Parliamentary questions
Tim Eagle
1,487 questions tabled in the Scottish Parliament, most recent first.
17 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action Police Scotland is taking to provide frontline officers with a better understanding of the agricultural industry to improve their knowledge of rural crime.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime (SPARC) is a multi-agency partnership which works across all Police Scotland divisions to deliver the SPARC strategy’s key rural crime priorities. The service’s National Rural, Acquisitive and Business …
17 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to define the phrase ‘"rural crime" in legislation.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: There are no plans to define rural crime in legislation. The Scottish Government is fully supportive of the work of the Scottish Partnership Against Rural Crime which has collectively defined rural crime as “Any crime that occurs in a rural location, or…
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prisoners have been transferred from closed to open prisons in each year since 2021.
Answer · Angela Constance: I have asked Teresa Medhurst, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. Her response is as follows:It is the aim of SPS to prepare people in custody for their eventual release and return to communities as contributing citizens. Whilst …
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to Science for Sustainable Agriculture’s report, Food Security – Outlook to 2025.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government has considered this UK report with interest and recognises the importance of a range of factors including land use, yield, and population in planning future food security.The Agriculture and Rural Communities (Scotland) Act 2024 simila…
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much NHS boards have spent on posting appointment letters to patients using (a) the Royal Mail and (b) private couriers in each year since 2021.
Answer · Neil Gray: The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.Spending on postage is an operational matter for individual NHS Boards to consider, as such, the information should be sought directly from each Board.
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much (a) it and (b) its agencies has spent on promotion through social media influencers in each year since 2021.
Answer · Ivan McKee: (a) Details of Scottish Government spend on promotion through social media influencers in each year since 2021 to date are as follows.YearSpend (£)202163,746.20202230,930.00202319,900.00202413,640.00202552,800.00These services are procured by the Scotti…
16 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost was of any penalties that it issued to Openreach in each year since 2016, and for what reasons it applied those penalties.
Answer · Richard Lochhead: Penalty clauses are not enforceable in Scots law and, as such, there are no penalties in the R100 Contracts.However, Openreach is only paid for build once it has been completed and figures have been audited. This action incentivises Openreach to build as quic…
10 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether the First Minister raised the issue of Scottish independence during his meeting with the President of the United States of America and the US Secretary of State on 9 September 2025.
Answer · Angus Robertson: The First Minister did not raise Scottish independence during his meeting with President Trump and the US Secretary of State.
10 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether a brief note was produced for the First Minister ahead of his meeting with the President of the United States of America and the US Secretary of State on 9 September 2025 in accordance with Section 11.14 of the Scottish Ministerial Code, and, if so, whether this note will be publ…
Answer · Angus Robertson: A note of the meeting was taken in accordance with section 11.14 of the Scottish Ministerial Code. A summary of the meeting was published on the Scottish Government website shortly after the First Minister met with President Trump. The statement can be found …
10 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when it will pass a note of the salient points of any substantive discussions that arose during the First Minister’s meeting with the President of the United States of America and the US Secretary of State on 9 September 2025 to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in a…
Answer · Angus Robertson: Former UK Ambassador to the United States, Lord Mandelson, was present during the First Minister’s discussions with the President and was fully briefed on the First Minister’s objectives for the meeting ahead of their visit to the White House.
10 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it engaged with officials at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ahead of the First Minister’s meeting with the President of the United States of America and the US Secretary of State on 9 September 2025.
Answer · Angus Robertson: Yes, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office were engaged about the First Minister’s meeting with the President of the United States and fully supported the First Minister’s engagement with the President and the US Government on whisky tar…
5 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39892 by Graeme Dey on 1 September 2025, how many of the graduates took up an NHS placement, broken down by NHS board area.
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.Scottis…
5 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39892 by Graeme Dey on 1 September 2025, how many of the students from each university were domiciled (a) in Scotland, (b) in the rest of the UK and (c) internationally, broken down by year.
Answer · Ben Macpherson: The numbers of entrants to first degree pre-clinical medicine courses, by university and domicile, have been provided in the following table.The table only covers those entering pre-clinical medicine and do not include other students entering medical schools …
4 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has considered increasing the budget allocated to the Future Farming Investment Scheme in the event that it is oversubscribed.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: The First Minister announced on 7 February that around £14 million will be allocated to delivering the Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS). Despite the current constraints on the Scottish Budget, given the significant level of demand for the scheme,…
4 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many applications it received to the Future Farming Investment Scheme in 2025.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: There has been significant interest from the agriculture sector in the Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS). 7,584 applications have been received, demonstrating the strong commitment of Scotland’s farmers and crofters to support key outcomes, from r…
4 Sep 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government when applicants to the Future Farming Investment Scheme will be informed whether their application has been approved.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: There has been a significant and welcome interest in the Future Farming Investment Scheme. Applications received are currently being considered and applicants will be informed of the outcome as soon as practicably possible after assessment has been undertaken…
2 Sep 2025 · General Question
To ask the Scottish Government what support it can offer to help local authorities protect council-run and arm’s-length external organisation-run community facilities.
