Tim Eagle

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what role the Minister for Business and Employment has in ensuring transparency and accountability in any public sector support for floating offshore wind developments.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Scottish public sector support for floating offshore wind projects is provided primarily through the Scottish National Investment Bank and Enterprise Agencies, who must ensure that all projects are subject to robust appraisal, in accordance with the Scottish …

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Business and Employment has (a)commissioned or (b) reviewed any analysis of the potential impact of floatingoffshore wind activity on other marine-related businesses and employment.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Ministers and officials consider a broad range of evidence of the potential impact of offshore wind activity on other marine-related sectors, including through the established and rigorous planning, licensing and consenting processes for offshore wind develop…

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Business and Employment hasreceived any analysis on the net employment impact of floating offshore winddevelopments, including any potential displacement of existing jobs.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: Ministers and officials consider a broad range of evidence to assess the economic opportunities and constraints of offshore wind development. This includes analysis as set out in the Offshore Wind Focus paper and the Social and Economic Impact Assessment for …

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action the Minister for Business and Employment takesto ensure that any claims regarding job creation from floating offshore windprojects are independently verified.

Answer · Richard Lochhead: A comprehensive social and economic impact assessment was carried out as part of the process to update our Sectoral Marine Plan. This assessment included a strategic analysis of potential employment opportunities arising from the ScotWind and INTOG leasing ro…

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the definition of “processing” being expanded under the new EU traceability regime, which takes effect on 10 January 2026, and that only seafood “frozen and/or packed without further processing” is exempt, how many businesses in Scotland it estimates …

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The requirement for processing statements currently only applies to seafood caught by non-UK vessels and processed in the UK prior to export. Rather than the definition being “expanded”, from 10 January 2026, the requirement for a Processing State…

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact on Scotland’s seafood exporters of the incoming EU traceability rules, which take effect on 10 January 2026.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: We appreciate that the impact of the forthcoming mandatory EU changes may be significant for Scottish seafood exporters. In particular, around the additional new information required for the export documentation.The changes being introduced by the EU are mand…

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to monitor and report on how well Scotland's seafood businesses adapt to the new EU traceability rules, including whether there is disruption to trade to the EU post-January 2026.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The changes being introduced by the EU are mandatory for all imports of fisheries products entering the EU from all third countries after 10 January 2026 so there is no alternative to compliance when trading.We have been and will continue to engage closely wi…

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with the Marine Management Organisation campaign, Fish, Trace, Ship, to publicise the new EU traceability rules, which come into effect on 10 January 2026.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The programme of informing the UK industry of these changes is being led by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) with input and support by Devolved Governments. The Scottish Government has been closely involved in the development of the MMO campaign, incl…

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support and funding is being made available to help Scotland's seafood (a) exporters, (b) processors and (c) suppliers meet the upgraded export requirements under the new EU traceability rules, which come into effect on 10 January 2026.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: We will continue to ensure the interests of the Scottish industry are considered throughout this process. The Scottish Government will also continue to push for the UK to deliver as much assistance as possible to enable our industry to comply with the new req…

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what contingency plans are in place to help any of Scotland's seafood businesses that might not be ready in time for the new EU traceability rules, which come into effect on 10 January 2026, and therefore are unable to export to the EU.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) are responsible for updates to the IT system – the Fish Export Service (FES) – which exporters will use to provide the enhanced processing statements, catch certificates and other documentation required by …

13 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with UK-wide agencies, industry bodies and the EU to ensure that there is as smooth a transition as possible to the new EU traceability regime, which comes into effect on 10 January 2026, to allow Scotland's seafood businesses to maintain competitive access to its large…

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The programme of informing the UK industry of these changes is being led by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) with input and support by Devolved Governments.We would encourage industry to engage with the process and attend the virtual engagement sessio…

11 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its responsibilities are as a partner of the Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme.

Answer · Angela Constance: The Home Office is leading the cross-government Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) to deliver the new Emergency Services Network (ESN) critical communications system, in which the Scottish Government is a Funding Sponsor Body.In additi…

10 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) individuals, (b) domestic organisations and (c) overseas organisations have booked an appointment with an immigration lawyer through the Scotland’s Migration Service website in each month since it was launched.

Answer · Kaukab Stewart: Scotland’s Migration Service publishes performance data on a quarterly basis. This can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-migration-service-performance-data/987 appointments with individuals took place between April 2024 and Octobe…

10 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it allocated to support Scotland’s Migration Service in (a) 2024-25 and (b) 2025-26.

Answer · Kaukab Stewart: The Scottish Budget for 2024-25 allocated £3.080m at Level 4 for Migration Strategy. Scotland’s Migration Service is one of the deliverables funded within this budget line. A total of £997,480.05 was spent on contracts with operational and d…

10 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has made any payments to Seraphus in relation to its role as a provider of legal advice on behalf of Scotland's Migration Service, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

Answer · Kaukab Stewart: The Scottish Government regularly publishes spend information over £25,000 on its website. This can be accessed at: https://www.gov.scot/policies/public-sector-procurement/procurement-transparency/Contract values are also published on the Public Contrac…

10 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants are employed by Scotland’s Migration Service as of 31 October 2025.

