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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

Filter your results Hide all filters

Displaying 1526 questions Show Answers

Order by |

Question reference: S7W-02189

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what compensation will be offered to businesses that had retained firefighters on-call during the wildfire at Cairngorms National Park, which started in July 2026.

The Scottish Government recognises and greatly values the commitment of on-call firefighters and the flexibility of their primary employers in allowing them time off to provide the essential fire and rescue cover across Scotland. On-call firefighters are expected to obtain their employer's agreement to be released, where appropriate, for operational duties. On-call firefighters have contracts of employment with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and receive an annual retainer fee together with additional payments for incident attendance, training and other approved activities. These payments are made directly to the firefighter rather than to their primary employer. Businesses which employ on-call firefighters do not receive compensation when employees are released from their primary employment to respond to operational incidents.

Question reference: S7W-01912

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Flynn on 19 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many vehicle crashes that resulted in an injury have been recorded within (a) 20/30, (b) 40, (c) 50, (d) 60 and (e) 70mph zones in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S7W-02533

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much additional funding has been provided to (a) CalMac, (b) Northlink and (c) relevant local authorities to help with increased fuel costs for ferries since the beginning of the Iran war in February 2026.

Question reference: S7W-02532

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 18 August 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 September 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has taken to improve the resilience of its Polaris All Terrain Vehicles, in light of reports in 2024 that the vehicles only had a maximum safe operating angle of 15 degrees.

Question reference: S7W-02149

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jenny Gilruth on 17 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has evaluated the effectiveness of the current eligibility criteria for lodging a proposal to alter a council tax valuation band, and whether it plans to review these criteria to allow individual property owners greater scope to seek a review of their property's valuation band.

The eligibility criteria for lodging a proposal to alter a Council Tax valuation band are set out in The Council Tax (Alteration of Lists and Appeals) (Scotland) Regulations 1993 and are administered by Scottish Assessors, who are independent of national and local government.

The current framework provides a number of routes through which valuation bands may be reviewed. Council Taxpayers may make a proposal in prescribed circumstances, including within six months of becoming liable for Council Tax at a property. Similar rules exist in England and Wales.

In addition, Assessors have an ongoing statutory duty to maintain accurate valuation lists and may alter a valuation band where they are satisfied that an error has been made. As such, Assessors may accept informal requests for the valuation of a property at any time, without time limit. The decision whether to undertake such informal consideration of council tax banding is discretionary and therefore is one for the Assessor alone to make.

The Scottish Government has worked with Local Government, including through a joint programme of engagement in the last parliamentary session, to build agreement and inform debate on the future of Council Tax. This has involved independent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a public consultation which closed in January 2026 and engagement with members of the public and tax professionals. Analysis of this engagement and consultation activity will be published later this year. This will help to provide a clear evidence base for further work to build agreement on the future of Council Tax.

Question reference: S7W-02191

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 14 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what support it is offering to community councils that represent communities impacted by the wildfire at Cairngorms National Park, which started in July 2026.

We are grateful to community councils for the role they played in responding to the wildfire and we have committed up to £3m of support to Highland Council to provide direct financial support to businesses affected by the Cairngorms wildfire. The Scottish Government will continue to work closely with local partners on what further support may be required for the area in the longer term.

Community councils and other community-led organisations played an important role in supporting local residents and emergency responders during the Cairngorms wildfire, helping to strengthen the overall response.

In addition to the specific funding for those recovering from this incident, the Scottish Government supports all of Scotland's approximately 1,200 community councils through funding provided to the Improvement Service, which delivers practical advice and assistance. The Scottish Government also provides guidance and resources through the Ready.scot website and works with the Improvement Service to deliver webinars and communications to community councils to support preparedness and incident response at the local level.

Highland Council is leading the multi-agency recovery effort following the Cairngorms wildfire. On 4 August 2026, Scottish Ministers also agreed to Highland Council's request to activate the Bellwin Scheme, which provides emergency financial assistance to local authorities to help meet the cost of immediate action in response to major emergencies.

The Scottish Government funds Crisis Grants through the Scottish Welfare Fund to support individuals to meet immediate short-term needs when an emergency or a disaster has happened, and there would be a risk to wellbeing without a grant. Applications are administered by local authorities, including Highland Council and those impacted by the wildfire, aged 16 years or over, on a low income and have no access to other suitable financial support can apply at www.highland.gov.uk.

Question reference: S7W-02053

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that NHS Highland has not confirmed whether cancer patients who are required to travel to another NHS board to receive treatment will be able to claim back the cost of (a) travel and (b) accommodation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-02052 on13 August 2026.

The Scottish Government provides the overall guidance to NHS Boards for patient travel expenses reimbursement - individual Boards are responsible for developing and applying their own policies, including reimbursement rates, ensuring patient care and safety.

The Patient Travel Expenses Scheme (PTES) is Scotland-wide and provides support to those in receipt of certain benefits. Financial support for travel is available for patients and authorised escorts, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements.

All Boards are expected to support patients and their families in identifying and accessing available support and Board patient travel contacts can provide advice on eligibility and assistance available with bookings and advance payments, where necessary. The costs of the reimbursement schemes are met from Boards’ budgets.

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

Question reference: S7W-02054

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that the rate of adherence to the 62-day cancer treatment target in NHS Highland currently stands at 67.3%.

Cancer remains a national priority for the NHS and Scottish Government which is why we published our ten-year cancer strategy for Scotland in June 2023, focused on improving cancer survival and providing equitable access to treatment.

Continued diagnostic pressure is affecting 62-day performance. This is seen particularly in the high-volume pathways including colorectal, urological and breast cancer pathways.

We have invested £40m over five years to support cancer services and improve waiting times, with a focus on urology, colorectal and breast.

Officials and the Centre for Sustainable Delivery are engaging with boards, including NHS Highland, regularly and continue to scrutinise improvement plans and performance trajectories to ensure they are deliverable, whilst considering how available funding may support additional activity.

Question reference: S7W-02052

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to reports that, as a result of a loss of oncology consultant capacity, cancer patients in NHS Highland’s catchment area will experience delays to treatment or be required to travel to another NHS board for treatment.

Question reference: S7W-02051

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 July 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 13 August 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what further support it can provide to NHS Highland to ensure its oncology department can meet local demand.

	Speed limit
Year	20 mph	30 mph	40 mph	50 mph	60 mph	70 mph
2021	515	1,654	242	156	1,048	285
2022	532	1,778	262	157	1,094	321
2023	488	1,821	281	175	1,179	308
2024	527	1,847	295	129	1,081	294
2025	570	1,729	254	165	1,118	268