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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-42039

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a list of all the applications that have been received for the Future Farming Investment Scheme to date, broken down by those that were (a) ineligible, (b) eligible and successful and (c) eligible and unsuccessful.

Question reference: S6W-42036

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on the reasons for any applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme not being approved.

There were many reasons why applications were not considered eligible for grant supporting. These were:

One or more items applied for not fundable (multiple unrelated items applied for as a single entry/incomplete description/no supporting animals for item/no lengths, areas etc.)
Application email provided was not valid
Business declared their business didn't deliver any of the Scottish Governments Vision for Agriculture
Failed the Active Farmer/Crofter BPS test
No other Support Scheme Claims
No Single Application Form Submitted
Not Registered & Approved for Funding
Didn't Comply With Whole Farm Plan requirements for BPS
Payment Holds Applied To Business
Agricultural Area Less than 3 hectares
Previous Capital Grant Scheme Claim Refused
Declared New Entrant but evidence showed not meeting FFIS definition
Declared Young Farmer but evidence showed not meeting FFIS definition
Declared Organic Land but evidence showed not meeting FFIS definition
Declared they were a medium sized business to obtain higher grant than entitled to
Declared they were a large business to obtain higher grant than entitled to
Declared they were a small business but farmed area greater than 30 hectares
Declared that more than 50% of their agricultural business was on a tenancy but wasn't
Declared they were island based but weren’t
Did not declare previous SACGS/CAGS Payment
Recoverability Safeguard Not Passed (level of outstanding debt to SG)
Applied for more than their maximum grant eligibility

Businesses that were eligible were then scored against the schemes objectives: business efficiency, business sustainability, environmental protection, greenhouse gas reduction, climate adaptation, as well as public good.

FFIS was a competitive scheme and businesses which met all verification checks and scored highest against scheme objectives were ultimately granted funding.

Question reference: S6W-42037

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government whether unsuccessful applicants to the Future Farming Investment Scheme will be able to see detailed information on the reasons for their application not being approved, and, if so, how they can access this information.

Question reference: S6W-42045

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what the average time taken by civil servants is to (a) process and (b) make a determination on an application to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-42043

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how many civil servants were assigned to process applications to the Future Farming Investment Scheme.

Question reference: S6W-42035

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Submitting member has a registered interest.
Date lodged: Wednesday, 19 November 2025
Current Status: Answered by Jim Fairlie on 1 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what will happen to any Future Farming Investment Scheme funding that is left unallocated due to applicants not taking up offers of grants.

Question reference: S6O-05248

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 26 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 December 2025

To ask the Scottish Government when the Cabinet Secretary for Transport last met with local communities over the future of the Corran Narrows crossing.

Question reference: S6O-05156

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 12 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 19 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what economic assessment it has undertaken of the potential impact of proposed workers' camps in and around communities across the Highlands and Islands.

Question reference: S6O-05130

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 05 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 12 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of the potential economic implications of its paper A Fresh Start with Independence.

Question reference: S6T-02727

Asked by: Jamie Halcro Johnston, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
Date lodged: Monday, 03 November 2025
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 4 November 2025

To ask the Scottish Government how decisions on the award of offers of grants for the Future Farming Investment Scheme were made.

Number of Applications Received	Number of Applications Failing One or More Eligibility/Scheme Requirement Checks	Number of Applications Passing All Eligibility/Scheme Requirement Checks	Number of Applications Offered a Grant
7,582	3,188	4,394	1,794