Jamie Halcro Johnston

11 Mar 2026 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is providing to businesses facing higher energy prices and other increased costs resulting from the conflict in the Middle East.

4 Mar 2026 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on the importance of local decision-making and local accountability in the NHS.

25 Feb 2026 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that Highlands and Islands Airports Limited airports are as accessible as possible to all residents and users.

11 Feb 2026 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what steps it is taking to ensure that policing of island communities is adequately resourced.

27 Jan 2026 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with communities, developers and other stakeholders regarding wide loads and any increased traffic movements on the A86, A889, A82 and A87 linked to the Skye Reinforcement Project and the Glen Mor workers’ camp at Fort Augustus.

14 Jan 2026 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether local authorities should increase council tax, reduce public services, or a mixture of both, to meet any gaps in local government funding as a result of the draft Budget.

7 Jan 2026 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure transport links remain open during incidents of severe weather.

26 Nov 2025 · General Question

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Transport last met with local communities over the future of the Corran Narrows crossing.

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it (a) has undertaken and (b) will undertake an analysis to determine the total (i) number of civil servant hours spent on and (ii) cost of administering the Future Farming Investment Scheme to date.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: FFIS was delivered entirely within existing Scottish Government staffing resources. No additional staff were appointed or recruited and no additional staffing costs were incurred. The scheme was prioritised and delivered by existing staff capacity for a defin…

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to allow previously successful applicants to the Future Farming Investment Scheme to apply again in 2026, should the scheme continue.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: Decisions on any potential future funding rounds of the Future Farming Investment Scheme have not taken place. If the scheme was to be run again, the Scottish Government would engage with stakeholders to determine any changes to the scheme.

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all the applications that have been received for the Future Farming Investment Scheme to date, broken down by those that were (a) ineligible, (b) eligible and successful and (c) eligible and unsuccessful.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: Figures include the additional 122 offers of grant that will be made following validation checks.Number of Applications ReceivedNumber of Applications Failing One or More Eligibility/Scheme Requirement ChecksNumber of Applications Passing All Eligibility/Sche…

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether unsuccessful applicants to the Future Farming Investment Scheme will be able to see detailed information on the reasons for their application not being approved, and, if so, how they can access this information.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: No, individual feedback is not available to businesses. However, businesses can email the FFIS team if they have concerns.

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what will happen to any Future Farming Investment Scheme funding that is left unallocated due to applicants not taking up offers of grants.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: In the event any businesses offered funding choose not to accept their offer of grant, offers will be made to the next highest scoring businesses to ensure full use of the scheme budget.

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time taken by civil servants is to (a) process and (b) make a determination on an application to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government does not record this data.

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

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

Answer · Jim Fairlie: I refer the member to the answer to S6W-41743 on 18 November 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-committees/writt…

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the reasons for any applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme not being approved.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: There were many reasons why applications were not considered eligible for grant supporting. These were:One or more items applied for not fundable (multiple unrelated items applied for as a single entry/incomplete description/no supporting animals for item/no …

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servant hours in total it has taken to date to (a) process and (b) make determinations on applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Scottish Government does not record this data.

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether computers have been used in any way to process applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: Computers were used to process applications, as they are with all agricultural grant applications. Assessment work was led by the Agricultural Development Team, supported by staff from across the RPID area office network.

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by size of business of the number of (a) ineligible, (b) eligible and successful and (c) eligible and unsuccessful applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: Figures include the additional 122 offers of grant that will be made following revalidation checks.Area OfficeNumber of Applications Failing One or More Eligibility/Scheme Requirement Checks Small (<30ha)Number of Applications Failing One or More Eligibili…

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether AI has been used in any way to process applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: I refer the member to the answers to questions S6O-05097 on 5 November 2025 and S6W-41741 on 21 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 …

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether any applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme have been (a) processed, (b) deemed ineligible, (c) not approved and (d) approved based solely, or mainly, on scrutiny undertaken by automation or by a computer.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: As outlined in the answer to question S6W-42042 on 1 December 2025, computers were used to process applications, as they are with all agricultural grant applications. However, the assessment work was led by the Agricultural Development Team, supported by staf…

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to continue the Future Farming Investment Scheme in 2026.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: The Future Farming Investment Scheme was a pilot scheme and we are now looking at what we do in the future, taking on board the concerns raised, to make sure we continue to support the agriculture sector. We will review the scheme to better understand what wo…

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all ineligible applications received for the Future Farming Investment Scheme to date, broken down by the (a) reason for ineligibility and (b) local area office, and stating how many such applications there were in each category, and what percentage of t…

Answer · Jim Fairlie: We intend to publish the details on how many applications did not pass each stage of the assessment process. Applicants will be able to review this information alongside the details they submitted, to help them understand the reason their application was not …

19 Nov 2025 · Written Question

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the weighting for each category, and the priority used, to determine applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Answer · Jim Fairlie: With over 19,000 capital investments applied for we do not intend to publish a breakdown of the weighting or scoring used for each capital item.The application assessment involved three stages. Firstly, checks were carried out to confirm business eligibility …

12 Nov 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what economic assessment it has undertaken of the potential impact of proposed workers' camps in and around communities across the Highlands and Islands.

5 Nov 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential economic implications of its paper A Fresh Start with Independence.

3 Nov 2025 · Topical Question

To ask the Scottish Government how decisions on the award of offers of grants for the Future Farming Investment Scheme were made.

29 Oct 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to a recent poll that states that a majority of people in Scotland think the NHS is worse now than it was a decade ago.

22 Oct 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions the economy secretary has had with ministerial colleagues regarding the impact on the tourism sector of any new taxes or regulation.

1 Oct 2025 · Portfolio Question

To ask the Scottish Government what challenges are faced by those delivering education across the Highlands and Islands.