Current status: Answered by Gillian Martin on 7 October 2025
To ask the Scottish Government what subjects were discussed at the Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy's meeting with the Chief Financial Officer of SSEN Transmission on 17 March 2025, including whether any live or prospective electricity transmission consent applications were referenced, and which projects these were.
I was invited to attend the event at the Had Fab factory to celebrate the awarding of a non-government contract by SSEN to partner companies to manufacture pylons. This represented significant investment in Scotland’s manufacturing and supply chain.
There was no agenda item to discuss live or prospective electricity transmission consent applications.
The Ministerial Code clearly states that “the Planning Minister or any other Minister involved in the planning decision, must do nothing which might be seen as prejudicial to that process, particularly in advance of the decision being taken. Action that might be viewed as being prejudicial includes expressing an opinion publicly on a particular case which is before, or may subsequently be referred to, the Minister(s) for decision”.
It also states that a Minister cannot comment on decisions once they have been issued, other than in terms of what has appeared in the decision letter.
Any meetings that Ministers have with network companies are part of ongoing engagement with industry and follow the same principle.