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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.

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Question reference: S6W-42249

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a breakdown of the total costs of any work that it has undertaken in relation to the matters detailed in the Scottish Information Commissioner Decision 279/2025 (Written evidence to James Hamilton’s investigation into the First Minister under the Ministerial Code), including the cost of (a) any (i) internal and (ii) external legal advice, (b) its officials' time and (c) any other spending related to these matters, and what its estimate is of the potential cost of appealing the decision to the Court of Session, should it decide to do so.

Question reference: S6W-42250

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether it would be appropriate for it to appeal the Scottish Information Commissioner Decision 279/2025 (Written evidence to James Hamilton’s investigation into the First Minister under the Ministerial Code) in order to postpone the disclosure of the information that it wrongly withheld until after the Scottish Parliament election in May 2026, and whether it plans to seek guidance from the Permanent Secretary on these matters.

Question reference: S6W-42251

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what funding (a) it has and (b) any Scottish public agencies have provided to the Offshore Solutions Group, which is developing the Moray FLOW-Park, in each year since the company was founded in 2020.

Question reference: S6W-42252

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what communication its ministers have had with Crown Estate Scotland regarding the provision of financial support for the Offshore Solutions Group in relation to its proposal to develop the Moray FLOW-Park; whether Crown Estate Scotland advised its ministers of any intention to provide financial support, and whether it will publish any correspondence with Crown Estate Scotland on these matters.

Question reference: S6W-42253

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 17 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what communication its ministers have had with Scottish Enterprise regarding the provision of financial support for the Offshore Solutions Group in relation to its proposal to develop the Moray FLOW-Park; whether Scottish Enterprise advised its ministers of any intention to provide financial support, and whether it will publish any correspondence with Scottish Enterprise on these matters.

Question reference: S6W-42266

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Monday, 01 December 2025
Current Status: Answer expected on 15 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-41921 by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025, whether it will provide the information that was requested regarding whether the pilot gull management for the city of Inverness has now been finalised, including whether it will be in place and ready to be implemented prior to the commencement of seagull breeding season in 2026, and for what reason it did not provide this detail in its response.

Question reference: S6W-41916

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jenni Minto on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether its position on the transfer of children's vaccinations to GPs by NHS Highland due to proceed in April 2026 has changed, and whether it will provide a detailed statement of the timetable for the processes involved in the transfer of this service to GPs.

Question reference: S6W-41923

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether NatureScot has attended meetings of the Highland Council steering group that is dealing with the issues of seagull management, and, if not, for what reason.

Question reference: S6W-41925

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government, regarding NatureScot's work on the issue of gull management, whether it has confidence in its CEO and Chair.

Question reference: S6W-41924

Asked by: Fergus Ewing, MSP for Inverness and Nairn, Independent
Date lodged: Friday, 14 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether NatureScot is implementing the work that the Minister for Agriculture and Connectivity announced it would commit to in his ministerial statement on 1 October 2025; what action he will take if NatureScot fails to implement the work, and whether he will exercise his power of direction to require NatureScot to deliver what he announced it would do.

NatureScot is implementing the work set-out in the statement the I made on 1 October 2025, as well as the issues that arose during the gull summit.

NatureScot is taking the following actions to find practical solutions to gull issues:

NatureScot leading four further regional roundtable events across Scotland to continue to develop a partnership approach with those not able to attend the gull summit in Inverness; A new People and Gulls Forum will be established at a national level to ensure the longevity of summit efforts.
Delivery of £100k funding to local authorities who face the more acute issues in order to develop their area wide gull management approach ahead of Spring next year;
Leading a partnership, including with Zero Waste Scotland and Keep Scotland Beautiful, in developing a national awareness campaign to encourage people not to feed gulls and carry out proper waste management so that the food supply for gulls in towns and cities is minimised;
Accelerating our understanding of gull populations nationally, with increased focus on improving survey techniques for gulls nesting in urban areas so that we can more fully understand the numbers and population dynamics involved;
Lead best practice guidance to include waste management in urban areas to limit food availability to gulls and undertake survey techniques that assess local urban populations, movements, and high impact areas.