- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government which of the (a) 42 formal flood protection schemes and (b) flood engineering works' areas have been completed, broken down by the (i) number of properties protected and (ii) completion date, and what the (A) initial forecast and (B) final cost was of each.
Answer
The 2015 Flood Risk Management Plans contained 42 flood protection schemes. 40 were initially eligible for funding. 9 were removed because they were no longer required, subject to alternative arrangements or failed to meet progress deadlines. 21 are complete, 1 is under construction, 6 are expected to have a main construction contract in place by March 2026 and 3 are subject to local hearing or public local inquiry. The information requested regarding completed schemes is given in the following table.
| | | | | | # of properties with improved protection |
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| | | | | | This is one element of a phased project to reduce flood risk in the area |
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| Kirkintilloch - Park Burn | | | | | |
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| Kilmacolm – Glenmosston Burn | | Completion confirmed but exact date not provided by local authority in annual returns | | | Not provided by local authority as designprovides general reduction in downstream flows |
| | | Completion confirmed but exact date not provided by local authorityin annual returns | | | |
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- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 29 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 11 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many floods have been recorded in each of the (a) 42 formal flood protection schemes and (b) flood engineering works' areas in each calendar year since January 2016, broken down by the (i) damage caused and (ii) cost of each incident.
Answer
Due to the nature of flooding, for which the scale of impacts can vary significantly, the number of flooding incidents are not systematically recorded. The responsibility for development, delivery, operation and maintenance of flood protection schemes rests with individual local authorities, who are best placed to respond to local resilience needs. Scottish Government does not hold the information requested.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 08 October 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Mairi McAllan on 4 November 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the Scottish Fuel Poverty Advisory Panel periodic report 2021-2024, and what action it will take regarding the recommendation to deliver on its commitment from February 2024 to revise the Fuel Poverty Strategy by the end of 2026.
Answer
The 2019 Fuel Poverty Act requires Ministers to undertake a review of the current Fuel Poverty Strategy by December 2026. I welcome the Panel's report and met with the Panel on 11 September to discuss it and recommendations, which we will consider as we work together to ensure any future strategy meets the ambitions and challenges of tackling fuel poverty and achieving our fuel poverty targets – which remain the most ambitious in the UK.
Our commitment to tackling fuel poverty is unwavering, and we are doing all we can within our powers to support households. We continue to support vulnerable households through our winter heating benefits, provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice and energy efficiency schemes.
High energy prices are currently the greatest driver of fuel poverty. It is clear that high energy prices must be addressed, and the fundamental fiscal and policy levers lie with the UK Government. This is why we continue to press the UK Government to urgently deliver an automatic and targeted discount on energy bills to address unaffordable bills at source.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
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Current Status:
Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025
To ask the First Minister what the Scottish Government’s response is to the recent news that Eastern Airways, which runs lifeline regional services in the Highlands and Islands, has entered administration.
Answer
Taken in the Chamber on 6 November 2025
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Tuesday, 30 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 17 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on every household having an emergency or resilience box in preparedness for any major crisis, similar to the approach used in Denmark and Finland, and what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding developing such an initiative.
Answer
The Scottish Government’s Ready.scot website provides information on how the public can prepare their home, their family and their businesses for emergencies. It includes established advice on how to build a small emergency kit and keep it in a safe place. These proactive measures help support readiness for a broad range of emergency scenarios, and elected members of the Scottish Parliament can play an important role in raising the profile of this advice. The Scottish Government also works closely with UK Government colleagues and other devolved administrations to support the provision of relevant public information and advice on reserved matters in Scotland.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what support is available to patients who have to travel to access treatment at one of the three specialist endometriosis centres.
Answer
If a person is diagnosed with endometriosis, the Scottish Government wants them to be treated as close to home as clinically appropriate. Most individuals can be managed by a gynaecologist with expertise and training in endometriosis within secondary care.
Specialist endometriosis centres in Scotland provide coordinated, multidisciplinary treatment to women who have complex symptoms of endometriosis and to those who need complex surgery. Patients who meet the criteria of the specialist centres should be fully supported to access these services.
Patient travel expenses reimbursement schemes provide financial assistance for patients and authorised escorts travelling to hospital appointments, according to eligibility criteria and medical requirements. The Scottish Government provides guidance to NHS Boards, which are responsible for developing and applying their own policies and reimbursement rates, ensuring patient care and safety.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government whether an endometriosis diagnosis obtained outwith Scotland is recognised by NHS Scotland.
Answer
Clinical decisions on the care and treatment of individual patients are always matters of professional judgement for the responsible practitioner.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 30 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the paper, An approach to using stranding data to monitor cetacean population trends and guide conservation strategies, published in Scientific Reports on 20 August 2025, which identified an increase in marine mammal strandings in Scotland, and what assessment it has made of these results in relation to industrial activity in the seas around Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government is aware of the recently published paper which investigates patterns and trends in cetacean strandings across Scotland since 1992.
While the paper reports increasing strandings rates across species groups, it also acknowledges that strandings do not always represent an increase in mortality in a population; they can also reflect either an increase in abundance, or periodic movements of individuals into an area. Furthermore, the detection of stranding events has also improved over time with increased awareness, volunteer coverage, social media and cultural engagement with cetacean conservation.
Any applications for development in Scotland’s seas involves careful consideration of the project’s potential environmental impact, including on European Protected Species.
The Scottish Government will more fully consider the findings of the report.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Angela Constance on 30 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government how many thefts of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery have been recorded in each of the last five years, broken down by the estimated total value of these units, and how many subsequent (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold information specifically on the number of recorded thefts of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery or any subsequent prosecutions or convictions for this type of theft.
Accredited Official Statistics are published by Scottish Government on recorded crime and criminal proceedings (see links below). However, it is not possible to break these statistics down by type of motor vehicle, which items were stolen or the value of these items. It should also be noted that the type of crime recorded for thefts of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery will vary depending on the circumstances in which the crime occurred.
Latest statistics on the recorded number of thefts are published in Table 1 in the Recorded Crime in Scotland, year ending June 2025 publication.
Latest statistics on the number of people proceeded against and convicted for the crimes of theft are published in Tables 4a and 4b the Criminal Proceedings in Scotland 2022-23 publication.
It should also be noted that these two sets of statistics are based on separate and distinct data sets. They count different things (crimes versus people) at different times (date a crime was recorded versus date a case concludes in court) in fundamentally different ways and cannot be linked.
- Asked by: Beatrice Wishart, MSP for Shetland Islands, Scottish Liberal Democrats
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Date lodged: Wednesday, 17 September 2025
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Current Status:
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 25 September 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what meetings (a) ministers and (b) officials have held with stakeholders regarding the theft of global positioning system (GPS) units from farm machinery in each of the last five years, and what the outcomes were.
Answer
The Scottish Government is a member of the Scottish Partnership on Rural Crime (SPARC) and regularly attends partnership meetings which cover a wide range of rural crime incidents. We are aware that the theft of GPS units is an issue affecting some businesses and the Scottish Government continues to support SPARC’s five priorities, one of which is the prevention of machinery, tools, fuel and metal and metal from rural premises. The revised SPARC strategy highlights activity Police Scotland and its partners are undertaking to prevent this sort of crime, prepare and protect rural businesses and pursue those responsible.
