Tim Eagle

26 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding was allocated to the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme in each year since it was established, and how much of that funding was distributed in each of those years.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme is a legacy Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) EU Scheme. It was introduced in 1997 and until the UK’s Exit from the EU it was funded by the European Commission.Since October 2020, the Scottish Government has funded pro…

26 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its policy of no support for coal extraction applies to all current and future forms of coal-based technologies, including those with the potential to contribute to decarbonisation, such as coal-to-hydrogen conversion or carbon capture and storage, in light of the publication of …

Answer · Gillian Martin: We have undertaken a full policy development process in order to reach a finalised position of no support for coal extraction in Scotland, in line with statutory requirements. The policy position was subject to statutory and other assessments, including Strat…

26 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted a full carbon lifecycle assessment between domestically extracted onshore oil and gas and imported fossil fuels, especially in the context of reducing reliance on imports, and, if so, whether it will publish the results, in light of the publication of its Onshore…

Answer · Gillian Martin: We have undertaken a full policy development process in order to reach a finalised position of no support for onshore conventional oil and gas in Scotland, in line with statutory requirements. The first step in this process was the launch of a call for eviden…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it is working with the Scottish Funding Council to ensure that colleges can continue to deliver any animal care, agriculture and rural skills training that is considered critical to Scotland’s rural economy.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is responsible for allocating funding to colleges, in line with Ministerial priorities, as set out in SFC’s Annual Letter of Guidance 2025–26. Colleges are responsible for determining their own operational decisi…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to (a) protect and (b) promote access to land-based and rural education courses, in light of reported reductions in college course offerings in these areas.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government contributes to attracting and equipping skilled people for rural and Island areas, including funding Lantra Scotland’s 2025-26 workplan to promote the rewarding careers available, and the economic and environmental benefits of in…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of reported funding reductions on the provision of animal care and rural skills courses in colleges.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Funding Council’s final allocations to the college sector for 2025-26 provide a 2.6% sector increase in teaching funding compared to last year. Additionally no college sees a reduction in teaching funding in 2025-26 when compared with 2024-…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will commit to providing funding for rural and animal care education in colleges to support skills development in Scotland’s land-based industries.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government acknowledges the important contribution Colleges make to both education and the economy, which is why we provided a 2.1% uplift in funding for the sector in this year’s Budget.The Scottish Government also provided £560,000 …

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with rural stakeholders, including farming and animal welfare organisations, regarding any impact of college course closures on workforce development in the rural sector.

Answer · Graeme Dey: The Scottish Government contributes to attracting and equipping skilled people for rural and Island areas to promote the rewarding careers available and the economic and environmental benefits of investing in skills in the land-based, aquaculture and environm…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government in what ways Police Scotland is working with the Royal Air Force to ensure the protection of RAF Lossiemouth, in light of the reported security breach at RAF Brize Norton.

Answer · Angela Constance: Police Scotland does not have a primary role in providing security at military bases in Scotland. RAF Lossiemouth is protected by several units operating within the Royal Air Force (RAF).However, the North East Division of Police Scotland has a long standing …

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many fishing vessels have been found to be non-compliant with economic link requirements in each of the last five years.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: No Scottish vessel has failed to comply with the economic link requirements in the last five years.

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional fishing quota has been returned to Scotland via the quota payback process in each of the last five years.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The following table shows the total amounts of quota payback made by Scottish vessels in each of the last five years.YearTonnes paid back20207520218120224420231392024214

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its Marine Directorate ensures transparency and accountability in the application of quota payback penalties for economic link failures.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: No Scottish vessel has failed to comply with economic link licence conditions. Quota payback is the alternative for compliance.The Marine Directorate provides vessels’ management groups with the landings data for vessels not meeting the threshold and th…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how the value of quota payback is calculated when vessels are deemed to have failed the economic link criteria.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The quota payback is calculated as 26% of the pound sterling value of the ‘missing’ landings in order to have otherwise met the landings threshold into Scotland (55% of all landings), aggregated across the eight named species.The pound value of th…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how its Marine Directorate monitors compliance with the economic link requirements for Scottish fishing vessel licences, and what criteria are used to assess whether a vessel has met its obligations.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Compliance is assessed by the Marine Directorate in the following calendar year.The first criteria for compliance for a vessel to have landed more than 10 tonnes of the eight named species. A vessel landing less than 10 tonnes total of the eight named species…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what mechanisms are in place to allow fishing vessel owners to appeal a finding of non-compliance with the economic link requirements.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: Non-compliance with the Economic Link licence occurs where a vessel has failed to meet the 55% landings threshold and failed to agree a quota payback.Vessel owners are provided with the opportunity to query the landings data and the quota payback calculation.…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what actions its Marine Directorate has taken when vessels have failed to meet the economic link requirements, and how many vessels have been subject to quota payback as a result since 2019.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: No Scottish vessel has failed to comply with the economic link licence condition since 2019. Twenty-one different Scottish vessels have complied with the requirements by making a quota payback in the same period.

