYang entering Scotland's offshore wind supply chain.

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of Mingyang’s potential investment to the growth and success of the offshore wind sector. The Memorandum of Understanding between the UK Government and Mingyang is a matter of public record.

The UK Government is responsible for national security, the regulation of international trade, elements of critical national infrastructure including energy, and the application of the National Security and Investment Act. The proposed Mingyang investment is subject to a national security decision by the UK Government and we await the outcome of that process.

Question reference: S6W-42698

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with any midwives who have raised concerns that the reported plans to downgrade neonatal intensive care units will endanger mothers and babies, and how it is responding to any such concerns.

Modelling maternity capacity is essential to the development of the new model of neonatal care. The RSM report has outlined the maternity modelling in relation to data captured.

The principles underpinning the changes to neonatal intensive care are supported by Scottish Executive Nurse Directors (SEND) and the Midwifery Directors of Scotland (MiDS).

To mitigate any concerns raised about the implications of the change for maternity services, SEND, in support of the MiDS, recommended that the Scottish Government undertake a national-level data collection to better understand the impact of the neonatal care remodelling on maternity services.

This data collection report has now been completed and the additional data and evidence gathered required for maternity services will inform maternity capacity implementation planning.

Question reference: S6W-42743

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has carried out to estimate future inflows of immigrants relocating from other parts of the UK because of Scotland’s differing housing policies.

Question reference: S6W-42718

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish updated forecasts for winter hardship payments and related support schemes.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission will publish its latest economic and fiscal forecasts alongside the Scottish Budget on 13 January 2026.

We are providing a package of support that ensures the people of Scotland will receive more help with heating costs this winter, than anywhere else in the UK. Based on the SFC’s forecasts from summer 2025, we are investing around £227 million in winter heating benefits in 2025-26, providing vital assistance to those who need it most during the coldest months of the year, with more than 837,000 payments already made to help households with heating costs this winter.

Question reference: S6W-42694

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what modelling it has undertaken regarding any impact that the transfer of very premature and high-risk babies between neonatal services over longer distances will have on outcomes, and whether it will publish that modelling.

Question reference: S6W-42742

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of Scotland’s housing entitlements on the number of immigrants relocating to Glasgow and other urban areas.

The Scottish Government is proud of its strong housing and homelessness rights. We want to ensure everyone in Scotland has access to a safe, warm and affordable home, whether they are homeowners or tenants in the private or social rented sectors.

People relocate for diverse reasons, including moving closer to relatives, seeking job opportunities and/or escaping difficult situations. Our official statistics capture whether homelessness applications come from households who live in the local area; have a local connection with another area of Scotland; or have no known connection to any authority in Scotland. Of the 34,067 households that were assessed as homeless in 2024-25, the overwhelming majority (94 per cent) already had a connection to the local area or to Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42697

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 18 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what additional ambulance capacity has been allocated to support longer transfers of premature babies between neonatal services under its plans for the reconfiguration of neonatal intensive care units.

The expectation is that the mothers in threatened extreme preterm labour, or those whose babies are identified antenatally as requiring specialist care (for example neonatal surgery), will be transferred antenatally and will birth in the maternity unit alongside the NICU. The Perinatal Network has been leading some work, and recently published guidance on identification and obstetric transfer in these circumstances.

Where babies have to be moved our specialist neonatal transport service ScotSTAR has 20+ years of experience of moving babies in specialised ambulances with incubators and neonatal staff.

ScotSTAR and the wider Scottish Ambulance Service are working to ensure that capacity is aligned to the future demands related to the new model of neonatal care and will be feeding into the Task and Finish group around the resources required to do so.

In addition, the Scottish Government contracted healthcare planning support from RSM UK to undertake the detailed modelling and capacity planning work, to inform local implementation plans. The approach to this work has included data collection and modelling alongside engagement with both operational and strategic stakeholders, to validate data, generate and test planning assumptions.

Activity and capacity data was collected from each of the eight units included within the model scope, as well as Public Health Scotland (PHS) and, Scottish Specialist Transport and Retrieval (ScotSTAR) / Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS). The report was published in May 2024.

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