Chamber and committees

Since the demand-led Rural Affordable Homes for Key Workers Fund was announced in April 2023, of the 43 homes approved 30 homes have been reported as completed through the scheme.

As outlined in our pledge over the first 100 Days of a new government and as set out in the Scottish Budget 2026-27, Scottish Spending Review 2026 and the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline 2026, published on 13 January, the Scottish Government is fully committed to dualling the A9 between Perth and Inverness and the A96 between Inverness and Aberdeen.

The Scottish Government provided an update to Parliament on the A9 Dualling Programme in January 2026 and will be providing a further update to MSPs at the upcoming MSP Engagement Briefing in Parliament to which you will be invited. I can confirm that delivery of the A9 Dualling is currently on track as per the 2026 Delivery Plan, with 11 miles currently under construction.

The A9 Dualling Programme is estimated to cost £3.97 billion at April 2025 prices and the Scottish Government remains committed to completing the A9 Dualling programme by the end of 2035.

In terms of the A96, the Scottish Government supports the full dualling of the route. As part of this commitment the Scottish Government is already starting the dualling process from Inverness to Nairn, including Nairn Bypass.

With the land acquired for the A96 Dualling Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) in 2025, funding is included in the 2026-27 Budget to commence the delivery of advanced works. In parallel to the advanced works, investment in 2026-27 will also allow Transport Scotland to continue to take forward the work to determine the most suitable procurement option for delivering the scheme and further develop the Business Case.

The Scottish Government’s preference would be to deliver the A96 Dualling Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) as one project. However, due to the continued fiscal challenges, it is planned that the Scottish Government will take forward a phased approach to delivery, starting with the Nairn Bypass, followed by the remaining sections of the scheme, from Seafield, east of Inverness, to Balloch and then on from Balloch to the Nairn Bypass.

Completion of the preparatory work, including approval of the Business Case, will enable a firm timetable for delivery to be set as part of the annual budget setting process, with a view to commencing procurement of the main works contract for the Nairn Bypass within this Capital Spending Review period.

The Capital Spending Review also allows for the commencement of construction of the Nairn Bypass in 2029-30, subject to business case approval and confirmation of funding beyond the spending review period.

Despite the current fiscal position and following the A96 Dualling Inverness to Nairn (including Nairn Bypass) scheme, the Scottish Government will continue to progress dualling of the A96 eastwards, including an Elgin Bypass.

The Scottish Budget 2026-27 contains no provisions to reopen the Local Bridge Maintenance Fund and no requests from any MSPs and opposition parties were received in developing the budget.

The following table provides the A83 Rest and Be Thankful maintenance spend per year since 2007. It should be noted that The Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested because financial information prior to financial year 2013-14 has not been recorded. This is in accordance with our standard records management practice prior to the date of your request.

The Rural and Islands Housing Fund aims to increase the supply of affordable housing of all tenures in rural Scotland. It has been operational since 2016 and provides capital grant, as well as feasibility funding to community groups, development trusts, private landowners and other established organisations to support the delivery of affordable homes in rural and island communities. The fund is open until March 2028 with a budget of up to £37 million. Applications from individuals are not eligible for the fund.

The Rural and Island Housing Grant Scheme is a recently announced proposal aimed at supporting individuals, including first time buyers, families, rural returners and others to access home ownership in the rural and island communities. The development of the scheme will be taken forward with rural partners and is intended to provide modest capital grants to help meet the cost of buying a home and supporting more properties to be used as permanent residencies. It has an indicative budget of up to £20 million over a four year period.

Guidance on the assessment of noise from onshore wind turbines across the UK is set out in the UK Government’s ETSU-R-97 guidance. The UK Government has recently consulted on an update to this guidance, with the aim of reflecting the latest evidence on turbine noise emissions, advancements in turbine technology, and current assessment methodologies. The UK Government is commencing the next phase of the work to update noise guidance and has advised that the current guidance remains suitable for assessing wind turbine noise in the meantime.

The Scottish Government’s National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) Policy 11 (Energy) requires that wind energy proposals demonstrate how potential impacts on communities and individual dwellings, including from noise, are assessed and mitigated as part of project design.

The National Flood Resilience Strategy sets out Scottish Government’s long-term commitment to improving Scotland’s resilience to flooding, developed in direct response to the climate emergency and the increasing challenges posed by flood risk. The Strategy recognises the essential role of communities in strengthening local flood resilience, and that is why we continue to support the vital work the Scottish Flood Forum does.

Scottish Government provides funding to the Scottish Flood Forum to enable them to work with communities and local authorities across Scotland to help reduce the impacts of flooding. This funding supports the Forum to deliver immediate assistance to affected communities and to provide wider preparedness, response and recovery support. This includes property-level protection assessments, the establishment and ongoing support of community resilience groups in flood-risk areas, and engagement with local authorities to assist in the delivery of flood risk management plans and training on good practice. The Scottish Flood Forum also has a flood bus which showcases Property Flood Resilience measures, giving householders a hands-on way to see how products work, understand their relevance to their homes, and ask questions.

The Scottish Government views the Scottish Flood Forum as an important partner in the development of flood resilience policy. Part of the funding enables the Scottish Flood Forum to contribute its expertise to inform policy development, helping to improve outcomes for individuals and communities vulnerable to flooding.

Funding as set out in the following table:

The Energy Consents Unit(ECU)does not grant consent to renewable energy applications that were previously refused by local authorities.

The ECU administers applications made directly to the Scottish Ministers under Sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989.

When a local authority refuses an application made under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, the applicant is able to make an appeal to the Scottish Ministers.

The appeal process is administered by the Directorate for Planning and Environmental Appeals (DPEA), and the ECU has no role in this process.

The number of Scottish domiciled students studying at universities across the UK is published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). Data can be split by entrant marker, level of study and mode of study.

https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/sb273/figure-9

Data is not held on the total number of Scottish domiciled students studying on courses overseas.

The purpose of any pilot, is to gather evidence and through the bus fare cap pilot we are testing the feasibility of a fare cap model. We will be monitoring the impact on bus patronage and services in the pilot areas to help inform future national fares policy.