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government, on average, what proportion of landings by Scotland-registered vessels are currently landed in Scotland, and how this has changed since the introduction of the economic link requirements.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The following table shows the share of the eight species landed into Scottish ports as a percentage of the total Scottish landings of each species. It should be noted that landings for 2024 are still management data and are not currently available for publica…

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review or revise the current economic link policy to better reflect Scotland’s fishing communities and onshore processing needs.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government is in the process of conducting a review of the amended economic link license condition. This will be published in due course

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether its Marine Directorate publishes data annually on economic link compliance and quota payback, and, if it does not, whether it will consider doing so to improve public oversight of the policy.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government has published this information since the amended economic link licence condition was implemented from 1 January 2023. It can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-economic-link/

25 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide the fuel usage over the last three years of all vessels operating on (a) CalMac and (b) NorthLink ferry services, broken down by vessel.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: A table has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under (Bib Number 65938) that provides a breakdown, by vessel, of the fuel usage over the last 3 years on the CalMac service.The fuel usage over the last three years, by vessels operating o…

24 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Historic Environment Scotland regarding the future of the South Sleat Estate, in light of reports that it has been placed on the market for sale.

Answer · Angus Robertson: There has been no discussion between the Scottish Government and Historic Environment Scotland regarding the future or sale of the South Sleat Estate.

24 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with the Clan Donald Lands Trust regarding identifying a new owner for the South Sleat Estate, in light of reports that it has been placed on the market for sale.

Answer · Mairi Gougeon: The Scottish Government has not had any discussions with the Clan Donald Lands Trust regarding identifying a new owner for the South Sleat Estate.

23 Jun 2025 · First Minister's Question

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government's response is to reports that several local authorities are delaying the introduction of a visitor levy.

18 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with Ofgem following the regulator’s announcement on 26 May 2025 that the Radio Teleswitch Service (RTS) switch-off will take a phased approach, starting from 30 June 2025, and what it anticipates the impact of this switch-off will be for consumers in Sc…

Answer · Gillian Martin: Responsibility for managing and resolving the RTS switch-off is fully reserved to the UK Parliament and is regulated by Ofgem. However, given the disproportionate impact on the people of Scotland, the Scottish Government is in daily contact with the UK Govern…

18 Jun 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on how it supports rural museums.

17 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total number was of (a) passengers, (b) cars, (c) coaches and (d) commercial vehicles, carried by (i) the MV Alfred and (ii) other vessels on the Arran ferry route between 18 April 2024 and 12 June 2025.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not hold carrying statistics for individual vessels. Contractual reporting is by route. However, CalMac have provided the following data as requested:Vessel NamePassengersCarsCoachesCommercial VehiclesMV Alfred273,48991,407643,916…

17 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many scheduled sailings were (a) provided and (b) cancelled, broken down by incident, on (i) the MV Alfred and (ii) other vessels on the Arran ferry route between 18 April 2024 and 12 June 2025.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Contractual reporting is by route. However, CalMac have provided the following data as requested:Vessel NameScheduled SailingsOperated SailingsCancelled SailingsAdditional SailingsWeather CancellationsTe…

17 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost was to charter the MV Alfred between 18 April 2024 and 12 June 2025.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The total cost of MV Alfred’s time charter for the period between 18 April 2024 and 12 June 2025 was £11.1m.

17 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the total cost was of repairs to the MV Caledonian Isles between 4 January 2024 and 12 June 2025.

Answer · Fiona Hyslop: The current estimated cost of repairs to MV Caledonian Isles between 4th January 2024 and 31st May 2025 is £10.8m.

16 Jun 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how much grant funding has been allocated to (a) support and (b) develop green hydrogen production in each year since 2020-21.

Answer · Gillian Martin: Since 2020-21, 50 grants worth a total of £44.57m have been allocated to projects to support and develop green hydrogen production, as detailed in the following table.Year Funding AllocatedYear(s) Funding Award(s) SpanFunding StreamRecipient(s)Total Amo…