Chamber and committees

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.

Details of how many applications were live when responsibility transferred to the Minister for Public Finance on 18 December 2025 are as follows:

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-43133 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.

The Minister for Public Finance has assumed responsibility for determining the granting of consents for energy projects, alongside his other responsibilities with regard to planning. Oversight of other work conducted by the Energy Consents Unit remains my responsibility.

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

The allocation of ministerial portfolios and responsibilities is a matter for the First Minister.

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.

To protect the integrity of the decision-making process, and to adhere to the Ministerial Code, it is important that Ministers do not comment on live applications.

Decisions made by Scottish Ministers are done so on the basis of collective responsibility. All decisions reached by the Scottish Ministers, individually or collectively, are binding on all members of the Government.

The Scottish Government Travel Management system does not record personal membership or usage of travel loyalty schemes. SG guidance for staff, including Ministers, states that any such schemes should be used sparingly and not for personal gain. All ministerial travel is arranged by civil servants through the Scottish Government travel management system. All Ministerial air travel and associated costs are proactively published to the SG website

The proactive release of ministerial engagements and overseas travel covering November 2025 will be published in February 2026. This release will confirm all costs for my trip to Brazil for COP30.