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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

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Question reference: S6W-43012

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Initiated by the Scottish Government. Answered by Kate Forbes on 14 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on when it expects a new chair to be in place for the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry.

Following Lord Bracadale’s resignation as Chair of the Sheku Bayoh Inquiry on 21 October last year, I am pleased to confirm that Lord Colbeck, a current Senator of the College of Justice, has agreed to chair the Public Inquiry.

I am confident Lord Colbeck will be an excellent Chair. He was appointed as a judge of the Supreme Courts in May 2023, having previously served as Sheriff Principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin from September 2016 and as Vice President of the Sheriff Appeal Court from May 2022.

The Scottish Government remains committed to the Public Inquiry into Mr Bayoh’s death, to ensuring it is concluded thoroughly and that meaningful lessons are learned. The appointment of Lord Colbeck as Chair will enable the Inquiry to complete its work and it is in everyone’s interest that it proceeds to deliver its findings without further delay.

Question reference: S6O-05379

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 January 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 15 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the transport secretary has had with the justice secretary regarding action it is taking to tackle freight crime in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42495

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 6 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6O-05250 by Kate Forbes on 4 December 2025, and in light of the First Minister stating on 3 September 2025 that “anyone watching the war in Ukraine would recognise the importance of defence…the invasion shows that we live in a world in which our national security faces much greater and more immediate threats”, what action it is taking to ensure that the aerospace, defence, marine and space sectors can support national resilience, economic growth and domestic capability, within the context of devolved powers.

We are committed to supporting Scotland’s aerospace, defence, marine and space sectors who are fundamental to our national security and a strategic driver of economic growth, supporting high-quality jobs and developing the workforce of the future.

On 3 September 2025, recognising the changing international landscape—particularly the invasion of Ukraine— the First Minister announced the lifting of the policy prohibiting the use of public funds for the manufacture of munitions across the defence sector.
The Scottish Government, through its enterprise agencies, provides targeted support to companies across these sectors, since 2006-07, over £90 million has been invested in these sectors, securing highly-skilled jobs and economic returns. Recent examples include:
- £9.22 million awarded to BAE Systems to support a training and skills academy as part of a project to modernise shipyards on the Clyde, creating around 300 new jobs and securing over a thousand more.
- A £9 million grant to ZeroAvia to establish a major green aircraft engine manufacturing base in Scotland, creating around 350 jobs and unlocking significant investment, building on an earlier £20 million investment from the Scottish National Investment Bank.
- Up to £2 million invested to develop engineering skills in the Glasgow City Region, designed by the Clyde Maritime Cluster in partnership with Skills Development Scotland.
- Over £300k invested to drive innovation and growth across Scotland’s space sector, including cluster-building for Space Scotland and cross-cluster pilots using satellite data to enhance natural capital.
Ministers continue to engage with industries across these sectors including on the opportunities presented in the UK Defence Industrial Strategy such as the Defence Growth Deal. With its skilled workforce, strong industrial base and culture of innovation, Scotland is well placed to attract continued investment in cutting-edge defence and technology programmes.

Question reference: S6W-42807

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what recent engagement it has had with the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service (NaVCIS), including its freight crime function, and whether any discussions have been held regarding the scope of NaVCIS's role in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42809

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the process used to (a) create, (b) classify and (c) review crime codes relating to vehicle and freight crime in Scotland, and whether it considers that the existing crime codes are sufficient to capture freight and cargo crime accurately.

Question reference: S6W-42810

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to contributing to, or facilitating Scottish industry participation in, the funding of (a) the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service and (b) similar specialist vehicle and freight crime intelligence services.

Question reference: S6W-42808

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 19 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the scale and nature of vehicle and freight crime in Scotland, and whether intelligence from the National (a) Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service and (b) Freight Crime Database is used to inform this assessment.

Question reference: S6W-42473

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide what information it has on the number of English teachers there are in each local authority area, broken down by (a) gender and (b) nationally.

The full-time equivalent (FTE) secondary school teachers with English as their main subject or other subject in 2024, by sex and local authority, is provided in the following table.

	Female	Male	All teachers
Aberdeen City	73	21	94
Aberdeenshire	89	39	128
Angus	44	21	65
Argyll and Bute	36	8	44
City of Edinburgh	145	64	209
Clackmannanshire	17	5	22
Dumfries and Galloway	68	12	80
Dundee City	52	18	70
East Ayrshire	36	17	53
East Dunbartonshire	56	21	77
East Lothian	42	14	56
East Renfrewshire	54	27	81
Falkirk	59	21	80
Fife	128	46	174
Glasgow City	212	78	291
Highland	90	40	130
Inverclyde	23	12	35
Midlothian	45	14	58
Moray	37	6	44
Na h-Eileanan Siar	11	5	16
North Ayrshire	51	19	70
North Lanarkshire	158	36	194
Orkney Islands	c	c	16
Perth and Kinross	47	18	65
Renfrewshire	78	20	98
Scottish Borders	36	18	54
Shetland Islands	c	c	16
South Ayrshire	33	14	47
South Lanarkshire	125	44	169
Stirling	49	11	60
West Dunbartonshire	37	9	46
West Lothian	74	29	103
All local authorities	2,034	710	2,743
Grant aided	c	c	6
Scotland	2,038	712	2,750

c = value suppressed to protect against the risk of disclosure of personal information.

These FTE statistics have been rounded to the nearest whole number so the sum of the rows shown may not match the total shown.

Question reference: S6W-42474

Asked by: Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 5 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide what information it has on the number of teachers, broken down by gender, in (a) nursery and early years settings, (b) primary schools and (c) secondary schools, also broken down by (i) nationally and (ii) local authority area.

The full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers by gender and local authority for early learning and childcare settings provided in the following table. Statistics for teachers in primary and secondary schools are published in the teacher census supplementary statistics: Teacher census supplementary statistics - gov.scot

Table 1 Teachers in early learning and childcare settings by sex, FTE, 2024

Local Authority	Female	Male	Total
Aberdeen City	19.43	2.50	21.93
Aberdeenshire	18.60	0	18.60
Angus	10.87	0.47	11.34
Argyll & Bute	18.83	1.98	20.81
Clackmannanshire	4.26	0	4.26
Dumfries & Galloway	18.69	0	18.69
Dundee City	32.60	0	32.60
East Ayrshire	9.18	0.05	9.23
East Dunbartonshire	29.01	2.30	31.31
East Lothian	5.33	0.81	6.14
East Renfrewshire	34.00	2.50	36.50
City of Edinburgh	55.24	7.09	62.33
Na h-Eileanan Siar	3.07	0	3.07
Falkirk	4.80	0	4.80
Fife	68.32	5.72	74.04
Glasgow City	40.65	3.07	43.72
Highland	35.05	3.57	38.62
Inverclyde	3.15	0.80	3.95
Midlothian	8.58	1.50	10.08
Moray	13.17	1.19	14.36
North Ayrshire	13.70	0.60	14.30
North Lanarkshire	18.49	1.40	19.89
Orkney Islands	4.27	0.20	4.47
Perth & Kinross	43.37	2.50	45.87
Renfrewshire	12.86	1.00	13.86
Scottish Borders	22.64	2.00	24.64
Shetland Islands	9.11	0.50	9.61
South Ayrshire	14.95	3.40	18.35
South Lanarkshire	25.31	2.65	27.96
Stirling	5.73	0	5.73
West Dunbartonshire	20.60	0.20	20.80
West Lothian	6.09	1.00	7.09
All Local Authorities	629.95	49.00	678.95

Question reference: S6W-42472

Current Status: Withdrawn

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