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-00787

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 25 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications Advice Direct Scotland has received for the Emergency Heating Oil Scheme since its launch on 1 April 2026, broken down by local authority area, and how many (a) have been approved or rejected and (b) remain unprocessed.

The following table provides the outcome of applications that Advice Direct Scotland have received to the Scottish Emergency Heating Oil Scheme.

These management figures are taken from a live administrative database and so could be subject to future revision. There are various caveats with the data and should not be regarded as officials statistics, these caveats are noted below.

Local Authority	Approved	Eligibility Not Met / Insufficient evidence	Decision pending
TOTAL	3,171	5,630	210
Aberdeen City	7	22	3
Aberdeenshire	619	886	44
Angus	176	276	10
Argyll and Bute	90	212	7
City of Edinburgh	9	12	1
Clackmannanshire	0	5	1
Dumfries and Galloway	376	534	16
Dundee City	2	7	0
East Ayrshire	38	76	3
East Dunbartonshire	2	9	0
East Lothian	31	47	1
East Renfrewshire	5	6	1
Falkirk	21	61	0
Fife	92	168	6
Glasgow City	9	24	1
Highland	490	919	30
Inverclyde	2	4	0
Midlothian	46	55	0
Moray	106	172	8
Na h-Eileanan Siar	138	297	20
North Ayrshire	32	97	1
North Lanarkshire	30	70	2
Orkney Islands	48	84	2
Perth and Kinross	188	372	15
Renfrewshire	4	8	0
Scottish Borders	171	313	9
Shetland Islands	29	68	2
South Ayrshire	158	207	10
South Lanarkshire	165	283	13
Stirling	45	133	4
West Dunbartonshire	7	13	0
West Lothian	11	34	1
Local Authority Unknown*	24	153	2

* Advice Direct Scotland have advised that there is a small number of applications which have not yet been attributed to a particular Local Authority due to challenges with identifying post codes. Advice Direct Scotland are working on remedying this matter.

The approved figures includes applications where the payment has been made to the applicant’s chosen supplier and applications that have been approved but the payment is still to be made to the applicant’s chosen supplier.

The eligibility not met / insufficient evidence figures include applications that have been closed as the applicant has not contacted Advice Direct Scotland for 21 days. These applications can be re-opened if the applicant resumes contact.

The decision pending figures include applications that have been passed for formal approval but have not yet been approved.

Question reference: S7W-00786

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 25 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many properties are eligible to apply for funding from its Emergency Heating Oil Scheme, broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S7W-00981

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Stephen Gethins on 25 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the University of Aberdeen’s report, The Past, Present and Future of Oil and Gas Exploration and Production West of Shetland (WoS), which states that "the basin to the West of Shetland could still contain almost five billion barrels of oil".

We continue to monitor and consider a range of evidence in relation to Scotland’s energy sector, including this new report from the University of Aberdeen.

Decisions on licensing, consenting and the associated fiscal regime for offshore oil and gas are all matters reserved to the UK Government.

We remain clear in our own support for a just transition for Scotland’s valued oil and gas sector, which recognises both the important contribution the North Sea continues to make to our energy and the geological maturity of the basin.

Question reference: S7W-00930

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 25 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to reduce the timescales involved with the establishment of a power of attorney.

Question reference: S7W-00932

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 23 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to introduce an instant digital access code system for Lasting Power of Attorney.

Question reference: S7W-00899

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 23 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it holds a risk register relating to the rollout of the Vision GP clinical IT system, and, if so, what the highest-rated risks currently are.

Question reference: S7W-00931

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kirsten Oswald on 22 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what plans it has to review the statutory registration fees required to register a (a) financial and (b) welfare Power of Attorney.

Question reference: S7W-00900

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide information on the total projected cost of the Vision GP clinical IT system rollout, including (a) procurement, (b) migration, (c) training, (d) support contracts and (e) remedial work resulting from technical (i) failures or (ii) delays.

Question reference: S7W-00904

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 09 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 22 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether any planned migrations to the Vision GP clinical IT system have been (a) delayed, (b) paused or (c) cancelled, and for what reason.

The most significant delay to the programme of migrations was caused by the administration of In Practice Systems Ltd (INPS) in December 2024, which resulted in migrations being paused for a prolonged period during which no migrations could take place.

On 4 August 2025, the administration of INPS ended following novation of contracts and asset purchase by OneAdvanced Ltd. Migrations recommenced in November 2025, with migrations to the Vision hosted system currently expected to complete by summer 2027.

As of the latest position, 86% of Vision-to-Vision migrations and 16% of EMIS-to-Vision migrations have been completed, equating to 48% of overall migrations.

Question reference: S7W-00925

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 June 2026
Current Status: Answered by Tom Arthur on 22 June 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to (a) mandate and (b) fund the installation of high-capacity ultra-fast electric vehicle charging hubs along the A9 between Perth and Inverness, in light of the high volume of tourist and commercial traffic.

The regulation of public EV charging is a matter reserved to the UK Government.

The Scottish Government has invested over £70 million in public EV charging since 2011, as a direct result of this funding and increasing private sector investment, Scotland has over 12,700 public chargers, including over 3,200 rapid and ultra-rapid EV chargers.

There are already 221 rapid and ultra-rapid EV chargers in 54 locations along the route of the A9 with a further 104 that are known to be in development across 12 locations.

The private sector has invested over £100 million in public EV charging infrastructure in Scotland over the last three years, predominantly in new rapid and ultra-rapid EV charging, and In April 2026, the Scottish Government introduced a 10 year relief from non-domestic rates for properties wholly or mainly used for EV charging to support continued private sector investment across Scotland, including the A9.