Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government engages regularly with Transport Scotland, which is responsible for taking forward the M8 Woodside Viaducts Permanent Solution project. Work is in progress to develop the Strategic Outline Case for the project, including consideration of a range of alternative approaches that are currently the subject of a public consultation which runs to 25 March. Feedback from that consultation will be considered alongside other factors to determine the preferred approach for the project, which will balance issues such as engineering, environmental, economic, health and safety and social value considerations. Transport Scotland will discuss the emerging findings from this assessment with the Scottish Government when this work is sufficiently advanced.

Electric vehicles are carried by the current operator in line with standard booking requirements. Serco Northlink Ferries applies additional safety measures by identifying and segregating EVs on board, in accordance with evolving maritime regulations, and provides EV charging facilities at all terminals.

As part of the next iteration of the NIFS4 contract we will continue to ensure that the service allows those who wish to travel with an electric vehicle to do so in accordance with operational requirements and applicable safety regulations.

The only site in Scotland that is used for decommissioning and storing nuclear submarines is the Royal Rosyth Dockyard in Fife. The Scottish Government’s position is that this activity must be undertaken under the strict oversight of the relevant independent regulators, including SEPA, to ensure that Scotland’s people and our environment are protected.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-43959 on 12 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.

The Scottish Government previously received an information request under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, for the following:

“All documents, records, assessments, briefings, reports, emails, and meeting notes created, held or considered by the Scottish Government in relation to the decision to remove email as a method for members of the public to submit representations on energy consent applications, and to require use of the Energy Consents public portal for public submissions.”

Our response has been published and can be found at the following address:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202600502867/

It is also important to distinguish between the different roles and relationships in the Section 36/37 consenting process.

Developers, or applicants, have an ongoing working relationship with the Energy Consents Unit throughout the application process. They are required to pay fees, provide additional information, respond to queries, submit technical reports, and engage in iterative dialogue about their applications. This necessitates direct communication channels.

Statutory consultees are public bodies and agencies with specific statutory duties to provide expert advice on applications. Their consultation responses are part of an ongoing professional dialogue and often require discussion and exchange, which again necessitates direct communication channels. It should also be noted that whilst not statutory consultees by definition, we engage Community Councils during this period and through this mechanism.

Members of the public making representations are exercising a right to submit views on applications during a defined consultation period. This is a different type of engagement from the ongoing professional relationships described above. The portal and postal routes are designed specifically for this purpose: to capture representations during the public consultation period in a standardised, accessible, and compliant manner.

Ultimately, these are different functions with different needs. The distinction is based on the nature of the engagement, not on favouring one category over another. Members of the public retain the same right to participate in the decision-making process, it is only the submission method that has changed.

The Scottish Government is aware of the potential impacts that Heavy Goods Vehicles are having on key routes in the South West, including on various communities such as Girvan.

Scotland’s geology provides the potential for deep geothermal to contribute to decarbonisation.

We are continuing to work with partners to support stakeholders as they assess this resource. Examples of this work include:

- Our enterprise agencies have awarded funding to a number of projects relating to geothermal energy, including to Aberdeen Council, Geothermal Energy Limited, and Cairngorm Mountain Scotland Limited.

- We provided funding in 2025 to NHS Grampian to allow it to assess the feasibility of using deep geothermal energy to heat the Foresterhill Health Campus in Aberdeen. The study concluded that while the use of geothermal is feasible, further exploration is required to determine whether it would be economically viable. NHS Grampian is reviewing its options following the conclusion of the feasibility study.

- We are engaging with the Mining Remediation Authority to identify opportunities to heat NHS facilities using geothermal heat stored in minewater.

The Scottish Government previously received an information request under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, for the following:

“All documents, records, assessments, briefings, reports, emails, and meeting notes created, held or considered by the Scottish Government in relation to the decision to remove email as a method for members of the public to submit representations on energy consent applications, and to require use of the Energy Consents public portal for public submissions.”

Our response has been published and can be found at the following address:

https://www.gov.scot/publications/foi-202600502867/

The decision to transition from email-based submission to a structured digital portal was taken to address operational, legal, and service improvement objectives. This included responding to longstanding public feedback about delays in the publication of submitted representations.

Scotland enjoys good air quality compared with the rest of the UK and Europe. Under the Environment Act and associated regulations, all Scottish local authorities are required to regularly review air quality in their areas against objectives for several pollutants of particular concern for human health. The Scottish Government provides grant funding to support authorities in undertaking this work.

South Ayrshire Council currently operates two automatic monitors in Ayr and 20 nitrogen dioxide sensors across the Council area in Ayr, Maybole, Prestwick, Troon and one location at Bridge Street in Girvan. Current data indicate that concentrations are well below the objective level at all monitoring sites.

Further information can be found in South Ayrshire Council's 2025 air quality annual progress report which is available at South Ayrshire APR 2025.pdf

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. Local authorities have statutory responsibility for maintaining their school estate, including determining the investment needed to address maintenance backlogs.

However, the latest School Estate Statistics, published in September 2025, show that the proportion of schools in “good” or “satisfactory” condition has reached a record 92%, a substantial rise from 62.7% in 2007 when this Government first took office. We are driving further improvement by providing significant ongoing investment to local authorities through the £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme.