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-03803

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will consider investment in food production as an alternative to its proposed food price caps.

A strong domestic food production sector is essential for Scotland's food security, economic growth and life in our rural communities. That is why the 2026-27 Scottish Budget provided over £660 million in support to Scottish farmers, crofters, land managers and rural communities, including maintaining direct payments and investment in transforming farming and food production. At the same time, we are exploring whether statutory price caps on selected essential food items could help households facing cost of living pressures. Future proposals will be informed by the ongoing engagement with producers, processors, retailers and consumers, and the public consultation.

Question reference: S7W-03804

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to ensure that proposed statutory food price caps do not lead to food shortages and reliance on cheaper imports.

Question reference: S7W-03735

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 28 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 8 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S7W-00155 by Tom Arthur on 3 June 2026, by what date it will complete the rollout of its R100 programme.

The Scottish Government’s investment in the R100 programme has brought faster, more reliable broadband to over 100,000 premises to date. The R100 Central and South contracts are now nearing completion, having extended coverage to more premises than originally planned; and having provided the vast majority with gigabit-capable full fibre, which exceeds the programme’s original superfast target.

The R100 North contract was due to complete in 2028. However, we have decided to align delivery of the remaining R100 North build with that of Project Gigabit in order to drive efficiencies and accelerate the deployment of whole area solutions. This consolidated approach to Openreach’s gigabit deployment will deliver better value, minimise disruption to communities and help maximise coverage across some of Scotland's most rural and challenging areas. To enable these benefits to be realised in full, deployment timelines have also been aligned around the current Project Gigabit completion date of 2030.

Question reference: S7W-04101

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will outline how it is supporting the expansion of walk-in mental health hubs across Scotland, particularly in rural, remote and island communities.

Question reference: S7W-04100

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 07 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 4 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of its Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy on rural communities.

Question reference: S7W-03570

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reported calls by the Scottish Fishermen's Federation that people affected by major energy infrastructure projects "should be properly compensated".

The Scottish Government recognises the importance of ensuring that the impacts of major energy infrastructure projects on affected communities and sectors are properly considered and addressed.

Scottish Ministers do not currently have powers to require compensation payments in relation to energy infrastructure. Any compensation arrangements are therefore a matter for private agreement between developers and affected parties.

This matter was discussed at a recent meeting the Scottish Fishermen's Federation had with myself on 9 September. The Scottish Government has and will continue to engage with the Scottish Fishermen's Federation and representatives of the fishing and offshore wind sectors to explore options for addressing the impacts of offshore wind development on fishers.

This work has been taken forward through the Scottish Offshore Wind Energy Council's Barriers to Deployment subgroup and through direct engagement with the Scottish Fishermen's Federation, including the aforementioned meeting with myself in September.

Officials are continuing to develop and refine options with both sectors before presenting these to Ministers for consideration.

Question reference: S7W-03698

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many people from the 2025-26 Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine pathway cohort have taken up roles within the NHS in Scotland, broken down by NHS board.

For the 2026 graduating cohort, 62 ScotGEM students were nominated by the medical school. Of these, one individual withdrew prior to allocation and two withdrew following allocation, leaving 59 trainees allocated to Foundation Programmes.

Of the 59 trainees allocated in 2026, 47 were allocated to Foundation Programmes in Scotland and 12 were allocated elsewhere in the UK. The Scottish allocations are broken down by NHS Board in the following table.

By NHS Board	2026
Ayrshire & Arran	1
Dumfries & Galloway	7
Fife	4
Forth Valley	1
Grampian	6
Greater Glasgow & Clyde	4
Highland	9
Lanarkshire	3
Lothian	6
Tayside	6
	47

Foundation Programme allocation data indicates the programme to which a trainee was assigned at the time of allocation. While this provides the best available measure of where graduates commenced Foundation training, it does not confirm subsequent employment outcomes beyond programme allocation, nor whether individuals remained within the same NHS Board throughout their training.

Question reference: S7W-03697

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many students there were in the 2025-26 final year cohort of the Scottish Graduate Entry Medicine pathway.

Question reference: S7W-03695

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 25 September 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 6 October 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the number of Scottish Basic Payment Scheme claims that remain unresolved as a result of outstanding verification requirements associated with the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

The deadline for submitting evidence for the Future Farming Investment Scheme (FFIS) was 30 September 2026. As of 28 September 2026, 495 businesses that have submitted evidence for their FFIS grant and also claim BPS are still undergoing verification checks.

No payments have been delayed as the payment window for BPS runs between September and June. BPS payments are not guaranteed in a particular payment run.

Question reference: S7W-03992

Asked by: Finlay Carson, MSP for Galloway and West Dumfries, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 05 October 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 2 November 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the action it is taking to increase the number of police officers in rural Scotland, including road traffic officers.