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-42967

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on the reintroduction of lynx in Scotland.

As I set out during portfolio questions on 21 January 2026, in the answer to S6O-05392, the Scottish Government understands that there may be concerns in light of recent public engagement and media attention about proposals to reintroduce lynx into Scotland.

Any proposed reintroduction would require a significant amount of consultation and evidence to assess the risks and benefits associated before a licence would be considered.

For clarity our position remains the same, we have no plans to reintroduce lynx into Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-43188

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 26 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has purchased any Starlink products from SpaceX, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

Question reference: S6W-43063

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported landside at the A815 road near the junction with the A83, what assessment Transport Scotland has made of its landslide mitigation measures at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful.

The reported landslide on the A815 did not impact on the operation of the A83 Rest and Be Thankful. The current operational management and decision-making for the A83 at the Rest and Be Thankful requires daily analysis of the information being acquired from the hillside including the outputs from remote monitoring, general on-site observations, hillside inspections and associated measurements. This information in conjunction with daily monitoring of the six-day weather forecast, and associated hillside saturation estimates, is used to inform the traffic management arrangements required for a safe road operation.

Question reference: S6W-43108

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many passengers have complained to ScotRail about the temperature on the West Highland Line trains since it came into public ownership.

Question reference: S6W-43087

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 26 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has had with the UK Government regarding its plans to undertake a consultation on merging sections 1 and 2 of the Firearms Act 1968 under a single licensing system.

As firearms legislation is reserved, the Scottish Government maintains engagement with Home Office officials on preparations for the public consultation planned for early 2026. This work will continue through established stakeholder forums comprising the Home Office, Police Scotland, shooting representative bodies, and Scottish Government officials. This process will ensure that perspectives from all relevant sectors are appropriately captured and that consultation responses are assessed in a thorough and balanced manner.

We understand that the consultation will seek views on strengthening shotgun licensing controls, bringing them more into line with those applied to other firearms in the interests of public safety and in light of the recommendations made. Any outcomes from the consultation relating to the potential merging of section 1 and section 2 firearms will be addressed within the resulting recommendations.

Question reference: S6W-43074

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 26 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the complaints it received, which were processed at stage 1 of its complaints handling procedure, were not resolved within five working days, in each year since 2021.

The following figures show the number and percentage of complaints processed at stage 1 of the Scottish Government’s Complaints Handling Procedure that were not responded to within five working days for each of the specified years. These figures include all complaints processed at stage 1, whether or not they then went on to be processed at stage 2.

Year	Number of complaints not responded to within 5 working days	Total number of complaints processed at stage 1	% of stage 1 complaints not responded to within 5 working days
2021	17	43	40%
2022	13	32	41%
2023	15	32	47%
2024	6	37	16%
2025	17	50	34%

The Scottish Government’s Complaints Handling Procedure states that the deadline for responding to a stage 1 complaint is usually five working days, though this can be extended to a maximum of ten working days if necessary. We will extend the stage 1 complaint deadline when we determine that doing so will help achieve a positive outcome for the complainant.

Question reference: S6W-43104

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether ScotRail has ever issued guidance to passengers who plan to travel on its West Highland Line trains regarding the reportedly cold onboard temperatures at certain times.

Question reference: S6W-43070

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 26 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the complaints it received were referred to stage 3 of its complaints handling procedure in each year since 2021.

The following figures show the number of complaints that were considered by the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) after being processed under the Scottish Government’s Complaints Handling Procedure for each of the specified years.

Year	Total number of complaints considered by the SPSO	Total number of SG complaints	% of SG complaints considered by the SPSO
2021	12	70	17%
2022	5	44	11%
2023	7	54	13%
2024	7	62	11%
2025	5	80	6%

The figure for 2025 may increase further as complainants usually have 12 months to raise their complaint with the SPSO. This period is counted from when the complainant becomes aware of the issue about which they are complaining.

The reduction in complaints reaching the SPSO demonstrates the Scottish Government’s increased emphasis on rigorous complaint handling and its renewed drive to ensure issues are resolved promptly and effectively at stage 1 and stage 2.

Question reference: S6W-43075

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 26 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many of the complaints it received, which were processed at stage 2 of its complaints handling procedure, were not resolved within 20 working days, in each year since 2021.

The following figures show the number and percentage of complaints processed at stage 2 of the Scottish Government’s Complaints Handling Procedure that were not responded to within 20 working days for each of the specified years. These figures include all complaints processed at stage 2, whether or not they were initially processed at stage 1.

Year	Number of complaints not responded to within 20 working days	Total number of complaints processed at Stage 2	% of stage 2 complaints not responded to within 20 working days
2021	13	34	38%
2022	11	22	50%
2023	13	29	45%
2024	8	34	24%
2025	8	53	15%

The Scottish Government’s Complaints Handling Procedure states that the deadline for responding to stage 2 complaints is 20 working days. However, the procedure acknowledges that for complex complaints it may take longer to conduct a thorough investigation.

If we believe that an extension to the deadline will result in a more rigorous investigation, we will inform the complainant and seek their agreement to implement such an extension.

Question reference: S6W-43064

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 26 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information on how much Transport Scotland has spent on landside mitigation measures at the A815 near the A83 Rest and Be Thankful in each year since 2021, and what further investment it has planned for that section of road.