Parliamentary questions

Tim Eagle

1,487 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.

14 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will publish the list of proposed walk-in GP services that it announced on 13 October 2025.

Answer · Neil Gray: As set out in answer S6W-41307 on 13 October 2025, improving access to primary care is a key priority for this Government. We recognise the vital role that GPs, community nurses, pharmacists, dentists and other members of the primary care team play as the fou…

14 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions housing associations have failed to meet their repayment obligations after receiving loans from Scotland's Charitable Bond Programme, in each year since 2014.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The Charitable Bonds programme provides loan finance to Registered Social Landlords to support the delivery of new affordable homes. To date, all repayment obligations have been met and no enforcement action has been required.

14 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether the Marine Directorate has any plans to invest in new (a) protection and (b) research vessels, and if so, whether it will provide the details of such plans.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Marine Directorate is currently undertaking a project to replace the two oldest vessels in its fleet: the Marine Research Vessel (MRV) Scotia and Marine Protection Vessel (MPV) Minna, both of which are approaching the end of their operational service live…

14 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the Marine Directorate’s (a) protection and (b) research vessels are currently out of service.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Marine Directorate currently has three Marine Protection Vessels (Hirta, Jura and Minna) in service. None of these large protection vessels are presently out of service, although individual rigid-inflatable boats (RIBs) that support them are subject to ro…

14 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will require to renegotiate the GP contract in order to implement the proposed seven-days-a-week, walk-in GP clinics that it announced on 13 October 2025.

14 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its news release of 26 September 2024, Investing £100 million in mid-market rent, of the 2,800 mid-market rent homes that it pledged to support the construction of, how many have (a) been built and (b) received planning permission to be built.

Answer · Mairi McAllan: The press release on 26 September 2024 reflected the Programme for Government long-term commitment to provide £100 million over a number of financial years to grow with institutional investment, to at least £500 million supporting the construction…

14 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many children are on the waiting list for cleft lip and palate surgery as of 30 September 2025, broken down by NHS board area.

Answer · Neil Gray: The information requested is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. More detailed information on cleft lip and palate surgery waiting times will be held locally by NHS boards.

14 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider updating its economic impact assessment for its proposed Air Departure Tax, in light of the reported delays to its implementation.

Answer · Shona Robison: The Scottish Government will publish all relevant impact assessments, including a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA), prior to the implementation of Air Departure Tax.

9 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it took any legal advice when preparing its paper, A Fresh Start with Independence.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government received legal advice in the preparation of A Fresh Start with Independence.

9 Oct 2025 · Written Question

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: Social Security Scotland does not currently publish statistics on Adult Disability Payment caseload broken down by both age and disability condition.Social Security Scotland publishes Official Statistics by age and disability condition separately. The latest …

9 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the costs were of (a) producing and (b) publishing its paper, A Fresh Start with Independence.

Answer · Angus Robertson: The Scottish Government has consistently proactively published information on costs for independence papers, once all costs have been incurred.Costs associated with the publication of the A Fresh Start with Independence paper will be available in due course.

9 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants worked on its paper, A Fresh Start with Independence, broken down by (a) headcount and (b) full-time equivalent (FTE) staff.

Answer · Angus Robertson: It is not possible to provide such information because in line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants, including the number of hours spent on them are not routinely recorded as there is no business need to do this. Civi…

8 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39876 by Angus Robertson on 10 September 2025, which sites managed by Historic Environment Scotland are currently (a) temporarily and (b) permanently closed, broken down by local authority area.

Answer · Angus Robertson: As per Historic Environments Scotland’s (HES) established annual approach, a number of sites across the HES estate are currently closed for the winter season, or will close in November, in line with sector best practice. Further information on closures …

8 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government which organisations that have contracts with it to provide services are subject to performance-related penalties.

Answer · Ivan McKee: Scottish Government contracts and frameworks which include clauses pertaining to Liquidated Financial Damages, KPIs and/or Service Credits are listed in the following table.It is not common for contracts to include provisions that set out specific financial c…

6 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has held with livestock marts, particularly those specialising in cattle trading, regarding its policy to mandate the use of ultra-high frequency (UHF) cattle electronic identification (EID) tags by 2026.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: An industry led EID pilot has directly engaged with 18 auction marts, 14 abattoirs and 425 farms from across Scotland, as well as those across the border. The pilot has concluded its findings with a report published in 2023, highlighting improved Health and S…

6 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what consideration it has given to any impact on cross-border trading regarding its plans to mandate the use of ultra-high frequency (UHF) cattle electronic identification (EID) tags by 2026.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government has considered impacts on cross border trade and there is no evidence to suggest that there will be any significant impact if ultra-high frequency (UHF) cattle EID is introduced. Electronic reading will not be mandated, and the ability…

6 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government on what date it will advise farmers to fit new-born calves with ultra-high frequency tags, in line with its plans to mandate the use of ultra-high frequency (UHF) cattle electronic identification (EID) tags by 2026.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: Ministers will develop an implementation strategy including expected delivery dates, for bovine EID, once the outcomes of the UK Government/EU trade negotiations have concluded.

