- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how accountability for Electricity Act 1989 consent decisions will be assigned where responsibilities span over more than one ministerial portfolio.
Answer
Paragraph 1.4(d) of the Scottish Ministerial Code makes clear that holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions. This operates alongside the principle of collective responsibility, set out at paragraph 2.1, whereby decisions reached by the Scottish Ministers, individually or collectively, are binding on all members of the Government.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Ivan McKee on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-42660 by Angus Robertson on 13 January 2026, what the reasons are for its Travel Management system not recording the use of frequent flyer or other travel loyalty scheme account numbers for ministerial air travel, and whether it will provide this information to Parliament.
Answer
Frequent flyer mileage or other loyalty schemes are managed by airlines themselves and not by the Scottish Government's travel agent nor its Travel Management systems. Any membership of such schemes, and use of any accrued benefits is a personal matter for the traveller, and in line with the Scottish Government's travel policy, should be used for Scottish Government business travel only, and not for the travellers' personal gain. Air miles may be donated to a charity of the travel operator's choice.
Where a business journey is justified, Scottish Government Ministers and officials are required to travel in the most cost effective and time efficient manner available at the time of travelling.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Submitting member has a registered interest.
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Jim Fairlie on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-33135 by Jim Fairlie on 22 January 2025, when it will provide an update on when it will launch its planned bracken mapping layer for Scotland.
Answer
The Scottish Government has provided funding for the creation of a Scottish mapping layer, this work went out to tender in 2025. Creation and validation of a map, with a spatial resolution of 10m, is currently underway with a scheduled finalisation date of end May 2026. This mapping layer will allow current Scottish bracken extent to be assessed, and the code and methodology will be transferred to Scottish Government geo-spatial analysts to allow future remapping of changes to bracken area. The Scottish LiDAR programme may also inform future iterations of the map. The intention is that the mapping layer will be available for general use and dissemination to stakeholders by summer 2026.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether the weighting given to cost considerations in Electricity Act 1989 consent decisions has changed following the transfer of responsibility to the Minister for Public Finance.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-43118 on 27 January 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Friday, 16 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government how many Electricity Act 1989 consent applications were live when responsibility transferred to the Minister for Public Finance on 18 December 2025.
Answer
Details of how many applications were live when responsibility transferred to the Minister for Public Finance on 18 December 2025 are as follows:
Section 36 Applications (electricity generating station) 175
Section 37 Applications (overhead lines) 59
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether the transfer of responsibility to the Minister for Public Finance for consents under the Electricity Act 1989 is intended to be a permanent arrangement.
Answer
The current allocation of responsibility for consents under the Electricity Act 1989 is expected to continue for the remainder of this parliamentary term, unless a future change in portfolio responsibility is made.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether the criteria used to assess Electricity Act 1989 consent applications have changed following the transfer of responsibility to the Minister for Public Finance and, if so, what changes have been made.
Answer
The decision-making process is undertaken in accordance with the Electricity Act 1989, and other applicable regulations pertaining to applications depending on the specific details of each case. Recommendations are made in accordance with regulatory requirements, taking into account all material considerations, including the benefits of the development, the impacts, and accordance with relevant policy.
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether the Minister for Public Finance has any role in decisions on funding, financing or financial guarantees for electricity transmission infrastructure projects that are also subject to Electricity Act 1989 consents.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-43113 on 27 January 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
- Asked by: Tim Eagle, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Angus Robertson on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has conducted any value for money assessments of its Building a New Scotland series of papers, and, if so, whether it will publish details of this.
Answer
The Scottish Government has published details of the publication costs for all the independence papers published during this parliamentary term, and they can be found at:
Building a New Scotland papers: costs - gov.scot
S6W-42127 on 25 November 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.
A Fresh Start with Independence: publication costs - gov.scot
- Asked by: Douglas Lumsden, MSP for North East Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
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Date lodged: Thursday, 15 January 2026
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Current Status:
Answered by Gillian Martin on 27 January 2026
To ask the Scottish Government whether it considered alternative ministerial portfolios to the Public Finance one when it transferred responsibility for Electricity Act 1989 consents, and if so, which portfolios it considered.
Answer
I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-43110 on 27 January 2026. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers