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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-42530

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 15 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 12 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update from the (a) Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and (b) Health and Safety Executive in Aberdeen regarding the fatality on the Valaris 121 jack-up rig on 14 November 2025.

Question reference: S6W-42531

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government when it last discussed the safety of oil and gas workers in the central and northern North Sea with the UK Government.

Question reference: S6W-42532

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 8 January 2026

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding staff pay for offshore regulators, when it last discussed the funding of the Health and Safety Executive with the UK Government.

Question reference: S6W-42392

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding reported comments by the Director of Agriculture and Rural Economy, what its response is to the comment that the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) could not be rebased due to staff number reductions.

Question reference: S6W-42393

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 10 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of payments made under the Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (LFASS) in 2024 was based on historic data.

Question reference: S6W-42391

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 04 December 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 9 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether future support for Less Favoured Areas through Tier 2 of the new Agriculture Reform Framework will be based on contemporaneous or historic data.

LFASS is an area-based payment under article 31 of Regulation (EU) No 1305/2013 focuses on providing financial support to farmers operating in areas that face natural or other specific constraints.

The eligibility is contained within The Less Favoured Area Support Scheme (Scotland) Regulations 2010 which were developed and approved by the European Union at that time.

The importance of supporting our producers on our most constrained land is very well understood. We are committed to a thriving rural Scotland, and we are working with all stakeholders to ensure that our remote communities, and those producing in areas of constraint, are supported through the new framework.

Thousands of farmers in rural areas will begin receiving LFASS payments totalling more than £56m this week. This highlights our continuing commitment to investing in rural Scotland and supporting our iconic livestock sector.

Scottish Government remains fully committed to co-developing the future payment framework of the four-tier support system. We will work with our farmers, crofters and stakeholders to ensure any changes to LFA support continue to deliver stability and investment.

All the 2024 LFASS payment calculations were, in part, based on historic data.

Part of the payment calculation includes values based on a historic year, which stem from farming activity at that time.

Question reference: S6W-42285

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the contribution of natural processes, such as natural regeneration, natural river dynamics and trophic interactions, toward meeting statutory nature recovery targets.

Question reference: S6W-42286

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what support it offers or plans to provide to landowners of fewer than 200 hectares, including those who are community groups and private individuals, who wish to manage land for the restoration of natural processes.

Question reference: S6W-42283

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its response is to the recommendations of the recently published report by the British Ecological Society, Aligning Environmental Agendas for Nature Recovery.

Question reference: S6W-42284

Asked by: Mercedes Villalba, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 02 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 16 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how it plans to align the ecosystem metrics used in the Ecosystem Restoration Code with other policy frameworks and mechanisms, including through nature recovery targets and public funding mechanisms.