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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.

Find out more about parliamentary questions

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Question reference: S6W-34308

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 7 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of postcode areas that would be eligible for house building through funding from the Rural Housing Fund.

Question reference: S6W-34306

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 30 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Paul McLennan on 7 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of postcode areas that would be eligible for house building through funding from the Islands Housing Fund.

The Rural and Islands Housing Fund operates in categories 4, 5 and 6 of the six-fold urban rural classification. We do not publish a list of postcode areas and applicants can check if a proposed project is located within an eligible area by using the National Records of Scotland’s Scottish Postcode Directory (SPD) at Geography products - National Records of Scotland (NRS)

National Records of Scotland publishes an updated SPD every six months and an update is planned for publication in March 2025.

Question reference: S6W-33931

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were prosecuted on the suspicion of committing an offence listed in the Freshwater Fish Conservative (Prohibition on Fishing for Eels) (Scotland) Regulations 2008 in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-33932

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were prosecuted on the suspicion of committing an offence listed in the Conservation of Salmon (Prohibition of Sale) (Scotland) Regulations 2002 in each year since 2021.

Question reference: S6W-33930

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Angela Constance on 6 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many people were prosecuted on the suspicion of committing an offence listed in the (a) Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation) (Scotland) Act 2003 and (b) Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2007, in each year since 2021, broken down by offence.

The latest available information on convictions is for the financial year 2022-23.

(a)Number of people prosecuted under the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries (Consolidation)(Scotland) Act 2003, where main crime, 2021-22 to 2022-23.

	2021-22	2022-23
Total prosecuted	1	4

Source: Scottish Government Criminal Proceedings database.

Please note: data for 2021-22 and 2022-23 are affected by the pandemic, subsequent court closures, reduced court capacity due to physical distancing measures and delays to cases where key participants were forced to self-isolate after testing positive for COVID-19, and may not be considered indicative of long term trends.

(b)There were no prosecutions under the Aquaculture and Fisheries (Scotland) Act 2007, where main crime, between 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Question reference: S6W-33879

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Natalie Don-Innes on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it can provide details of what progress it has made to “strengthen rural childcare provisions through training more practitioners and developing pilot childcare programmes that suit specific needs of fishing communities”, as referenced in the June 2022 publication, Women in Scottish Fisheries: A literature review on experiences, challenges and opportunities for women working in the Scottish fishing industry.

The Scottish Government recognises that high quality, accessible and affordable early learning and childcare is vital in rural and island areas, including fishing communities, to support children’s outcomes and to enable parents or carers to train, work or study.

The Scottish Government continues to fully fund local authorities to deliver 1140 hours of Early Learning and Childcare to eligible children across Scotland, backed by around £1 billion funding each year. Local authorities have a duty to make this service available to all eligible children within their area and are responsible for local service delivery planning.

At a national level, several work programmes are underway to support childcare access in rural and island communities. This includes funding a new national childminder recruitment and retention programme, making grants available to local authorities via the Addressing Depopulation Fund(two of which contain a focus on addressing childcare issues) and investing £16 million over two years into our 6 early adopter communities, including those in rural and island locations.

The Scottish Government is also committed to strengthening the childcare workforce. As set out in the draft Scottish Budget we will provide an additional £9.7 million to local authorities in 2025-26 to support an increase in the pay of childcare workers in the private and third sector delivering funded ELC so that they can be paid at least the Real Living Wage of £12.60 from April 2025.

Question reference: S6W-33918

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the current (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen’s Association since they were appointed to their role.

Question reference: S6W-33924

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the current (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Shetland Fishermen’s Association since they were appointed to their role.

Question reference: S6W-33928

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 24 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what action it takes to encourage more people to participate in recreational fishing.

The Scottish Government supports participation in recreational fishing in several ways.

For example, £17,000 was awarded in 2020 through the Marine Scotland Fund to Fisheries Management Scotland for the creation of the Scottish Angling National Development Structure (SANDS), which aimed to promote angling for all demographics. Further information is available via the following web link:

https://fms.scot/projects/sands/

Question reference: S6W-33917

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 23 January 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 4 February 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions the current (a) Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands and (b) Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity has met with the Scottish Creel Fishermen’s Federation since they were appointed to their role.