Answer · Kaukab Stewart: No civil servants are employed by Scotland’s Migration Service. Officials from the Population and Migration Unit oversee the delivery of Scotland’s Migration Service.There is no business requirement for officials to record the time spent on specif…

10 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34824 by Neil Gray on 26 February 2025, how many additional GPs were recruited as a direct result of the £13.6 million that it announced on 29 November 2024 to support the retention and recruitment of GPs.

Answer · Neil Gray: On 29 November 2024 Scottish Government announced an additional £13.6 million would be invested as part of the General Medical Services uplift in General Practice to support GPs to retain and recruit key staff. This additional funding was to address kno…

10 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-34824 by Neil Gray on 26 February 2025, whether it will provide a breakdown by NHS board area of how the £13.6 million that it announced on 29 November 2024 to support the retention and recruitment of GPs was allocated to GP practices.

Answer · Neil Gray: The £13.6 million was allocated to Health Boards for distribution to Health Boards alongside the £59.6 million GMS uplift agreed following the DDRB’s recommendations with £66.89 million of the total put into the Global Sum, £2.31…

10 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has spent in total to date on consultancy fees in relation to the development of the MyCare.scot app.

Answer · Neil Gray: National Education for Scotland (NES) holds the contract with BJSS for the development of MyCare.scot. The estimated value of this contract for 2025–26 is currently between £4.5 million and £5 million, subject to change depending on the pace…

10 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many online clicks its paper, A Fresh Start with Independence, received in its first month following publication, broken down by (a) main paper, (b) easy read version, (c) each individual language version and (d) audio version.

Answer · Angus Robertson: Website analytics data is not 100% accurate for a number of reasons: including where users have opted out or blocked tracking. Additionally, some data is only retained for a maximum of 13 months.Gov.scot implemented new cookie banner settings as of the start …

7 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with the Animal and Plant Health Agency in response to reports of at least 26 cases of the avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 on farms across the UK from October 2025.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: As of 17 November 2025, there have been 45 outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza amongst poultry and other captive birds in the UK in the current outbreak period (since 1 October 2025): 35 in England; six in Wales; three in Northern Ireland; and one …

6 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will publish the scoring mechanism used to determine applications from the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: A summary of the scoring mechanism has already been published on the scheme guidance webpages. This explains how applications were assessed through a combination of eligibility checks, verification of information provided, and merit-based scoring against the …

6 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason the share of successful awards for the Future Farming Investment Scheme was reportedly 38.22% for Ministerial Priority Groups.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The priority group applicants who were successful were those who provided a combination of accurate information in their application, sufficient detail of their planned investment and their planned investment demonstrated strong alignment with the scheme obje…

6 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants were allocated to process Future Farming Investment Scheme applications. 

Answer · Jim Fairlie: A core team of six RPID officials from the Agricultural Development and Area Office teams were responsible for assessing applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme. They were supported by a further six members of staff from across the RPID area offi…

6 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40374 by Jim Fairlie on 22 September 2025, how many applications for funding from the Future Farming Investment Scheme were (a) awarded and (b) not awarded support, broken down by area office.

Answer · Jim Fairlie:  Area OfficeGrant OffersValue of Offers (£)% of Total Applications Supported% of Total Scheme BudgetAyr268£3,584,147.0116%17%Benbecula14£97,720.422%0.46%Dumfries168£2,266,981.6110%11%Elgin60£710,093.553%3%Galashiels169&pound…

6 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40374 by Jim Fairlie on 22 September 2025, how many applications for funding from the Future Farming Investment Scheme were (a) awarded and (b) not awarded support, broken down by scheme objective. 

Answer · Jim Fairlie:  Scheme ObjectiveNumber of Supported ItemsTotal Grant Value (£)% of £21.4mImprove business efficiency and sustainability3,309£20,945,081.7798%Protect, restore or enhance the environment1,726£11,542,568.8854%Reduce greenhouse gas e…

6 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason many Future Farming Investment Scheme applications from island communities were reportedly rejected. 

Answer · Jim Fairlie: Priority status alone did not guarantee funding; investments also had to demonstrate strong alignment with scheme objectives and deliver measurable outcomes. Variation in the accuracy and completeness of applications was also a significant factor in the outco…

6 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total value was of grant applications that were requested from applicants for funding from the Future Farming Investment Scheme. 

Answer · Jim Fairlie: A total of 7,582 applications were received, requesting £77.69 million in grant support.

6 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government to what extent AI was used in the process to determine the awarding of funding from the Future Farming Investment Scheme, and for what reasons. 

Answer · Jim Fairlie: As was made clear to Jamie Halcro Johnston and Douglas Ross in the Chamber on 5 November 2025, the claims that an AI based system was used to assess applications are not correct. Applications were assessed through a standardised framework that cross checked a…

4 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-41145 by Angus Robertson on 4 November 2025, whether it will provide the total cost of the legal advice it received in the preparation of its paper, A Fresh Start with Independence.

Answer · Angus Robertson: It is not possible for the Scottish Government to provide the cost of some of the advice it receives, such as internal legal advice, as this is work which would be taken forward by civil servants as part of their normal duties, and in line with usual practice…