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

Urgent Questions aren't included in the Question and Answers search. There is a SPICe fact sheet listing Urgent and emergency questions.

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Question reference: S7W-04038

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with housebuilders, housing associations and local authorities in the Highlands and Islands regarding the potential impact of the Building Safety Levy on housing supply.

Question reference: S7W-03909

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that the so-called "sunshine tomato" developed by the John Innes Centre, which reportedly has increased vitamin D content, is closer to market, whether it plans to change its position on gene editing to enable consumers and producers in Scotland to take advantage of this technology.

Question reference: S7W-04034

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 06 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 3 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people resident in Scotland have received NHS treatment in the rest of the UK in each of the last five years.

Question reference: S7W-03592

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of what the £20 million fund for Orkney and Shetland, which was announced on 11 December 2024, was spent on.

The vast majority of funding available to Local Authorities is provided by means of a block grant. It is then the responsibility of individual local authorities to manage their own budgets and to allocate the total financial resources available to them, including on inter island connectivity, on the basis of local needs and priorities.

Ultimately, locally elected representatives are best placed to make local decisions on how to allocate resources in their communities.

Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 to report on their outcomes, alongside a requirement to prepare and publish annual accounts. Shetland and Orkney Island Councils would be expected to set out how they have allocated the totality of funding available to them in 2025-26, including the £20 million, in their accounts for the year.

Question reference: S7W-03589

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the 252 new zero-emission buses and coaches that it announced on 23 July 2024 have been delivered.

A total of 263 zero-emission buses and coaches were delivered through Phase 2 of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB2). This exceeds the original commitment to support 252 vehicles. All vehicles supported will be brought into service by operators in line with their own deployment plans.

Through ScotZEB2, the Scottish Government has supported significant investment in zero-emission vehicles and charging infrastructure, accelerating the decarbonisation of Scotland's bus and coach fleet while helping to improve air quality and deliver cleaner, greener public transport services for communities across the country.

Question reference: S7W-03588

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much has been spent on vessel charter costs to cover (a) breakdowns and (b) drydock periods across the Clyde and Hebridean ferry network in each year since 2021.

The cost of chartering vessels to cover annual overhaul or disruption is listed in the following table. These are by Contract Year.

	Period	Cost
CHFS2 CY 5	Oct 2020 – Sep 2021	£ 562,993
CHFS2 CY 6	Oct 2021 – Sep 2022	£ 380,884
CHFS2 CY 7	Oct 2022 – Sep 2023	£ 842,257
CHFS2 CY 8	Oct 2023 – Sep 2024	£ 411,046
CHFS2 CY 9	Oct 2024 – Sep 2025	£ 533,466

Costs for CHFS3, from October 2025, are not yet available as these are yet to be audited.

Question reference: S7W-03596

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the total spend on consultancy services by Transport Scotland has been in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S7W-03590

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much of the £41.7 million grant funding that it announced on 23 July 2024 for the purpose of delivering 252 new zero-emission buses and coaches was spent, and whether any additional funding was requested by any of the eight operators that received the funding.

A total of £41,649,182.68 was spent through Phase 2 of the Scottish Zero Emission Bus Challenge Fund (ScotZEB2) supporting delivery of 263 zero-emission buses and coaches. No additional funding was requested by participating operators.

With every £1 of public funding leveraging in £3 of private investment, ScotZEB2 has successfully demonstrated how collaboration between operators, manufacturers, energy providers and financiers can accelerate the transition to zero-emission public transport across Scotland.

Question reference: S7W-03551

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with Smiths News PLC regarding its ten-year distribution agreements with News UK and DMG Media, and the company's ability to maintain a high standard of regional newspaper distribution in rural and island communities.

Question reference: S7W-03617

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 24 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions it has had with home heating oil suppliers and other relevant organisations about the resilience of heating oil supplies, in light of the Competition and Markets Authority's finding that Scotland is particularly affected by wholesale supply issues.

The Scottish Government welcomed the Competition and Markets Authority's report, which illustrates the higher prices faced by Scottish households, and reinforces our longstanding concerns about the disparity in consumer protections for those reliant on heating oil.

We remain in close contact with key fuel suppliers across Scotland to ensure that we have the information necessary to monitor the current situation and in turn to inform our planning for all eventualities.

Given the current and ongoing volatility of international events, it is critical that UK Government makes urgent progress on implementing the report recommendations. Ultimately, only they have the power to deliver the structural reform needed for meaningful change.

In the meantime, we will continue to deliver support through our Scottish Emergency Heating Oil Scheme. The scheme enables eligible households to apply for £300 towards their heating oil and liquid petroleum gas bills.

Financial Year	Consultancy Spend (per Annual Report and Accounts)
2021-2022	£2,468,000.00
2022-2023	£1,457,000.00
2023-2024	£924,000.00
2024-2025	£1,048,000.00