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-00009

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on plans to dual the (a) A96 and (b) A9, including what budget has been committed to both projects, and the up-to-date timeline for completion.

Question reference: S7W-00010

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to support NHS Grampian in increasing bed capacity at Dr Gray's Hospital in Elgin.

Question reference: S7W-00017

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to review the reported rises in non-domestic rates that came into effect on 1 April 2026.

Question reference: S7W-00007

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to reopen the Local Bridge Maintenance Fund.

Question reference: S7W-00008

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 14 May 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 1 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on the proposed Moray FLOW-Park development.

Question reference: S6W-44419

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government in what ways it supports the Scottish Flood Forum.

The National Flood Resilience Strategy sets out Scottish Government’s long-term commitment to improving Scotland’s resilience to flooding, developed in direct response to the climate emergency and the increasing challenges posed by flood risk. The Strategy recognises the essential role of communities in strengthening local flood resilience, and that is why we continue to support the vital work the Scottish Flood Forum does.

Scottish Government provides funding to the Scottish Flood Forum to enable them to work with communities and local authorities across Scotland to help reduce the impacts of flooding. This funding supports the Forum to deliver immediate assistance to affected communities and to provide wider preparedness, response and recovery support. This includes property-level protection assessments, the establishment and ongoing support of community resilience groups in flood-risk areas, and engagement with local authorities to assist in the delivery of flood risk management plans and training on good practice. The Scottish Flood Forum also has a flood bus which showcases Property Flood Resilience measures, giving householders a hands-on way to see how products work, understand their relevance to their homes, and ask questions.

The Scottish Government views the Scottish Flood Forum as an important partner in the development of flood resilience policy. Part of the funding enables the Scottish Flood Forum to contribute its expertise to inform policy development, helping to improve outcomes for individuals and communities vulnerable to flooding.

Funding as set out in the following table:

Financial year	Total grant amount awarded
2021-2022	£195,000
2022-2023	£220,000
2023-2024	£230,000
2024-2025	£229,550
2025-2026	£243,844

An additional £10,000 of discretionary funding was awarded to the Scottish Flood Forum in 2023-24 in light of the exceptional nature of the winter storm season and the vital support SFF provides to flood affected communities.

Question reference: S6W-44277

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many renewable energy applications in the Highlands and Islands region that were rejected by local authorities were subsequently given consent by the Energy Consents Unit, in each year since 2021.

The Energy Consents Unit(ECU)does not grant consent to renewable energy applications that were previously refused by local authorities.

The ECU administers applications made directly to the Scottish Ministers under Sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989.

When a local authority refuses an application made under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, the applicant is able to make an appeal to the Scottish Ministers.

The appeal process is administered by the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA), and the ECU has no role in this process.

Question reference: S6W-44206

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the difference is between the Rural and Island Housing Grant Scheme and the Rural and Island Housing Fund.

The Rural and Islands Housing Fund aims to increase the supply of affordable housing of all tenures in rural Scotland. It has been operational since 2016 and provides capital grant, as well as feasibility funding to community groups, development trusts, private landowners and other established organisations to support the delivery of affordable homes in rural and island communities. The fund is open until March 2028 with a budget of up to £37 million. Applications from individuals are not eligible for the fund.

The Rural and Island Housing Grant Scheme is a recently announced proposal aimed at supporting individuals, including first time buyers, families, rural returners and others to access home ownership in the rural and island communities. The development of the scheme will be taken forward with rural partners and is intended to provide modest capital grants to help meet the cost of buying a home and supporting more properties to be used as permanent residencies. It has an indicative budget of up to £20 million over a four year period.

Question reference: S6W-44203

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any analysis of the potential health impacts arising from noise generated by wind turbines.

Guidance on the assessment of noise from onshore wind turbines across the UK is set out in the UK Government’s ETSU-R-97 guidance. The UK Government has recently consulted on an update to this guidance, with the aim of reflecting the latest evidence on turbine noise emissions, advancements in turbine technology, and current assessment methodologies. The UK Government is commencing the next phase of the work to update noise guidance and has advised that the current guidance remains suitable for assessing wind turbine noise in the meantime.

The Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) Policy 11 (Energy) requires that wind energy proposals demonstrate how potential impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including from noise, are assessed and mitigated as part of project design.

Question reference: S6W-44413

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 24 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding from Screen Scotland’s Professional Development Fund has been awarded to applicants based in the Highlands and Islands region, in each year since 2021.