Chamber and committees

I will be holding discussions with my Officials in the coming months to determine how best to organise and supply additional funding for local roads maintenance. As with all areas of Local Government funding, substantive details around funding allocations and accountability will be considered through the joint COSLA and Scottish Government Settlement and Distribution Group (SDG) prior to recommendations being provided to COSLA Leaders and Scottish Ministers.

As set out in the manifesto, we will work in partnership with others to progress funding models that safeguard fiduciary duties, provide secure inflation linked returns and can accelerate the delivery of homes.

The Private Jet Tax will be implemented as higher rates of Air Departure Tax (ADT) which will apply to the carriage of passengers by air on private jet flights from Scottish airports.

The decision to introduce an international ferry service is a consideration for the commercial ferry operator and relevant port authorities, including the timing for introducing a service.

The Scottish Government is supportive of the reintroduction of direct ferry services to Europe. Ministers and officials have engaged with a number of interested parties regarding the introduction of new ro-ro ferry services from Rosyth to Europe, and Transport Scotland officials continue to engage regularly with potential operators and Scotland’s main ports.

The Scottish Government also recently amended the Minimum Requirements for the Location of a Border Control Post through The Official Controls (Location of Border Control Posts) (Scotland) Regulations 2026. This amendment came into force on 21 March 2026 and provides flexibility by allowing goods to arrive at a point of entry and then transit to an appropriately designated Border Control Post (BCP), provided that both the point of entry and the BCP are located within the same Scottish Green Freeport zone or within the outer boundary of that Freeport. This could enable goods in scope to be processed at BCP facilities at Port of Grangemouth instead of requiring new facilities at Port of Rosyth.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00539. on 5 June 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 proposal to directly award Ferguson Marine four new vessels are subject to completion of detailed legal, commercial and subsidy control assessments, including engagement with the Competition and Markets Authority. This due diligence is currently underway within the Scottish Government.

The proposed approach is intended to establish a credible and sustained pipeline of work for the yard. This is expected to support its long-term financial sustainability, alongside strengthened governance, enhanced assurance arrangements, and a programme of yard modernisation.

I refer the member to the answer to question S7W-00376 on 8 June 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

As part of the 100-day manifesto commitment, Transport Scotland, Scottish Rail Holdings Group and Caledonian Sleeper Limited will work together to undertake a feasibility study into extending the Caledonian Sleeper service to Europe. This will include engagement with relevant rail infrastructure managers.

In January 2026, Ferguson Marine’s CEO formally wrote to the previous Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport (NZET) Committee advising the target delivery date for MV Glen Rosa has been further delayed to Q4 2026.

The yard remains firmly committed to delivering the vessel to the highest standard and their letter to the NZET committee in January also confirmed their confidence in this updated timeline and cost forecast.

The Scottish Government will continue to hold the yard to account for delivery, cost control, and full transparency as the project moves towards completion, while also ensuring Parliament is kept updated through formal reporting to the Committee.

Data on the number of people on a housing waiting list is not held centrally by the Scottish Government. Estimates of the proportion of households on a housing waiting list is published on an annual basis using data from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). However, the SHS does not sample people living in communal establishments/temporary accommodation. Due to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions, SHS data is not available for 2020 and 2021.

The latest data can be found on our website Households in Scotland by housing tenure: Scottish Household Survey, 2024 - gov.scot. Previous years can be found here: Scottish Household Survey: results - gov.scot. Data for 2025 will be published later this year and a publication date will be announced on the Scottish Government’s Official statistics: forthcoming publications list: Official statistics: forthcoming publications - gov.scot.

The Scottish Government also publishes the number of applications for local authority housing on an annual basis. This can be found on the Scottish Government website here: Housing Statistics 2025: Key Trends Summary - gov.scot. Local authority level data can be found in the tables linked to this publication: Housing statistics: Management of local authority housing - gov.scot. Please be aware of the caveats stated in the publication – the data:

• Is not a complete picture for Scotland, as six councils with no local authority housing stock (so for example, Glasgow) do not provide us with data on waiting lists.
• Will include double counting, as households can apply to multiple lists.
• Will include applications where housing is no longer needed, however they may not be removed from the housing list immediately.