Parliamentary questions
Beatrice Wishart
693 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
15 Dec 2025 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s position is on local authorities, which host renewable energy infrastructure, receiving Scottish Crown Estate revenue allocations, such as a share of the income from ScotWind projects.
12 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-36787 by Mairi Gougeon on 22 April 2025, whether it will provide an update on the work of the squid fishing trial.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Scottish Government officials have continued to undertake the work necessary to develop a squid pilot project to support longer-term policy decisions on fishing for squid under the North Sea Cod Avoidance Plan (NCAP). This has involved detailed analysis of th…
12 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-36786 by Mairi Gougeon on 22 April 2025, what the anticipated timeline is for the squid fishing trial.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Scottish Ministers remain committed to working collaboratively with stakeholders as part of the Squid Pilot Co-Management Group to develop and undertake a limited squid pilot project.The squid pilot project will involve a number of inshore vessels and will ga…
3 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what it estimates the average annual cost in 2025 is to heat a home in (a) Scotland and (b) Shetland.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government does not produce estimates of actual average annual costs of heating homes.The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) publishes Annual domestic energy bills tables at Annual domestic energy bills - GOV.UK which provide annu…
3 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many households in Shetland have received support through the (a) Warmer Homes Scotland programme and (b) Heat and Energy Efficient Scotland: Area-Based Scheme (HEES: ABS), in each financial year of its operation.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The following tables give the number of households who have received support in Shetland through the (a) Warmer Homes Scotland programme, and (b) Heat and Energy Efficient Scotland: Area-Based Schemes in each financial year of its operation.(a) The number of …
3 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, based on its most recent fuel poverty modelling and analysis, how many households in each local authority area it estimates will be in (a) fuel poverty and (b) extreme fuel poverty between October and December 2025.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Scottish Government has not produced estimates for each local authority area from the fuel poverty scenario modelling analysis for October to December 2025, due to small survey sample size and complexities involved.In order to produce robust estimates for…
2 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6M-41590 by Gillian Martin on 11 November 2025, in relation to the 10 schemes that are in progress, whether it will provide a breakdown of (a) the number of properties protected, (b) the estimated completion date, (c) the reason why the …
Answer · Gillian Martin: Local authorities are responsible for developing and delivering flood protection schemes, supported by Scottish Government funding.The 2015 Flood Risk Management Plans contained 42 flood protection schemes. 40 were initially eligible for funding. 9 were remov…
2 Dec 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the November 2025 report by the Shetland Fishermen’s Association and consultancy firm, Voar, Energy developments in Shetland and their interactions with fisheries.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government recognises the report’s findings on increasing pressure on Shetland’s marine space from energy developments and will use it to inform our fisheries co-existence work.We are committed to managing Scotland’s seas to ens…
24 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact (a) of cross-border online alcohol sales on wholesalers, distributors and small businesses in rural and island communities, and (b) of minimum unit pricing on the ability of these firms to be competitive with alcohol sales dispatched ou…
Answer · Maree Todd: The Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) undertaken for the continuation and uprating of Minimum Unit Pricing (MUP) found that the policy primarily affected low-cost, high-strength products and was not expected to significantly disadvantage Scotti…
20 Nov 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when the contract award for Lot 6 (Scotland) of the Project Gigabit Infrastructure Subsidy scheme, covering premises in Orkney and Shetland, will be announced.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government is leading the procurement of local and regional contracts for Project Gigabit in Scotland. Lot 6, which covers Orkney and Shetland, is a regional contract, and is currently in active procurement. The outcome of this procurement is exp…
18 Nov 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what measures it can take to ensure that critical national infrastructure serves the local communities hosting it and is built safely, securely and in a way that is sensitive to the landscape around it.
3 Nov 2025 · First Minister's Question
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent news that Eastern Airways, which runs lifeline regional services in the Highlands and Islands, has entered administration.
29 Oct 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government which of the (a) 42 formal flood protection schemes and (b) flood engineering works' areas have been completed, broken down by the (i) number of properties protected and (ii) completion date, and what the (A) initial forecast and (B) final cost was of each.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The 2015 Flood Risk Management Plans contained 42 flood protection schemes. 40 were initially eligible for funding. 9 were removed because they were no longer required, subject to alternative arrangements or failed to meet progress deadlines. 21 are complete,…
29 Oct 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many floods have been recorded in each of the (a) 42 formal flood protection schemes and (b) flood engineering works' areas in each calendar year since January 2016, broken down by the (i) damage caused and (ii) cost of each incident.
Answer · Gillian Martin: Due to the nature of flooding, for which the scale of impacts can vary significantly, the number of flooding incidents are not systematically recorded. The responsibility for development, delivery, operation and maintenance of flood protection schemes rests w…
8 Oct 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel periodic report 2021-2024, and what action it will take regarding the recommendation to deliver on its commitment from February 2024 to revise the Fuel Poverty Strategy by the end of 2026.
