Chamber and committees

The complexity of rail network management and maintenance would not currently allow night-time ScotRail operations on Scotland’s railway network, including between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

The level of funding required to support any ferry service from Scotland to Europe will depend on the nature of the route, the strength of the commercial case and an assessment of value for money for the taxpayer.

It is the Scottish Ministers who determine applications made under sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989. The Energy Consents Unit administers these applications on their behalf.

Details of decisions made by the Scottish Ministers about battery energy storage system (BESS) applications are as follows:

Consented 62

Refused 0

The Scottish Government has not identified any specific recipients of the proposed £3 million funding for ferry services from Scotland to Europe. A separate application has been received by a ferry operating company for funding through the Waterborne Freight Grant scheme, which is currently being assessed.

In line with the action in the Scottish Biodiversity Delivery Plan, the development of a new Ancient Woodland Register is in progress.

NatureScot is leading this and has set up a steering group which includes public bodies and wider stakeholders to support the development of the Register. Resources have been allocated to commission a contractor over the next two years to work with the steering group to develop and publish the Register.

The Scottish Government commissioned the Scottish School of Primary Care to undertake an independent evaluation of the Golden Hello initiative for GPs. The evaluation was published in March 2026: https://www.sspc.ac.uk/media/Media_1254907_smxx.pdf.

The Golden Hello initiative does not currently apply to dentists. Any future expansion and improvement plans for Golden Hellos will be set out in due course.

The Scottish Government regularly engages with rural and island NHS Boards to ensure health workforce planning accounts for the unique recruitment and retention challenges faced in these areas. Any future expansion and improvement plans for Golden Hellos will be set out in due course.

It is the project promoters, Winchburgh Developments Limited and West Lothian Council, who are currently responsible for setting the project delivery timeline for a new station at Winchburgh.

The funding application for capital construction costs submitted to the Scottish Government by West Lothian Council is under review and, as stated in our Budget 2026-27 statement, we are committed to working with partners to support delivery of a new station at Winchburgh.

Energy pricing is fully reserved to the UK Government. The UK Government must deliver its promised £300 energy bill reduction and it must devolve power over Scotland’s energy to Holyrood so that we can ensure that Scotland’s energy wealth works for those who live here.

The Clydebridge Steelworks site has been non-operational since 2022. At the meeting of the Public Audit Committee on 25 February 2026 Jeffrey Kabel, Chief Transformation Officer at the Liberty Steel Group, advised that options were being explored for the future of the site and that the business had been engaging with Scottish Enterprise. Mr Kabel further stated that they were close to a significant development project for the site and that this would probably involve selling the site.