29 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many vessels have been found to be in breach of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 in each of the last five years, also broken down by whether the vessel was (a) UK-flagged, (b) EU-flagged and (c) non-EU-flagged.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: There were fifteen Marine Licensing offences detected under the 2010 Act, these were by year, 2019 X1, 2020 X2, 2021 X2, 2022 X5, 2024 X5. Marine licensing offences are not fishery offences.Additionally, there were forty-three breaches of Nature Conservation …
29 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many breaches of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 that were recorded in each of the last five years related to (a) a prohibited fishing activity, (b) a marine protected area infringement, (c) a licensing offence and (d) any other category.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: There were forty-five breaches of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 recorded in the last five years. These were.1.a prohibited fishing activity, 2023 X12.a marine protected area infringement, 2019 X7, 2020 X4, 2021 X6, 2022 X3, 2023 X4, 2024 X2.3.a licensing off…
29 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what enforcement action has been taken in response to any breaches of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 in each of the last five years, also broken down by whether the vessel involved was (a) UK-flagged, (b) EU-flagged and (c) non-EU-flagged.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The were nine prosecutions under the 2010 Act reported to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service of which seven resulted in a conviction. These were by year, 2019 X2, 2020 X0, 2021 X2 plus 1 not guilty, 2022 X1, 2023 X2, 2024 X 1 case dropped by PF.Additi…
29 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many fixed penalties were issued for breaches of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 in each of the last five years, broken down by the flag state of the vessel involved.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: There were no Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) issued under the Marine Scotland Act 2010 in the past five years. FPNs were issued under Nature Conservation Orders which are enabled by the 2010 Act.The number of FPNs issued under Nature Conservation Orders were 20…
29 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many prosecutions have been brought under the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 in each of the last five years, and how many of these resulted in convictions.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Prosecutions are considered as those cases reported the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service, they do not include penalties issued under the Fixed Penalty Notice provisions.There were nine prosecutions with seven convictions, these were by year, 2019 X2, 20…
29 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how many breaches of the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 have been recorded in each year since the Act came into force.
Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government does not have records relating to breaches of the Marine Scotland Act earlier than 2017.There were 21 Marine Licensing offences detected under the 2010 Act, these were by year, 2017 X1, 2018 X5, 2019 X1, 2020 X2, 2021 X2, 2022 X5, 2024…
28 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it has provided for public information campaigns to warn of the dangers of hillwalking in Scotland, in each of the past five years.
Answer · Maree Todd: The Scottish Government understands the importance of Scotland’s hills and mountains and provides investment to help Scots and visitors to Scotland to enjoy them safely.In addition to the Scottish Government’s annual grant of £300,000 to Sco…
28 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of an increase in call-outs for the Assynt Mountain Rescue team, what plans it has to increase funding for Scottish Mountain Rescue teams.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government provides an annual grant to Scottish Mountain Rescue, which they distribute onwards to all of Scotland’s individual volunteer teams. This distribution follows an agreed and established formula that takes into account relative cha…
28 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what emergency funding it is providing to any producers negatively impacted by the recent introduction of water abstraction restrictions.
Answer · Jim Fairlie: Climate change is clearly driving more extreme weather, and this summer has brought very dry conditions across Scotland, particularly in the east, resulting in eight catchment areas now experiencing significant water scarcity. In response, we are implementing…
28 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports of an increase in call-outs for the Assynt Mountain Rescue team, what public safety information campaigns it currently runs to warn hillwalkers of the danger they may face on Scotland’s hills, and what plans it has to increase the number of any such campaigns.
Answer · Maree Todd: Scotland’s hills are inherently dangerous with treacherous with changeable conditions, and too many lives are lost unnecessarily each year.Mountaineering Scotland and Scottish Mountain Rescue’s #ThinkWINTER campaign provides useful information, up…
28 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the funding provided to each Scottish Mountain Rescue team, in each of the last five years.
Answer · Siobhian Brown: The Scottish Government provides an annual grant to Scottish Mountain Rescue, which they distribute onwards to all of Scotland’s volunteer mountain rescue teams including Glencoe and Cairngorm which are not affiliated with Scottish Mountain Rescue, acco…
28 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it plans to take to manage the reported increasing impact of water scarcity on producers.
Answer · Gillian Martin: The Scottish Government recognises the increasing impact of water scarcity on producers and is implementing Scotland’s National Water Scarcity Plan with SEPA and Scottish Water to support those affected.Scotland has seen several areas reach Significant …
28 Aug 2025 · Written Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39818 by Jamie Hepburn on 28 August 2025, whether it can confirm the value of the print that was donated in 2023.
Answer · Graeme Dey: In June 2023, as Minister for Higher Education, Further Education & Minister for Veterans, I was gifted a framed piece of ceramic artwork of the Hotel de Ville from the Mayor of Arras. The value of the gift was estimated to be in the region of £80 o…