Chamber and committees

On 6 March, the Scottish Government wrote to the UK Minister for Small Business & Economic Transformation in relation to the Future of the Post Office Green Paper, and made clear that postal services are a vital lifeline for communities across Scotland, particularly rural and island communities, and for vulnerable or digitally excluded consumers. Post offices, for example, often act as a community hub.

Scotland has many communities and small businesses in rural and island areas, as well as an ageing population, all of whom rely on receiving mail in a timely fashion. That is why work continues to make the case for maintaining the Universal Service Obligation (USO) and ensuring that post office services are available across rural and island parts of Scotland.

The UK Government retains sole responsibility for selecting asylum accommodation sites. However, we acknowledge there will be concerns as to the site being centrally located in the community and the impact that it may place on local services.

Royal Mail and postal delivery services are reserved to the UK Government.

The First Minister visited the Glasgow Mail Centre on 22 December where he reiterated the importance of maintaining high service standards across Scotland.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with Royal Mail to provide constructive challenge and ensure that services meet the specific needs of communities in Scotland.

I have written to UK Government ministers on multiple occasions since September 2025 to request clarity on proposed use of Cameron Barracks, most recently on 13 February 2026.

The Scottish Government has not been informed by any public body of any delays or disruptions to Royal Mail postal deliveries.

Royal Mail and postal delivery services are reserved to the UK Government. It is the UK Government’s responsibility to conduct risk and impact assessments of its postal policies on Scottish communities.

The Scottish Government engages regularly with Royal Mail to provide constructive challenge and to ensure that postal services meet the specific needs of communities across Scotland.

The Scottish Government remains confident in the strength and long-term potential of Scotland’s world-leading university sector, while recognising that institutions across the UK are managing a challenging financial situation. We also appreciate the pressures currently impacting the sector across the UK, due to a range of factors including the impact of inflation and energy prices, UK Government immigration policies hampering international student recruitment, and UK Government increases to employer National Insurance contributions.

Under the Further and Higher Education (Scotland) Act 2005, the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) has a statutory duty to secure the coherent provision of high-quality further and higher education and research. In line with this duty, and on behalf of the Scottish Government, the SFC monitors financial health across the sector, engages directly with institutions on sustainability, and considers appropriate forms of support. We receive regular and timely updates from the SFC on delivery and financial performance as part of robust assurance arrangements.

Alongside this, the Scottish Government and Universities Scotland have jointly launched the Framework for the Sustainability and Success of Scotland’s Universities, which is exploring long-term options to help the sector adapt, innovate and remain competitive in a rapidly changing global landscape.

Despite current financial pressures, universities continue to take proactive steps to reform, improve efficiency and strengthen their future position. For Scotland’s universities, Government investment will exceed £1.4 billion this year, which includes a combined increase of over £55 million in resource and capital funding via the SFC, the equivalent to a 5% uplift on last year’s budget.

With this level of investment and continued commitment to protecting free tuition, we remain focused on providing stability and supporting the sector to build on its considerable strengths in the years ahead.

As it is the UK Government which has responsibility for energy regulation and transmission charging, the Scottish Government has not carried out any formal analysis on how transmission charges are expected to change over the next decade.

Forecasts are produced by the National Energy System Operator (NESO).

We are clear that the current system of transmission charging is entirely unfit for purpose and unfairly penalises Scottish generators, putting them at a significant commercial disadvantage.

Successive UK Governments have failed to set out a long-term solution to this issue, and the current UK Government must urgently do set out plans on how they rectify the situation, as well introducing short to medium term measures to address the impact of unfair transmission charges on Scottish generators.

While the Scottish Government is responsible for the legislation underpinning the Renewables Obligation Scotland (ROS), Ofgem are responsible for the operation and administration of the scheme and consequently hold the operational and administrative data.

To date, the Scottish Government has not carried out any formal analysis of how the total cost of the ROS is expected to change over the next 5 or 10 years. However, it is expected that the total cost of the scheme will steadily reduce between 2027, when the first generators begin leaving the scheme, and 2037 when the scheme closes.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-44147 on 19 March 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.