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-27543

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 3 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the rationale is for the figure of 1,000 hectares as the threshold for a public interest test for the purpose of sale or transfer of land in the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill.

Mairi Gougeon: The transfer test will provide an opportunity for Scottish Ministers to consider potential transfers of landholdings over 1000 hectares. Potentially, this could lead to some landholdings being lotted into smaller parts, if that may help local communities.

In setting the appropriate thresholds for these proposals, I have considered both the policy aims of the proposals and the risk of disproportionate impacts following from these additional requirements, particularly in relation to smaller businesses.

The size threshold for the transfer test requires to be set at a level at which there could plausibly be concentration of landownership in the relevant area with impacts on land availability and supply. When land is transferred at scale this can restrict who can purchase land due to the size and value. This can contribute to the supply of land being insufficient in particular areas, which can be detrimental to the sustainability of those communities.

The Scottish Land Commission, in its discussion paper on Legislative proposals to address the impact of Scotland’s concentration of land ownership, said that when considering at what scale of landholding for transfer such a test should apply to, suggested that “the aim should be to establish a threshold that would ensure that family farms and small businesses would not fall in scope, but that modest estates that could pose risks would. It may be reasonable to expect that, for example, holdings over 10,000ha would always be in scope, while those under 1,000ha would always be exempt.”

This advice has been taken into account, alongside other Scottish Land Commission research, data on land transactions and land ownership in Scotland, the consultation on the Bill and stakeholder engagement, in determining the 1000-hectare size threshold for this proposal.

Question reference: S6W-27553

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to re-examine the installation of a fixed link between Cowal and the Isle of Bute, as originally proposed in the option appraisal for the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).

Question reference: S6W-27556

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to re-examine the installation of a fixed link between the Isle of Jura and Isle of Islay, as originally proposed in the option appraisal for the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).

Question reference: S6W-27555

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to re-examine the installation of a fixed link between the Isle of Jura and the mainland, as originally proposed in the option appraisal for the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).

Question reference: S6W-27557

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to re-examine the installation of a fixed link between the Cowal and Inverclyde, as originally proposed in the option appraisal for the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2).

Question reference: S6W-27596

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints have been reported to it in relation to potential breaches of section 7.3 of the Scottish Ministerial Code by (a) ministers and (b) special advisers in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6W-27595

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 15 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Kate Forbes on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many complaints of breaches of section 7.3 of the Scottish Ministerial Code by (a) ministers and (b) special advisers have been upheld in each year since 2016.

Question reference: S6O-03515

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 May 2024
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 30 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has held any recent discussions with SSEN Transmission, in light of reported concerns by communities in the Highlands and Islands region regarding electricity transmission proposals.

Policy and regulation of energy networks in the UK, including their operation, maintenance and resilience, are reserved to the UK Government.

Scottish Government Ministers and officials regularly meet with stakeholders, including network companies, across the energy industry. The Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy and I last met with SSEN, alongside SPEN and ESO, on 21 March to discuss the ESO’s ‘Beyond 2030’ network recommendations for connection and delivery of clean power to homes and businesses across GB, where we stressed the need for meaningful and early engagement with communities.

Question reference: S6O-03541

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 May 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 June 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has held any discussions with stakeholders regarding the future of hyperbaric treatment services on the west coast.

Question reference: S6W-27488

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 13 May 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 29 May 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has any plans to provide NHS boards with any additional funding towards the roll-out of new diabetes technologies in 2024-25, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-27895 on 28 May 2024. The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that everyone living with diabetes can access the care that they need to live their lives well. This includes increasing access to diabetes technologies.

Between 2016 and 2022, we invested £29.6 million of additional funding to support the increased provision of diabetes technologies.

I am delighted to confirm that this financial year, £8.8 million of funding will be made available to expand access to diabetes technologies in Scotland. The focus will primarily be on providing access to all children that want Closed Loop Systems, but will also allow us to continue increasing access to adults.

This investment will allow us to continue developing innovative care models for diabetes in Scotland that have a focus on digital pathways and peer support.

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 .