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-44286

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many members of the CMAL board live in island communities.

Question reference: S6W-44291

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how many GP appointments were conducted (a) in-person, (b) by telephone and (c) virtually in the Highlands and Islands region in each year since 2021, broken down by NHS board.

The Scottish Government does not hold data on how many GP appointments were conducted (a) in-person, (b) by telephone and (c) virtually in the Highlands and Islands region in each year since 2021.

PHS publishes information relevant to this question using GP encounters data as part of the General Practice in-hours activity visualisation publication. Encounters are not the same as appointments as not all encounters will be recorded on an appointment booking system. Further information on the limitations of this data can be found on the publication website.

NHS Board / HSCP	Year	In-Person	Virtual
NHS Board / HSCP	Year	In-Person	Telephone Consultation	E-consult and Video Consult
NHS Highland*	2021	868,446	324,857	848
	2022	867,843	251,858	398
	2023	916,085	197,036	508
	2024	948,075	207,380	1,134
	2025	921,642	184,412	2,129
NHS Orkney	2021	77,793	19,998	678
	2022	77,274	15,626	555
	2023	79,690	12,430	415
	2024	77,845	10,091	270
	2025	74,667	8,988	5
NHS Shetland	2021	55,927	26,307	3,753
	2022	56,115	23,379	3,472
	2023	59,639	19,077	2,124
	2024	57,251	17,529	1,742
	2025	63,881	17,667	1,927
NHS Western Isles	2021	50,470	32,892	1,644
	2022	47,269	30,887	2,334
	2023	50,988	28,193	2,402
	2024	66,471	17,952	1,348
	2025	62,322	17,595	122
Moray HSCP**	2021	80,552	122,929	19,180
	2022	95,733	88,557	15,640
	2023	112,575	69,815	17,051
	2024	140,347	62,772	18,838
	2025	148,494	61,762	15,480

* Not all of the NHS Highland area is within the Highland and Islands electoral region.

** Not all of the Moray HSCP area is within the Highland and Islands electoral region.

Question reference: S6W-44202

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government where in Moray its proposed new walk-in GP clinic will be located, and when it is expected to open.

NHS Boards submitted formal proposals for walk-in services in their Board area in response to a formal commission from DG Health and Social Care on behalf of Scottish Ministers. Proposals were generated that considered the needs of local populations, taking into account local issues and circumstances.

There will be 3 pilots located in NHS Grampian, one in each of their Health and Social Care Partnership areas. NHS Grampian intend to open the Moray site in Summer, however they are not in a position to confirm the location. Further details will be announced when possible.

Question reference: S6W-44201

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether any new (a) GPs and (b) nurses will be recruited specifically to work in its proposed walk-in GP clinics.

NHS Boards submitted formal proposals for walk-in services in their Board area in response to a formal commission from DG Health and Social Care on behalf of Scottish Ministers. Proposals – and pilot walk-in centres – are at different stages of readiness and on that basis have varying levels of clarity and certainty on the Whole Time Equivalent number of staff, and staffing required.

Work is ongoing to identify the number of staff employed at all bands across the 13 phase one sites when they are up and running. As proposals for phase two sites have not yet been finalised, total numbers of staff are not available for all of the walk-in services.

Question reference: S6W-44194

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding from the Techscaler initiative has been invested in businesses based in the Highlands and Islands region in each year since it was launched, broken down by local authority area.

The Techscaler programme does not directly invest in businesses as it is our national platform for creating, developing and scaling tech startups. The Highlands and Islands has 91 members in the region, who can access the national network of tailored education, mentorship, investment access, community infrastructure, and international opportunities available through the programme. A fuller breakdown of regional participation has recently been published in the Techscaler Annual Report 2025.

Question reference: S6W-44159

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government in what ways it works with Scottish universities to review the courses that they offer to students, including new courses that can help address skill shortages.

Universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own operational decision making, and this includes determining which courses to run.

The Scottish Government has committed to leading skills planning nationally, whilst strengthening regional approaches. We have agreed a high-level, skills planning model with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) and Skills Development Scotland (SDS) to deliver this commitment. The skills priorities we will collectively identify with stakeholders will be able to inform decisions that universities make about the courses they offer.

Question reference: S6W-44162

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any analysis of the number of Scottish-domiciled students who have enrolled in undergraduate courses in (a) other UK nations or (b) overseas because their course of choice was not available in Scottish universities, in each year since 2021-22.

No specific analysis has been conducted by the Scottish Government on the number of Scottish-domiciled students who have enrolled in undergraduate courses in (a) other UK nations or (b) overseas because their course of choice was not available in Scottish universities.

Universities are autonomous institutions with responsibility for their own course provision

Data published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows that there are fewer Scottish domiciled students leaving Scotland to enter undergraduate study in the rest of the UK in 2024-25, than there were in 2021-22.

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb273/figure-9

Question reference: S6W-44160

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Ben Macpherson on 19 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any analysis of the number of undergraduate courses that are not available at Scottish universities but are available at universities in other UK nations.

Question reference: S6O-05708

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 18 March 2026
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 25 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of reports that NHS Grampian is looking to save £177 million over the next five years, what impact this will have on the board's staff and services, and, in particular, on Dr Gray's Hospital.

Question reference: S6W-44283

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
Current Status: Answered by Siobhian Brown on 18 March 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what engagement it has with solicitors about (a) the timely conclusion of missives and (b) conveyancing delays.