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-42046

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme have been (a) processed, (b) deemed ineligible, (c) not approved and (d) approved based solely, or mainly, on scrutiny undertaken by automation or by a computer.

As outlined in the answer to question S6W-42042 on 1 December 2025, computers were used to process applications, as they are with all agricultural grant applications. However, the assessment work was led by the Agricultural Development Team, supported by staff from across the RPID area office network, which is experienced in delivering Scottish Government grant schemes. Independent validation was undertaken by a Project Board, which also included RPID Area Office representatives, as well as being reviewed by Internal Audit representatives. 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: S6W-42029

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the weighting for each category, and the priority used, to determine applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

With over 19,000 capital investments applied for we do not intend to publish a breakdown of the weighting or scoring used for each capital item.

The application assessment involved three stages. Firstly, checks were carried out to confirm business eligibility and the accuracy of the information provided against existing business information held by RPID.

The proposed investments were then assessed for clarity of description and scored against their alignment with the scheme’s objectives and public benefit. Applications that were vague, incomplete, or inconsistent with RPID records were not considered.

Finally, a funding request score ensured the limited budget was shared fairly by rewarding realistic and proportionate requests, with safeguards in place so that new entrants, young farmers, small businesses, and tenants were not disadvantaged. This ensured that funding was directed to the strongest proposals offering the greatest overall benefit in terms of delivering the schemes objectives.

Question reference: S6W-42040

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all ineligible applications received for the Future Farming Investment Scheme to date, broken down by the (a) reason for ineligibility and (b) local area office, and stating how many such applications there were in each category, and what percentage of the total number of applications received this represents.

Question reference: S6W-42036

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the reasons for any applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme not being approved.

There were many reasons why applications were not considered eligible for grant supporting. These were:

One or more items applied for not fundable (multiple unrelated items applied for as a single entry/incomplete description/no supporting animals for item/no lengths, areas etc.)
Application email provided was not valid
Business declared their business didn't deliver any of the Scottish Governments Vision for Agriculture
Failed the Active Farmer/Crofter BPS test
No other Support Scheme Claims
No Single Application Form Submitted
Not Registered & Approved for Funding
Didn't Comply With Whole Farm Plan requirements for BPS
Payment Holds Applied To Business
Agricultural Area Less than 3 hectares
Previous Capital Grant Scheme Claim Refused
Declared New Entrant but evidence showed not meeting FFIS definition
Declared Young Farmer but evidence showed not meeting FFIS definition
Declared Organic Land but evidence showed not meeting FFIS definition
Declared they were a medium sized business to obtain higher grant than entitled to
Declared they were a large business to obtain higher grant than entitled to
Declared they were a small business but farmed area greater than 30 hectares
Declared that more than 50% of their agricultural business was on a tenancy but wasn't
Declared they were island based but weren’t
Did not declare previous SACGS/CAGS Payment
Recoverability Safeguard Not Passed (level of outstanding debt to SG)
Applied for more than their maximum grant eligibility

Businesses that were eligible were then scored against the schemes objectives: business efficiency, business sustainability, environmental protection, greenhouse gas reduction, climate adaptation, as well as public good.

FFIS was a competitive scheme and businesses which met all verification checks and scored highest against scheme objectives were ultimately granted funding.

Question reference: S6W-42047

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown by size of business of the number of (a) ineligible, (b) eligible and successful and (c) eligible and unsuccessful applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Figures include the additional 122 offers of grant that will be made following revalidation checks.

Area Office	Number of Applications Failing One or More Eligibility/Scheme Requirement Checks Small (<30ha)	Number of Applications Failing One or More Eligibility/Scheme Requirement Checks Medium (>30ha/<150ha)	Number of Applications Failing One or More Eligibility/Scheme Requirement Checks Large (>150ha)
Ayr	52	154	142
Benbecula	72	36	3
Dumfries	28	94	117
Elgin	15	25	37
Galashiels	40	84	222
Golspie	42	25	15
Hamilton	26	44	49
Inverness	80	62	81
Inverurie	97	177	169
Kirkwall	26	61	33
Lerwick	33	45	38
Oban	33	67	90
Perth	59	145	248
Portree	58	18	14
Stornoway	78	19	2
Thurso	44	57	32
Total	783	1,113	1,292

Area Office	NumberSuccessfulSmall (<30ha)	NumberSuccessfulMedium (>30ha/<150ha)	NumberSuccessfulLarge (>150ha)
Ayr	16	120	134
Benbecula	22	3	2
Dumfries	5	67	96
Elgin	4	31	26
Galashiels	9	38	128
Golspie	5	8	6
Hamilton	10	38	49
Inverness	13	20	37
Inverurie	32	153	141
Kirkwall	9	24	30
Lerwick	23	32	21
Oban	10	22	29
Perth	12	96	148
Portree	21	2	3
Stornoway	26	3	2
Thurso	8	26	34

Area Office	Number Eligible Small (<30ha)	Number EligibleMedium (>30ha/ <150ha)	Number Eligible Large (>150ha)
Ayr	53	260	279
Benbecula	44	25	7
Dumfries	29	145	199
Elgin	12	68	65
Galashiels	31	93	307
Golspie	24	22	19
Hamilton	22	95	101
Inverness	69	75	119
Inverurie	96	322	277
Kirkwall	27	109	74
Lerwick	29	53	40
Oban	30	74	116
Perth	43	232	352
Portree	51	18	21
Stornoway	59	7	4
Thurso	43	73	71
Total	662	1,681	2,051

Question reference: S6W-42039

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all the applications that have been received for the Future Farming Investment Scheme to date, broken down by those that were (a) ineligible, (b) eligible and successful and (c) eligible and unsuccessful.

Question reference: S6O-05248

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Transport last met with local communities over the future of the Corran Narrows crossing.

Question reference: S6O-05156

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what economic assessment it has undertaken of the potential impact of proposed workers' camps in and around communities across the Highlands and Islands.

Question reference: S6O-05130

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential economic implications of its paper A Fresh Start with Independence.

Question reference: S6T-02727

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how decisions on the award of offers of grants for the Future Farming Investment Scheme were made.

Number of Applications Received	Number of Applications Failing One or More Eligibility/Scheme Requirement Checks	Number of Applications Passing All Eligibility/Scheme Requirement Checks	Number of Applications Offered a Grant
7,582	3,188	4,394	1,794