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-35902

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the reported challenges in the recruitment and retention of staff in remote, rural and island healthcare settings, what strategies have been introduced to attract and retain healthcare professionals in Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross.

Health boards such as NHS Highland are autonomous institutions responsible for their own recruitment, employment and deployment of staff.

The Scottish Government supports Boards in these matters through the setting of policies and frameworks at a national level, with initiatives across rural and islands health boards including:

Scottish Government funding for ScotGEM, a unique four-year programme tailored to meet the current and future needs of NHS Scotland with a focus on rural medicine, healthcare improvement and developing interest in General Practice. ScotGEM students are eligible to apply for and receive a ‘Return of Service’ bursary of £4,000 per annum which commits them to working for NHS Scotland for the corresponding number of years following graduation. The Scottish Government also pays the tuition fees for eligible students, offering an attractive package for potential applicants.
A range of grants and allowances including the recruitment and retention allowance, which allows new trainee dentists practicing in eligible areas, to qualify for a ‘Golden Hello’ payment of up to £37,500 in the first three years of practice.
Delivery of a Rural GP Fellowship by NHS Education for Scotland (NES). The fellowship provides qualified GPs with direct experience of working in rural and island areas for a year, including two fellowship posts in Skye.
Going forward, in collaboration with NES’ Centre for Workforce Supply and National Centre for Remote and Rural Health and Care, the Scottish Government will be developing a sustained model of direct support that will provide the long-term whole-system approach which is necessary to provide rural and island employers the help they need to recruit successfully. To improve attraction, this includes supporting employers to design roles that fit their organisations’ needs, ensure that job adverts speak to the right audience and helping employers in welcoming new recruits and providing effective pastoral support.

Question reference: S6W-35901

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 20 March 2025
Current Status: Answered by Neil Gray on 28 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it has carried out to fully adopt each of the 15 recommendations in the paper, Independent External Review of Skye, Lochalsh and South West Ross Out Of Hours Services, which was published in 2018, and by what date each recommendation will be fully implemented.

Question reference: S6O-04495

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 26 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what ongoing assessment it is undertaking regarding the impact of the visitor levy.

Question reference: S6O-04466

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 March 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 20 March 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it is ensuring that schools in the Highlands and Islands are safe learning environments for pupils and staff.

Question reference: S6O-04362

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 February 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 27 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it will reduce any administrative burdens on GPs across the Highlands and Islands to allow them to spend more time treating patients.

Question reference: S6O-04257

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 22 January 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 29 January 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what percentage of the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture budget for 2024-25 was spent outside of the United Kingdom.

Question reference: S6W-30697

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has given the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) the statutory powers under the Wildlife and Countryside (Registration and Ringing of Certain Captive Birds) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 to collect registration fees for schedule 4 birds in Scotland, and, if so, whether it will state the statutory mechanism by which this is achieved.

The Scottish Government has given the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) the statutory powers under the Wildlife and Countryside (Registration and Ringing of Certain Captive Birds) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 to collect registration fees for schedule 4 birds in Scotland.

The statutory mechanism that enables this is the Scotland Act (Agency Agreements) (Specification) Order 2000 (S.I. 2000/745) which specifically allows the Scottish Ministers to enter into agency arrangements such as the function in section 7(2A) of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 Act for determining a charge, and charging, for registration.

Question reference: S6W-30696

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 16 October 2024
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 12 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it is complying with its duty under the Wildlife and Countryside (Registration and Ringing of Certain Captive Birds) (Scotland) Regulations 2009 to maintain a register of captive bred schedule 4 birds held by keepers in Scotland, and, if not, whether this means that keepers of schedule 4 birds in Scotland are acting unlawfully by not having their annex A birds registered with the Scottish Ministers.

Question reference: S6O-03952

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 06 November 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 13 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the impact of the reduction in police numbers since 2010 on Police Scotland’s ability to respond to all incidents of crime, including antisocial behaviour, within its responsibilities.

Question reference: S6O-03877

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 30 October 2024
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it ensures that the most accurate and up-to-date science and data is used when making decisions that impact Scotland's fishing sector.