Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-36462

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 30 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many patients have died by suicide in NHS mental health facilities in each of the last five years, and what proportion of those deaths occurred in settings that had previously been identified for ligature risks.

Information on patient suicide in NHS mental health facilities is not held centrally.

Any suicide is a tragedy and should not happen when someone is in the care of the state. We are determined to do all we can to improve patient safety, and to reduce suicide deaths in NHS mental health facilities. Our ambitious suicide prevention strategy and action plan which we are delivering with COSLA, has a clear focus on preventing suicides in higher risk settings, including clinical services. We are working with NHS Boards to implement improvements.

The quality and safety of mental health estates is an important issue for the Scottish Government. Health Boards are expected to place significant emphasis on the safety of environments mental health services are delivered from.

The Scottish Government and NHS Assure have developed and piloted a tool to gather information on the built environment, including reviewing completion of ligature assessments. Wider roll out will begin in spring 2025.

Question reference: S6W-36743

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Richard Lochhead on 30 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many limited companies are registered in Scotland.

Data are available on the number of businesses operating in Scotland, that are registered for VAT and/or PAYE, broken down by business legal status. These estimates, sourced from the Businesses in Scotland 2024 publication, are shown in the following table.

Table 1: Number of registered businesses (including public sector) operating in Scotland, by business legal status, 2024

Legal Status	Number of businesses
Companies (incl. Building Societies)	118,935
Sole proprietors	30,410
Partnerships	16,620
Public Corporation/ nationalised body	35
Central and local government	225
Non-profit making bodies and mutual associations	8,090
Total registered	174,310

Source: Businesses in Scotland 2024

Notes:

1.These data are available from Table A of the Scottish Government Businesses in Scotland 2024 publication: Businesses in Scotland: 2024 - gov.scot

2.Estimates are rounded to the nearest five.

Findings from the latest Small Business Survey show that 63% of small and medium-sized enterprises with at least one employee (SME employers) and 37% of SMEs with no employees in Scotland identify as a “Private limited company, limited by shares (LTD)”. The full breakdown for legal status from the survey is shown in the following table.

Table 2: Self-identification of business legal status, Scotland, 2023-2024

Legal Status	Share of SME employers	Share of SMEs with no employees
Sole proprietorship/trader	11%	43%
Private limited company, limited by shares (LTD)	63%	37%
Private company limited by guarantee	7%	2%
Partnership	11%	11%
Limited liability partnership	1%	3%
Charitable Incorporated Organisation	3%	0%
Other	3%	2%
Don't know	1%	2%

Source: Findings for Scotland from the Small Business Survey Scotland: 2023-2024 and Small Business Survey 2023: businesses with no employees.

Notes:

1.These data are available from Table A5 of the Scottish Government Small Business Survey Scotland: 2023-2024: Small Business Survey Scotland: 2023-2024 and Table 14 of the UK Government Small Business Survey 2023: businesses with no employees: Small Business Survey 2023: businesses with no employees

2.Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are businesses that have less than 250 employees.

Figures for corporate body type including limited companies at UK level can be found in the Companies House annual publication "Companies Register Activities 2023-2024". Please see Table C1 at the link below for figures from 2014-15 to 2023-24: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/companies-register-activities-statistical-release-april-2023-to-march-2024. The UK publication also includes some headline statistics for Scotland, Table A1 shows that there were 261,812 companies registered in Scotland at the end of 2023-24. Note that the figures for Scotland include all companies formed under the Companies Act 2006. The Act includes the following company types: public limited; private limited; private limited by guarantee / no share capital; private limited by guarantee / no share capital (exempt); private limited (section 30); private unlimited; private unlimited / no share capital companies.

Question reference: S6W-37078

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will instruct all public sector bodies in Scotland to conduct an urgent review of their equality, diversity and inclusion policies, in light of the Supreme Court ruling regarding For Women Scotland Ltd v The Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S6W-37075

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 April 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 13 May 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what immediate action it will take to ensure that all public bodies comply fully and without qualification with the Supreme Court’s ruling that the term “woman” in the Equality Act 2010 refers to biological sex and not gender identity.

Question reference: S6W-36535

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has received any forecasts or economic modelling regarding the projected impact of the proposed US tariffs on jobs and business turnover in Scotland.

The Scottish Government reviews studies on the economic modelling of the impact of proposed US tariffs for Scotland, including from the Office for Budget Responsibility and the National Institute for Economic and Social Research.

These studies suggest that UK GDP will be lower with US tariffs in place. The economic impact will be dependent on the level of tariffs that are ultimately imposed by the US and the response of other countries to the US tariffs.

Question reference: S6W-36464

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many formal (a) warnings, (b) notices and (c) interventions regarding suicide risks linked to infrastructure in mental health units have been issued since 2020, broken down by NHS board.

Question reference: S6W-36526

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what infrastructure improvements it is prioritising to support increased manufacturing in Scotland.

In recent years the Scottish Government has invested significantly in manufacturing support infrastructure. The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) represents a £75 million investment by the Scottish Government and its agencies and has a mission to make Scotland a global leader in advanced, sustainable manufacturing. The Advancing Manufacturing Challenge Fund also led to the establishment of a range of facilities across Scotland with either a regional or sectoral focus. These include the Medical Device Manufacturing Centre based at Heriot Watt University, Smart Hub Lanarkshire based at New Lanarkshire College and the Advancing Manufacturing Centre at West Highland College

Meanwhile, we continue to work with the UK Government and local partners on the delivery of tailored regional projects in support of the manufacturing economy. These include the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland and Investment Zone projects within the Glasgow City Region and The Manufacturing Innovation Centre for Moray within the Moray Growth Deal. We also anticipate that our Green Freeports package will have a catalytic effect on advanced manufacturing in the two regions affected.

Question reference: S6W-36463

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 02 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Maree Todd on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when it first became aware of risks to patient safety posed by ligature anchor points at Forth Valley Royal Hospital, and what actions were taken at that time.

Patient safety is of the utmost importance and everyone in Scotland has the right to expect high quality, safe, and appropriate healthcare. NHS Forth Valley is responsible for assessing patient safety risks in its mental health facilities, including those posed by ligature anchor points, and for taking appropriate local action.

Oversight of the safety and quality of mental health inpatient services, including aspects of the built environment, is supported by intelligence-led, risk-based inspections carried out by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Where concerns are identified, Healthcare Improvement Scotland will consider whether these should be escalated to the Scottish Government or Ministers.

Relevant issues may also be considered through cross-agency forums involving mental health scrutiny bodies and the Health and Safety Executive, depending on the nature of the concern.

Question reference: S6W-36478

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding what proportion of 16- to 24-year-olds are currently out of work due to long-term sickness.

The Scottish Government has information on the proportion of 16-24 year olds who are economically inactive due to being long-term sick or disabled from the National Records of Scotland Census 2022 results and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Annual Population Survey (APS).

The National Records of Scotland Census results show there were around 11,700 people aged 16-24 who were economically inactive due to being long-term sick or disabled in 2022, 5.6% of all economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds.

The latest data from the ONS Annual Population Survey, which continues to be subject to increased volatility due to lower survey response rates in recent years, reports that an estimated 12.7% of economically inactive 16 to 24 year olds in Scotland gave their reason for being inactive as long-term sick or disabled for the period January to December 2024.

Question reference: S6W-36440

Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 April 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 29 April 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many staff absences due to violence or distressed pupil behaviour have been reported in each local authority since August 2023.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information, as teachers' absenteeism is a matter for local authorities as the employer.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-35738 on 17 March 2005. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

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