Chamber and committees

Questions and answers

Parliamentary questions can be asked by any MSP to the Scottish Government or the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body. The questions provide a means for MSPs to get factual and statistical information.

Written questions must be answered within 10 working days (20 working days during recess)
Other questions such as Topical, Portfolio, General and First Minister's Question Times are taken in the Chamber

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Question reference: S6W-41122

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel periodic report 2021-2024, and what action it will take regarding the recommendation to deliver on its commitment from February 2024 to revise the Fuel Poverty Strategy by the end of 2026.

The 2019 Fuel Poverty Act requires Ministers to undertake a review of the current Fuel Poverty Strategy by December 2026. I welcome the Panel's report and met with the Panel on 11 September to discuss it and recommendations, which we will consider as we work together to ensure any future strategy meets the ambitions and challenges of tackling fuel poverty and achieving our fuel poverty targets – which remain the most ambitious in the UK.

Our commitment to tackling fuel poverty is unwavering, and we are doing all we can within our powers to support households. We continue to support vulnerable households through our winter heating benefits, provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice and energy efficiency schemes.

High energy prices are currently the greatest driver of fuel poverty. It is clear that high energy prices must be addressed, and the fundamental fiscal and policy levers lie with the UK Government. This is why we continue to press the UK Government to urgently deliver an automatic and targeted discount on energy bills to address unaffordable bills at source.

Question reference: S6F-04425

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025

To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent news that Eastern Airways, which runs lifeline regional services in the Highlands and Islands, has entered administration.

Question reference: S6W-40869

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 17 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on every household having an emergency or resilience box in preparedness for any major crisis, similar to the approach used in Denmark and Finland, and what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding developing such an initiative.

The Scottish Government’s Ready.scot website provides information on how the public can prepare their home, their family and their businesses for emergencies. It includes established advice on how to build a small emergency kit and keep it in a safe place. These proactive measures help support readiness for a broad range of emergency scenarios, and elected members of the Scottish Parliament can play an important role in raising the profile of this advice. The Scottish Government also works closely with UK Government colleagues and other devolved administrations to support the provision of relevant public information and advice on reserved matters in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-40578

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether an endometriosis diagnosis obtained outwith Scotland is recognised by NHS Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-40576

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to patients who have to travel to access treatment at one of the three specialist endometriosis centres.

If a person is diagnosed with endometriosis, the Scottish Government wants them to be treated as close to home as clinically appropriate. Most individuals can be managed by a gynaecologist with expertise and training in endometriosis within secondary care.

Specialist endometriosis centres in Scotland provide coordinated, multidisciplinary treatment to women who have complex symptoms of endometriosis and to those who need complex surgery. Patients who meet the criteria of the specialist centres should be fully supported to access these services.

Patient travel expenses reimbursement schemes provide financial assistance for patients and authorised escorts travelling to hospital appointments, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements. The Scottish Government provides guidance to NHS Boards, which are responsible for developing and applying their own policies and reimbursement rates, ensuring patient care and safety.

Question reference: S6W-40579

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 30 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the paper, An approach to using stranding data to monitor cetacean population trends and guide conservation strategies, published in Scientific Reports on 20 August 2025, which identified an increase in marine mammal strandings in Scotland, and what assessment it has made of these results in relation to industrial activity in the seas around Scotland.

The Scottish Government is aware of the recently published paper which investigates patterns and trends in cetacean strandings across Scotland since 1992.

While the paper reports increasing strandings rates across species groups, it also acknowledges that strandings do not always represent an increase in mortality in a population; they can also reflect either an increase in abundance, or periodic movements of individuals into an area. Furthermore, the detection of stranding events has also improved over time with increased awareness, volunteer coverage, social media and cultural engagement with cetacean conservation.

Any applications for development in Scotland’s seas involves careful consideration of the project’s potential environmental impact, including on European Protected Species.

The Scottish Government will more fully consider the findings of the report.

Question reference: S6W-40590

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 30 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many thefts of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery have been recorded in each of the last five years, broken down by the estimated total value of these units, and how many subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been.

The Scottish Government does not hold information specifically on the number of recorded thefts of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery or any subsequent prosecutions or convictions for this type of theft.

Accredited Official Statistics are published by Scottish Government on recorded crime and criminal proceedings (see links below). However, it is not possible to break these statistics down by type of motor vehicle, which items were stolen or the value of these items. It should also be noted that the type of crime recorded for thefts of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery will vary depending on the circumstances in which the crime occurred.

Latest statistics on the recorded number of thefts are published in Table 1 in the Recorded Crime in Scotland, year ending June 2025 publication.

Latest statistics on the number of people proceeded against and convicted for the crimes of theft are published in Tables 4a and 4b the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2022-23 publication.

It should also be noted that these two sets of statistics are based on separate and distinct data sets. They count different things (crimes versus people) at different times (date a crime was recorded versus date a case concludes in court) in fundamentally different ways and cannot be linked.

Question reference: S6W-40592

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports suggesting that there is a link between the reported theft of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery in Scotland and the war in Ukraine.

Question reference: S6W-40589

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has regarding the number of insurance claims that have been (a) made and (b) approved in each of the last five years concerning the theft of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery.

Question reference: S6W-40591

Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 25 September 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what meetings (a) ministers and (b) officials have held with stakeholders regarding the theft of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery in each of the last five years, and what the outcomes were.

The Scottish Government is a member of the Scottish Partnership on Rural Crime (SPARC) and regularly attends partnership meetings which cover a wide range of rural crime incidents. We are aware that the theft of GPS units is an issue affecting some businesses and the Scottish Government continues to support SPARC’s five priorities, one of which is the prevention of machinery, tools, fuel and metal and metal from rural premises. The revised SPARC strategy highlights activity Police Scotland and its partners are undertaking to prevent this sort of crime, prepare and protect rural businesses and pursue those responsible.

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