Answer · Mairi McAllan: The 2019 Fuel Poverty Act requires Ministers to undertake a review of the current Fuel Poverty Strategy by December 2026. I welcome the Panel's report and met with the Panel on 11 September to discuss it and recommendations, which we will consider as we work …
30 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on every household having an emergency or resilience box in preparedness for any major crisis, similar to the approach used in Denmark and Finland, and what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding developing such an initiative.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government’s Ready.scot website provides information on how the public can prepare their home, their family and their businesses for emergencies. It includes established advice on how to build a small emergency kit and keep it in a safe pla…
17 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings (a) ministers and (b) officials have held with stakeholders regarding the theft of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery in each of the last five years, and what the outcomes were.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government is a member of the Scottish Partnership on Rural Crime (SPARC) and regularly attends partnership meetings which cover a wide range of rural crime incidents. We are aware that the theft of GPS units is an issue affecting some businesses…
17 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports suggesting that there is a link between the reported theft of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery in Scotland and the war in Ukraine.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government is aware of the suggestion that some stolen farm machinery stolen in the UK has made its way to eastern Europe. However, Police Scotland do not hold have enough evidence to confirm that this is a developing trend for machinery stolen S…
17 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of insurance claims that have been (a) made and (b) approved in each of the last five years concerning the theft of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government does not hold information around insurance claims made by individuals or businesses following incidents of theft.
17 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many thefts of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery have been recorded in each of the last five years, broken down by the estimated total value of these units, and how many subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been.
Answer · Angela Constance: The Scottish Government does not hold information specifically on the number of recorded thefts of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery or any subsequent prosecutions or convictions for this type of theft.Accredited Official Statistics ar…
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that patients in Scotland have travelled abroad for surgery to confirm an endometriosis diagnosis due to long waiting times.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Excessively long waiting lists are not acceptable and the Scottish Government apologises to all patients waiting too long.We know that endometriosis can have a significant impact on people’s lives, that the symptoms can be debilitating and impact relati…
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its evaluation of the recommendations in the independent review of the anaesthesia associate (AA) and physician associate (PA) roles in England, and when it expects to reach a formal position on the recommendations.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government is actively considering the recommendations from the independent review of the anaesthesia associate (AA) and physician associate (PA) roles in England. I met with the Medical Associate Professions (MAPs) Programme Board on 9 September…
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to patients who have to travel to access treatment at one of the three specialist endometriosis centres.
Answer · Jenni Minto: If a person is diagnosed with endometriosis, the Scottish Government wants them to be treated as close to home as clinically appropriate. Most individuals can be managed by a gynaecologist with expertise and training in endometriosis within secondary care.Spe…
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the paper, An approach to using stranding data to monitor cetacean population trends and guide conservation strategies, published in Scientific Reports on 20 August 2025, which identified an increase in marine mammal strandings in Scotland, and what assessment it …
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government is aware of the recently published paper which investigates patterns and trends in cetacean strandings across Scotland since 1992.While the paper reports increasing strandings rates across species groups, it also acknowledges that stra…
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether an endometriosis diagnosis obtained outwith Scotland is recognised by NHS Scotland.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Clinical decisions on the care and treatment of individual patients are always matters of professional judgement for the responsible practitioner.
2 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has with NHS Scotland regarding access to the drug, Vorasidenib, for the treatment of brain tumours, including ensuring that there is sufficient funding available; in which NHS boards this treatment is presently offered, and how it will ensure that all patients in Scot…
Answer · Jenni Minto: Vorasidenib (Voranigo®) does not currently have a marketing authorisation (sometimes referred to as a licence) from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) which means it cannot be marketed or sold in the UK. The marketing authorisa…
2 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding the Rare Cancers Bill, which is currently being considered by the UK Parliament.
Answer · Neil Gray: I wrote to Ashley Dalton MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health and Prevention at the Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC) on 8 Aprill 2025 in order to outline the Scottish Government’s position on Clauses 2 and 3 of the …
2 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it supports the expansion of research capacity into brain tumours.
Answer · Jenni Minto: Within the Scottish Government, the Chief Scientist Office (CSO) is responsible for supporting Health and Care Research.CSO runs a number of research project and capacity building fellowship schemes and this role is well known across the Health and Care Resea…
2 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what barriers it has identified in relation to ensuring that brain tumour patients have equal access to drug treatments, regardless of where they live.
Answer · Jenni Minto: I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-40323 on 11 September 2025. 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-commit…
2 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide core funding for essential roles on brain tumour research, such as clinical research nurses and data analysts.
Answer · Jenni Minto: The Scottish Government, through NHS Research Scotland (NRS) provides core funding to promote and support excellence in clinical and translational research.Within NRS, the Scottish Cancer Research Network works to increase, support and sustain cancer clinical…