Chamber and committees

We are supportive of the strategic approaches for the co-ordination, design and delivery of electricity transmission infrastructure recommended in the Electricity Network Commissioner’s Report and are currently engaging with the UK Government on plans for their implementation. We will update local authorities and Heads of Planning Scotland at the appropriate stage so that, where relevant, outputs can be taken into account in preparing future plans and strategies, including Local Development Plans and Regional Spatial Strategies, as well as supporting the preparation of Local Place Plans by communities.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) policy delivery is at an early stage and early action is focusing on how policy is being interpreted and used in decision making. Scottish Government is developing a monitoring framework to support the delivery of NPF4. This monitoring framework will cover all three elements of NPF4, which are the spatial strategy, national developments and national planning policies. Policy 15, Local living and 20 minute neighbourhoods is one of the key indicator policies, and will be amongst the ones on which we will have initial focus.

Prior to the introduction of the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (“the 2019 Act”) all relevant impact assessments were conducted, and no significant issues were identified as part of this process. All the bus powers in the 2019 Act, including franchising, are designed to be flexible to ensure local transport authorities can improve bus services according to their local needs. In developing their franchising proposals, local authorities will need to take account of the individual circumstances of their area, including any potential impact of technological developments, and how the proposals will contribute to the implementation of their relevant general policies. We continue to engage with local transport authorities as we develop the further regulations and guidance required to give the franchising powers full effect.

Digitised ride-share schemes were included in some of the projects successful in obtaining grants from our £2M Mobility as a Service (MaaS) Investment Fund, which aims to test the viability of one-stop digital journey planning, booking and payment services for Scotland. With all projects due to complete by the end of this year, the results of these will then be analysed to determine next steps for these digital mobility services across Scotland.

Looking at the longer term, the Scottish Government published the second Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR2), in December 2022. It recommends future funding support for pilot schemes and demonstration projects to establish how Demand Responsive Transport and Community Transport services can provide improved public transport connectivity and integration without increasing the need for revenue support.

Part of this recommendation, includes the potential to better inform people on journey options through the use of MaaS. The supporting transport appraisal noted that smart technology, where appropriate – can be used to provide improved public transport connectivity. This is important in addressing the differences in service provision between and within regions.

As outlined in the draft route map to achieving a 20% reduction in car km by 2030, published in January 2022, the Scottish Government intends to publish a demand management framework by 2025, which will set out our approach to transport demand management options.

A key interdependency of the Scottish Government’s approach to demand management is the position of the UK Government on the future of motoring taxes. The most direct levers on the cost of buying or running a petrol or diesel car – fuel duty and vehicle excise duty – are reserved to the UK Government, who acknowledged in their Net Zero Review that revenues from existing motoring taxes will decline sharply this decade as we transition away from fossil fuels and the taxes based on them. However the UK Government has so far failed to set out how they will address this. We will continue to press the UK Government for clarity on timescales for motoring tax reform. The Scottish Government wants a fair and progressive future transport tax system that better incentivises the transition to zero-emission vehicles, reduces unnecessary journeys and raises revenues to fund policies to support a shift to more sustainable travel.

The Scottish Government has now delivered all the bus powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019 (the 2019 Act) and encourages all local transport authorities to consider the full range of tools available to them, to ensure that everyone has accessible public transport regardless of where they are in Scotland. As part of the development and delivery of the bus powers within the 2019 Act the Scottish Government has been engaging with a wide range of stakeholders, including local transport authorities. As part of this engagement we have received interest in each of the Act powers from local authorities across Scotland, however it will be for local transport authorities to decide what flexible tools within the 2019 Act, if any, they want to use to improve bus provision in their area.

Scottish Government officials engaged with the Energy Systems Catapult in online stakeholder workshops during development of the UK Electricity Networks Commissioner’s report. In addition, the Scottish Government’s Planning, Architecture and Regeneration Division (PARD) and Energy Consents Unit (ECU) attended a meeting with the Energy Systems Catapult on 28 February 2023 to discuss procedures around the consenting of electricity transmission infrastructure. A minute of the meeting was taken by the Energy Systems Catapult.

The Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Fair Work and Energy met the UK Government Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Nuclear and Networks) on 21 November 2023 to discuss the UK Government’s response to the UK Electricity Networks Commissioner’s report, which was published alongside the UK Government’s Autumn Statement on 22 November 2023.

Following the publication of UK Electricity Networks Commissioner’s report, Scottish Government officials have engaged with the UK Government, and other key stakeholders, through the UK Government’s Transmission Acceleration Forum and Stakeholder Working Group. The Scottish Government does not publish minutes taken by other organisations.

The independent due diligence on Ferguson Marine’s initial capital investment request concluded that the initial business case would not meet the Commercial Market Operator test, which is a key legal requirement if we are to demonstrate compliance with the subsidy control regime.

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), published and adopted on 13 February 2023, places climate and nature at the centre of our planning system and already gives strong support for all forms of renewable, low-carbon and zero emission technologies, including electricity transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Electricity networks are central to the delivery of the ambitions set out in our draft Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan. The Scottish Government’s response to the Electricity Networks Commissioner’s recommendations makes clear our commitment to delivering a just transition to net zero emissions by 2045. The UK Government must implement the recommendations swiftly, to ensure the grid is not a barrier to net zero. It is vital that the UK Government builds a high standard of co-design and collaboration with devolved governments to ensure that the recommendations are fit for purpose. It is also important that the Scottish Government is integral to the overall governance structures set up to oversee implementation and ongoing monitoring and evaluation.