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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

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Question reference: S6W-43191

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 20 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 28 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what the anticipated lifespan is of all of ScotRail’s rolling stock, broken down by class unit.

ScotRail currently operates a diverse fleet of 145 diesel trains and 203 electric trains. The typical design life of a train is around 35 years, although in practice this depends on the quality of construction and may be extended through appropriate investment in obsolescence management and effective heavy maintenance.

We are replacing ScotRail trains as they reach the end of their useful life. This is outlined in the Rail Recharged: Scotland’s Fleet Transition Strategy - Delivering a Modern Fleet for a Connected Scotland | Transport Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-43068

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 28 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential impact of its proposed budget reduction of 1.3% to the Rural Affairs and Islands budget in its draft Budget 2026-27.

Scottish public finances continue to face a challenging fiscal environment, meeting growing demand despite increasingly challenging settlements. Difficult choices have been necessary, but through the plans set out in the draft 2026-27 Budget, the Scottish Government will invest £1,122 million in 2026-27 in the Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands budget.

This budget will support a sustainable, productive and prosperous future for our rural economy. It provides over £660 million in support for agriculture, including continuing to pay direct payment support unlike other parts of the UK, and spends over £130 million to ensure our land and forests will help to tackle climate change, protect nature and support green jobs, skills and businesses.

The Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment sets out the impact that decisions made in the Scottish Budget, Scottish Spending Review and Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline are likely to have on different groups of people in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-43069

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 28 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33135 by Jim Fairlie on 22 January 2025, when the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity plans to update the Rural Affairs and Islands Committee on the work undertaken to establish a bracken mapping layer for Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-42964

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 28 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government how much funding it expects to allocate to the Sea Eagle Management Scheme in 2026, and by what date this will be provided.

It is anticipated that the Sea Eagle Management Scheme will receive a similar budget allocation in 2026 that was awarded in 2025. The budget for the Sea Eagle Management Scheme in 2025 was £970,000.

NatureScot will begin work on offering management agreements as soon as approval of the budget has been received. The scheme covers the calendar year period January to December and payments to farmers and crofters who sign up to the scheme are made in December.

Question reference: S6W-43060

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33135 by Jim Fairlie on 22 January 2025, when it will provide an update on when it will launch its planned bracken mapping layer for Scotland.

The Scottish Government has provided funding for the creation of a Scottish mapping layer, this work went out to tender in 2025. Creation and validation of a map, with a spatial resolution of 10m, is currently underway with a scheduled finalisation date of end May 2026. This mapping layer will allow current Scottish bracken extent to be assessed, and the code and methodology will be transferred to Scottish Government geo-spatial analysts to allow future remapping of changes to bracken area. The Scottish LiDAR programme may also inform future iterations of the map. The intention is that the mapping layer will be available for general use and dissemination to stakeholders by summer 2026.

Question reference: S6W-43065

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 27 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government for what reason it has increased the budget for Scotland House in London by 96.2% in its draft Budget 2026-27.

Scotland House London is a unique collaboration between the Scottish Government, Scottish Development International, VisitScotland and Scotland Food & Drink, and provides a platform to showcase Scotland’s unique offer to key domestic and international audiences. The facility also provides a home in London for a range of Scottish businesses and organisations seeking to develop relationships, engage new markets and explore opportunities to succeed and grow.

Whilst the overall budget for SHL increases from £2.095m in 2025-26 to £4.111m in 2026-27 (a 96.2% rise), this increase is almost entirely due to a one-off capital charge of £2.019m required to extend the SHL office lease to November 2029. Importantly, the annual resource costs have not increased and remain at £1.660m. This is an accounting requirement. The cash lease payments will continue to be made over the 3 year period of the lease in the normal way.

Under International Financial Reporting Standard(IFRS) 16, long-term leases must be recognised as assets on the Scottish Government’s balance sheet. The total lease payments for the full three-year extension period amount to £2.019m. In accordance with IFRS 16, this full value must be recognised upfront as a right-of-use asset and corresponding lease liability in the Scottish Government’s Consolidated Accounts.

As required by HM Treasury rules, this results in £2.019m of capital budget cover being needed only in the year the lease is extended (2026-27). This is a single-year requirement only, covering the entire period to 2029, and therefore will not recur in future years’ budgets. This short-term extension to the current lease arrangements for SHL has been made to allow Ministers of the incoming administration, following the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, to take decisions on the Scottish Government's presence in London in the longer term.

Question reference: S6W-43071

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 27 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any value for money assessments of its Building a New Scotland series of papers, and, if so, whether it will publish details of this.

The Scottish Government has published details of the publication costs for all the independence papers published during this parliamentary term, and they can be found at:

Building a New Scotland papers: costs - gov.scot

S6W-42127 on 25 November 2025. 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.

A Fresh Start with Independence: publication costs - gov.scot

Question reference: S6W-42967

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 14 January 2026
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on its position on the reintroduction of lynx in Scotland.

As I set out during portfolio questions on 21 January 2026, in the answer to S6O-05392, the Scottish Government understands that there may be concerns in light of recent public engagement and media attention about proposals to reintroduce lynx into Scotland.

Any proposed reintroduction would require a significant amount of consultation and evidence to assess the risks and benefits associated before a licence would be considered.

For clarity our position remains the same, we have no plans to reintroduce lynx into Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-43322

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when the MV Glen Sannox is expected to re-enter service following its scheduled drydocking.

Question reference: S6W-43308

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 26 January 2026
Current Status: Answer expected on 9 February 2026

To ask the Scottish Government by what percentage it anticipates Scottish Water’s executive leadership team’s pay will increase by from 1 April 2026, broken down by banding.

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