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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-41557

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Fiona Hyslop on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government for what reasons the retired MV Hebridean Isles vessel is being dismantled at a facility in Denmark and not in Scotland.

CMAL, as vessel owner, sought competitive quotes on the open market for the recycling of the MV Hebridean Isles. Quotes were received from UK based suppliers which would have seen CMAL pay significant costs for the vessel to be recycled domestically.

Two notes of interest and one firm offer were received from EU bidders. CMAL confirmed the specialist knowledge, sustainable approach to recycling and track record of Smedegaarden A/S which is a dedicated recycling yard in Denmark. CMAL signed the contract with Smedegaarden A/S who have bought the vessel from CMAL ahead of recycling activity, providing guaranteed decommissioning work to the highest standards and better value to the public purse.

Question reference: S6W-41337

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government on how many occasions housing associations have failed to meet their repayment obligations after receiving loans from Scotland's Charitable Bond Programme, in each year since 2014.

Question reference: S6W-41338

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 14 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Mairi McAllan on 7 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what enforcement action it has taken in each year since 2014 against housing associations following failures to repay funding from Scotland's Charitable Bond Programme, broken down by association.

Question reference: S6W-41550

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Shona Robison on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many ministerial directions it has issued in each year since 2021, broken down by the reason for each being issued.

Since 2021 there have been two occasions where Accountable Officers for parts of the Scottish Administration have formally sought written authority (often referred to as ministerial direction). Both were regarding Fergusson Marine (Port Glasgow) and written authority was sought in relation to value for money.

The details of these, and all written authorities since devolution, are published on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/collections/written-authorities-from-scottish-ministers/

Question reference: S6W-41555

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on how many wind turbine blades have been sent to landfill in (a) Scotland and (b) elsewhere in the UK since 2021.

The Scottish Government does not hold or collate any information relating to how many wind turbine blades have been sent to landfill.

However, we are committed to circularity, which is why the Onshore Wind Sector Deal includes an aspiration to make Scotland a European hub for wind turbine blade recycling. ReBlade’s facility in Dumfries is one such example, with further capacity likely needed as more turbines are decommissioned.

Question reference: S6W-41620

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Friday, 31 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will adhere to the seven-year timescale set out in the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 to review local place plans, and report its findings to the Parliament.

As required by the legislation, we will embark on a review of local place plans and lay the report before the Scottish Parliament.

The Act states the review is to be carried out as soon as practicable after the end of the seven-year period, which is seven years on from the Act receiving Royal Assent (after 26 July 2026).

We are in the early stages of considering the scope and delivery of the review, and will engage with community groups and local authorities.

Question reference: S6W-41486

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful applications to the Community Energy Generation Growth Fund there have been in each year since 2024, broken down by local authority area.

The Community Energy Generation Growth Fund, administered through the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme (CARES), was first launched in 2024 and supports community groups to develop their own renewable energy projects, including wind and solar PV projects.

As of 30 October 2025, a total of 122 applications have been received to the fund since inception. Of this, 95 applications were approved for funding and 25 were not approved, and 2 were deferred for further consideration

A breakdown by local authority area is provided in the following table:

Local Authority Area	Approved	Not approved for funding
Aberdeen City	*	*
Aberdeenshire	6
Argyll and Bute	8	*
City of Edinburgh	6	*
Comhairle nan Eilean	9
Dumfries and Galloway	*
Dundee City Council	*
East Ayrshire	*	*
East Lothian	*
East Renfrewshire		*
Fife	*	*
Glasgow City	8	*
Highland	8	6
Midlothian	*	*
Moray	*
North Ayrshire	6	*
North Lanarkshire	*
Orkney Islands	*	*
Perth and Kinross	*	*
Renfrewshire	*
Scottish Borders	*
Shetland Islands	*
South Ayrshire	*
South Lanarkshire	*	*
Stirling	*	*
Various	*
West Dunbartonshire	*
West Lothian	*
Grand Total	95	25

Notes:

1.To preserve the anonymity of individual projects, all local authority awards totalling five or fewer have been redacted in accordance with disclosure control principles.[1]

2.An additional two applications were deferred, as detailed in the written response.

3.Where awards are listed as 'various', they were granted to organisations operating across multiple local authority areas.

[1] 4.5 Protect the confidentiality of individual and business information when producing statistics. Be transparent about the choices made in line with the producer’s published confidentiality policy and apply appropriate disclosure control methods before release
https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/blog/guidance-type/short-guide/.

Anonymisation guidance applied is per Government Guidance:
Anonymisation and data confidentiality – Government Analysis Function

Question reference: S6W-41485

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 27 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether any funding awarded to organisations from the Hydrogen Innovation Scheme has ever had to be paid back, and, if so, whether it will provide details of this.

Question reference: S6W-41551

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many onshore wind turbines are (a) in active operation and (b) inactive across Scotland.

The Renewable Energy Planning Database (REPD) records the progress of renewable electricity projects over 150kW as they move through the planning system. According to this data there are currently 4216 onshore wind turbines in active operation across Scotland.

Please note that there was a minimum installed capacity threshold for inclusion into the REPD of 1MW until 2021, at which point it was lowered to 150kW. This means that projects below 1MW that were going through the planning system before 2021 may not be represented in the REPD database.

The Scottish Government does not hold or collate data on inactive wind turbines.

Question reference: S6W-41554

Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 28 October 2025
Current Status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 6 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind turbines it anticipates will be decommissioned in each of the next five years.