6 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government when it will seek to schedule a parliamentary debate on fishing, in light of the commitment of the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands in the Parliament on 18 February 2025.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Subject to Parliamentary time being available, our intention remains to seek a debate on fisheries before the end of the year. It is recognised that the fishing sector is currently facing a range of challenges, and a Parliamentary debate would be a valuable o…

1 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the report, Abattoir Users Survey 2025, that "across England, Wales and the UK overall, the average distance [travelled to the nearest abattoir] fell within the 31-40 mile range" but that, in Scotland, it fell "into the 61-70 mile bracket".

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government understands that distance to an abattoir can be a challenge in some places. There are a number of factors at play, including Scotland’s geography, reflected in the fact that Scotland’s population density is 70 per square ki…

1 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many new small-scale abattoirs have been built as a result of funding from the Small Producers Pilot Fund in each year since it was established in December 2023.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: None.Since its launch in December 2023, the Small Producer Pilot Fund (SPPF) has not provided direct funding for the construction of new small-scale abattoirs. Instead, it is designed to support small producers by offering flexible financial assistance and co…

1 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding has been (a) allocated to and (b) distributed from the Small Producers Pilot Fund in each year since it was established in December 2023.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: Since its launch in December 2023, the Small Producers Pilot Fund (SPPF) received £180,000 in initial funding, followed by £1 million allocated for both 2024-2025 and 2025-2026.To date, £581,488 has been distributed: £273,209 in 2023&n…

1 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the finding in the report, Abattoir Users Survey 2025, that "58% of respondents believed their business would not be profitable withoutselling direct to consumers or throughlocal markets".

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Abattoir Users Survey 2025 notes that the direct selling model referenced is heavily dependent on private kill and further processing services offered by small and local abattoirs. The Scottish Government is therefore proud to have committed to continuing…

1 Oct 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many small-scale abattoirs have closed in each year since 2021.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: 2021: a registered slaughter facility that was owned and used specifically on an individual farm closed.2022: no closures2023: a small commercial abattoir that dealt mainly in private kill closed2024: no closures2025: no closures

29 Sep 2025 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has issued an extreme wildfire warning for the first time in September since 2020.

24 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40384 by Ben Macpherson on 23 September 2025, how many graduates took up a placement in NHS Western Isles in (a) 2020-21, (b) 2021-22 and (c) 2022-23.

Answer · Ben Macpherson: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects data on the destinations of graduates 15 months after graduation via the Graduate Outcomes Survey. The survey is voluntary and hence does not represent the outcomes of all graduates from each year.The fol…

18 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40091 on 8 September 2025 by Shirley-Anne Somerville, whether APS Group (Scotland) has ever issued a product recall in instances where items included in baby boxes have been reported as faulty or damaged, and, if so, whether it will provide details …

Answer · Shirley-Anne Somerville: APS Group (Scotland) have never had to issue a product recall of any of the items contained in Scotland’s Baby Box. As detailed in response to PQ S6W-40091, out of over 352,000 Baby Boxes issued since August 2017, APS have only received reports of 190 f…

17 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-40164 by Angus Robertson on 4 September 2025, whether the First Minister raised the issue of Scottish independence with the President of the European Commission on 26 July 2025 in line with the advice that he received in the "Key message" section th…

Answer · Angus Robertson: As previously noted to Mr Eagle on 4 September 2025, the First Minister and the President of the European Commission did not discuss Scottish Independence when they met on 26 July 2025.

17 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what funding mechanisms are available to help (a) farmers and (b) crofters improve farm security.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: There are no funds aimed specifically at improving farm security. Farmers and Crofters can choose how to invest in their business from existing funding mechanisms, for example the Basic Payment Scheme which is worth around £282 million annually. Investm…

17 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) 999 and (b) 101 calls Police Scotland has received from registered farm businesses in each year since 2021, also broken down by how many times a police officer provided an on-site visit in response, and what the average time taken was to provide the response.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

17 Sep 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what action Police Scotland is taking to improve the recording of instances of rural crime.

Answer · Siobhian Brown: Police Scotland have advised that they are currently exploring how this information could be extracted and collated from their systems. My officials will advise on progress with this project, as and when it moves forward.