- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 10 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ben Macpherson on 18 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government when financial support schemes for Scottish-domiciled students who study in other UK nations were last reviewed, and when it next plans to review these.
Answer
The Scottish Government confirmed to the higher education sector in November 2025 that tuition fee loans available to Scottish domiciled student studying in the rest of the UK would increase to match the maximum rate of tuition fees announced by the UK Government. This will take effect from the start of the 2026-27 academic year to align with the increase in tuition fees for students in England that are set by the UK Government. A further increase to the tuition fee loans for Scottish domiciled students will also be introduced for the start of the 2027-28 academic year for the same reason.
Scottish domiciled students studying in the rest of the UK are entitled to the same package of living cost support available to students studying at Scottish higher education institutions. This provides a maximum support of £11,400 through a combination of bursaries and student loans for the most vulnerable students. This includes a £2,400 uplift in the form of a Special Support Loan that was introduced for the start of the 2024-25 academic year. Full details of the funding available can be found on the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) website - Undergrad Funding - SAAS - Higher Education - Student Loan - Bursary.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 11 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 17 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it plans to implement any changes to the (a) application and (b) eligibility process for the Future Farming Investment Scheme in light of reported issues with the first funding round.
Answer
The First Minister announced that the Scottish Government has allocated £14.25 million to a second round of the Future Farming Investment Scheme for the 2026-27 financial year. This builds on the £21.4m delivered through the first round of FFIS. The Scottish Government will take into account industry feedback from the 2025 round and work with stakeholders to ensure any appropriate changes are made. Details of any changes will be outlined once stakeholder engagement has been completed.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42347 by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025, how many combined sewer overflows do not currently have an overflow monitor in place.
Answer
As stated by Scottish Water on its website, it has more than 4080 combined sewer overflows (CSOs) on its network, with 3200 assessed as satisfactory. As reported online in its overflow map, Scottish Water currently has 1625 CSOs with event duration monitors.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to reduce the need to use combined sewer overflows.
Answer
As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:
Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) are an integral part of Scotland’s sewer networks, ensuring sewers don’t back up and flood homes, streets and sewage works during periods of heavy rainfall. However, CSOs will operate more often in light of increased rainfall due to climate change. Therefore, whilst continuing to invest in sewage networks, it will also be necessary to ensure that rainwater is not drained to sewer.
Scottish Water’s current Surface Water Policy requires alternative means for managing surface water for new developments out with the combined sewer network. Local Authorities also have a role to play through working in partnership with Scottish Water to support the development of surface water management plans, deliver blue-green infrastructure and tackle urban creep to limit the impact of climate change on the sewerage system.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42347 by Gillian Martin on 16 December 2025, how many overflow monitors will be installed at combined sewer overflows in the Highlands and Islands region in 2026.
Answer
As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:
This information is not available by parliamentary region; however Scottish Water has provided the closest equivalent which includes the local authority areas of: Shetland, Orkney, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Highland, and the whole of Moray and Argyll and Bute.
Scottish Water currently has 306 event duration monitors (EDMs) installed in this region. This includes 198 installed with information already available on its website, 100 installed but not yet onboarded or quality assured (QA), and 8 installed and onboarded/QA due to be added to the website shortly.
Scottish Water’s approach in 2026 is to focus on getting as many of the already installed EDMs live on its online map rather than installing more new EDMs.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 17 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many combined sewer overflows there are in the Highlands and Islands region.
Answer
As this is an operational matter for Scottish Water, I have asked them to respond. Their reply is as follows:
This information is not available by parliamentary region; however Scottish Water has provided the closest equivalent which includes the local authority areas of: Shetland, Orkney, Na h-Eileanan an Iar, Highland, and the whole of Moray and Argyll and Bute. Scottish Water has 826 combined sewer overflows in this region.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 12 March 2026
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body what the estimated annual staff resource cost is to the SPCB of administering the random selection and processing system for oral questions that result in a "not lodged" status.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 19 March 2026
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 03 March 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 10 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether civil servants who live in (a) island and (b) remote communities can apply for an exemption from its hybrid working target of 40% of contracted hours spent in-person at their contractual workplace.
Answer
The Permanent Secretary to the Scottish Government has responsibility for the operational running of the organisation, including the workforce related hybrid working policy.
The Scottish Government’s hybrid working policy provides flexibility for alternative arrangements where regularly working in person in line with the 40% target may not be practical. Staff are able to have their circumstances considered via an interim, informal location-exemption process, which recognises that some staff may, for historical reasons, live a considerable distance from their contractual workplace.
I would encourage the member to direct any further questions on this matter to the Permanent Secretary.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 9 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, in the light of the decision to arrange NHS boards into two sub national planning structures for the west and east of Scotland, what impact this will have on the planned establishment of a northern medicines formulary to complement the existing east formulary and the west formulary, which is in development.
Answer
This work is being taken forward by Health Boards using a regional collaborative consensus model, which builds upon proven existing local governance and decision-making processes for formulary development.
Work to establish a formulary for the north region has not yet begun, however, as the new sub-national planning structures are implemented, we expect Health Boards to evolve their approach to regional formulary work and consider the possible impact this will have on both the established and developing regional formularies.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 26 February 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Tom Arthur on 9 March 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to ensure that (a) NHS boards and (b) Health and Social Care Partnerships are able to fully-fund independent advocacy services for patients.
Answer
The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003is clear that every person with a mental disorder shall have a right of access to independent advocacy. The 2003 Act places these duties at local level, allowing services to be designed and commissioned in a way that reflects local needs and circumstances. This is an essential part of delivering a person-centred system of health and social care.
As8 such, responsibility for securing and commissioning independent advocacy services rests locally with NHS Boards and Local Authorities, working in partnership through Integration Joint Boards and Health and Social Care Partnerships. In 2026-27, NHS Boards will see an increase in their baseline funding, bringing total investment of over £17.6 billion, an average real terms uplift of 1.8%.
