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: S6W-39468

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 18 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 11 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding (a) Argyll and Bute Council, (b) Highland Council, (c) Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, (d) Moray Council, (e) Orkney Islands Council and (f) Shetland Islands Council has received from the Play Park Renewal Programme in each year since 2021, and whether any funding was returned as unspent in any of those years.

We have committed significant investment in the renewal of play parks, providing £35 million to Local Authority partners since September 2021. In 2025-26 we are providing a further £25 million to help accelerate Local Authorities’ plans and make our parks welcoming, free and accessible spaces for all children to enjoy.

The allocations for the requested local authorities are provided in the following table. No funding has been returned as unspent.

Local Authority	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25	2025-26	Total
Argyll and Bute	£76,000	£79,000	£157,000	£235,000	£391,000	£938,000
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar Council	£29,000	£32,000	£62,000	£93,000	£156,000	£372,000
Highland Council	£234,000	£245,000	£488,000	£732,000	£1,219,000	£2,918,000
Moray Council	£92,000	£94,000	£188,000	£282,000	£469,000	£1,125,000
Orkney Islands Council	£24,000	£26,000	£51,000	£77,000	£128,000	£306,000
Shetland Islands Council	£28,000	£31,000	£61,000	£91,000	£151,000	£362,000

Question reference: S6W-39405

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 6 August 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that all bereaved parents who request specialist psychological support following an instance of baby loss can access it.

The loss of a baby, no matter at what stage of pregnancy is a traumatic event that can have a profound impact on families. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that women and families who have experienced a pregnancy or baby loss receive the right information, care and support tailored to their individual circumstances, this includes high quality, sensitive bereavement care and support.

For most parents who have suffered a pregnancy loss, bereavement and grief support provided by their Health Board or local third sector organisations will meet their needs and they will not require specialist mental health services.

To help ensure that this happens, we are funding the baby loss charity Sands to develop and support NHS Boards to implement the National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP) for pregnancy and baby loss in Scotland. Sands worked with health professionals, bereaved parents, other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to develop the pathways, putting voices of bereaved parents at the heart of their development.

Additionally, the Delivery Framework for Miscarriage Care in Scotland was published by the Scottish Government on 6 February 2025. This highlights work we are initiating to map existing mental health services available following a pregnancy and baby loss to ensure that women can access appropriate mental health support, should they require it in addition to bereavement care. This work includes considering how counselling and psychological services (including third sector organisations) could be expanded or improved to provide appropriate support for those impacted, where they don’t require more specialised NHS support.

A small number of parents experience more complicated grief and may benefit from engagement with specialist mental health services. If a parent is identified as requiring Maternity and Neonatal Psychological Intervention (MNPI) services in Scotland after the loss of their baby, they would typically be referred by their midwife, GP or other healthcare professional.

MNPI services in Scotland can provide specialist psychological support to parents experiencing difficulties related to pregnancy or baby loss. These services are offered by multidisciplinary teams within NHS Scotland, including clinical psychologists and specialist midwives, and aim to support the emotional well-being of individuals and families during this sensitive time.

Question reference: S6W-39407

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 17 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 31 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average wait has been for psychological services for parents who have experienced a (a) pregnancy loss, (b) stillbirth and (c) neonatal death in NHS (i) Highland, (ii) Western Isles, (iii) Orkney, (iv) Shetland, (v) Western Isles and (vi) Grampian in each year since 2021.

Information on average waiting times for psychological services specifically following (a) pregnancy loss, (b) stillbirth, and (c) neonatal death is not held centrally by the Scottish Government.

Psychological services are delivered by NHS Boards. Boards report their overall performance against the 18 week referral to treatment standard, and this data, published quarterly by Public Health Scotland, does not include the reason for referral at this level of detail.

We continue to work with all NHS Boards to improve access to mental health and psychological services, including specific support for perinatal mental health and bereavement.

Question reference: S6W-39349

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jamie Hepburn on 30 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-39073 by Jamie Hepburn on 14 July 2025, how many times it has consulted non-government organisations when answering written parliamentary questions in each year since May 2021, broken down by the (a) name of the organisation and (b) date that it contacted them.

Question reference: S6W-39066

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 14 July 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding allocated from the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme went to growers based outside of Scotland in each year since it was established.

While Producer Organisations (POs) that currently receive aid through the Fruit and Vegetables Aid Scheme funded by the Scottish Government do have a number of members that are not based in Scotland, the scheme does not fund individual growers. Aid is provided to recognised POs, based on an approved operational programme, which must have the support of all PO members. Funding offers a range of opportunities which are of collective value to the PO and its members. Currently there are also a number of Scottish growers which are members of POs in other UK nations.

Information related to funding allocated to POs in other UK nations is not held by the Scottish Government. This is a matter for the Rural Payments Agency.

Question reference: S6W-39233

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2025
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many sheep being moved to Scotland have so far been given a pre-movement test as a precaution for bluetongue virus.

Question reference: S6W-39347

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of additional funding for National Treatment Centre Highland on 10 April 2025, what proportion of the additional funding will be used to support ophthalmic procedures, and how many additional cataract operations it anticipates will be delivered as a result.

Question reference: S6W-39346

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 29 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to its announcement of additional funding for National Treatment Centre Highland on 10 April 2025, what assessment it has made regarding the additional funding allocated to support the introduction of combined cataract and trabecular bypass procedures.

In 2025-26 all ophthalmic procedures at National Treatment Centres (NTCs) will be cataract surgery. NTCs will not provide glaucoma treatments such as trabecular bypasses.

The treatment centres are focusing on delivering higher volume surgery in cataract only lists due to the volume of surgery required. If patients require cataract surgery and an additional procedure, surgery is likely to be undertaken in their Health Board of residence with an Ophthalmologist who specialises in the particular sub-specialty outwith cataracts i.e. Glaucoma.

Question reference: S6W-39287

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 10 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 25 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has reportedly limited access to the Islands Business Resilience Fund to eight islands, and whether it will consider extending this fund to businesses in all of Scotland's island communities.

The Scottish Government has worked closely with Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to develop and refine the eligibility criteria for the Islands Business Resilience Fund (IBRF) and identify how this targeted funding can reach those businesses which meet the criteria and have been impacted by reductions in ferry services.

HIE carried out detailed analysis of data and statistics provided by Transport Scotland and CalMac relating to ferry disruption. Based on this, the islands of South Uist, Colonsay, North Uist, Eriskay, Benbecula, Berneray, Grimsay and Arran were identified as eligible for the Fund, as they each had experienced more than 15% ferry cancellations over the last three operating seasons, with limited alternatives. For comparison, the average disruption to ferry services, across the CalMac network was around 6-7%.

Question reference: S6W-39264

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 09 July 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 24 July 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated in total to the Islands Cost Crisis Emergency Fund in each year since it was established.