Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has not undertaken any specific research comparing the costs of road-building in Scotland with those in other European countries.

However, Transport Scotland monitors the costs of major trunk road projects in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK and considers relevant industry cost information, market conditions and lessons learned from comparable infrastructure projects where appropriate. Transport Scotland also engages with other UK home nation road authorities, which includes discussions on road-building.

Direct comparisons of road-building costs between countries, and even in different locations within Scotland, can be challenging due to many variables, including the differences in type of road (rural, urban, semi-urban); interface with existing roads, railways, rivers and other infrastructure; engineering requirements; terrain and site geology; drainage; environmental mitigation; utility diversions; traffic management; land acquisition costs; legislative frameworks; and market conditions at time of contract award.

Any assessment of road construction costs therefore needs to take account of the particular circumstances of individual projects rather than relying solely on headline cost comparisons.

National Concessionary Travel Schemes reimbursement rates are negotiated annually between Transport Scotland and the Confederation of Passenger Transport on behalf of bus operators, using an agreed economic model. The model is updated annually to take into account the latest developments in fares, operating costs, passenger behaviours and travel demand, to ensure that the rates are set to leave operators financially no better and no worse off for their participation in the schemes. The model uses a weighted average fare, which reflects the fares and relative volume of concessionary journeys made on all services under the scheme.

The Scottish Government remains committed to introducing Road Traffic Diversionary Courses (RTDCs), including Speed Awareness Courses, as part of Scotland's Road Safety Framework to 2030. However, legislative changes by the UK Government are required before they can be introduced in Scotland. While no implementation date has been confirmed, we will continue to work with the UK Government to bring forward the necessary changes as soon as possible.

National Railcards are managed and administered by the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) under UK Government rail industry rules, and the terms and conditions of use are set at the UK level. The Scottish Government officials engage regularly with its counterparts at Department for Transport and with ScotRail on various matters pertaining to rail.

a) As from 1 August 2026 there are 842,653 cardholders under the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme.

Cardholder Notes:

• This data is provided by the National Entitlement Card Programme Office (NECPO). Cardholder numbers are monitored on a monthly basis and may change regularly as individuals join or leave the scheme.
• The data refers to the number of people with a valid card but does not include those whose products either start in the future or have expired.
• NECPO work with stakeholders and partners to carry out regular data cleansing of the customer database which may impact cardholder numbers when records are updated.

b) The following table shows the number of journeys, broken down by local authority, made through the Young Persons’ Free Bus Travel Scheme since its launch in January 2022 up to 31 July 2026.

This is a matter for ScotRail, as the train operator. The member may wish to contact ScotRail directly to request this information.

As this is an application which may come before Scottish Ministers for determination, it would not be appropriate to comment on the specific merits of the proposal.

Social Security Scotland routinely publishes statistics on the number of parents or carers actively in receipt of Scottish Child Payment. These statistics also include the number and value of payments by local authority and financial year since launch and are available at: Scottish Child Payment statistics to 31 March 2026.

The latest published statistics show that, as of 31 March 2026, 189,620 parents or carers in Scotland were receiving Scottish Child Payment.

The most recent Scottish Government take-up analysis, published on 14 October 2025, estimated that Scottish Child Payment had a take-up rate of 94% among those eligible in Scotland in the financial year 2024-2025. The publication also includes estimated take-up rates for each local authority area and is available at: Take-up rates of Scottish benefits: October 2025.

The Scottish Government is updating its Good Practice Principles for Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments to reflect how Scotland’s energy landscape has evolved since the last publication in 2019.

To inform this work, and alongside a full public consultation in 2025, officials undertook a programme of engagement during spring 2026 to seek feedback on proposals in Onshore renewable energy - refreshing the good practice principles for community benefits: working paper - gov.scot.

Regional discussion events with community groups consisted of five online events covering the Highlands, Islands, Central Scotland, North East Scotland, and South Scotland. These sessions were attended by representatives of community benefit groups, community councils, development trusts, third sector organisations and local authorities.

Targeted engagement with developers and community groups included two online roundtable discussions chaired by the former Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy. One roundtable was attended by renewable energy developers, trade associations and enterprise agencies. The second brought together representatives from community councils, community development trusts, community benefit funds, regional partnerships and national intermediary organisations from across Scotland.

A youth workshop was also delivered in partnership with the Scottish Youth Parliament as part of the wider programme of engagement supporting the update of the Good Practice Principles.

The latest assessment of Good Environmental Status in UK waters was published in 2026 in UK Marine Strategy Part One: Updated Assessment and Good Environmental Status. This assessment is published by the UK Government, working with the devolved authorities including the Scottish Government. The assessment concluded that Good Environmental Status for seafloor integrity had not yet been achieved across UK waters.

A copy of that assessment can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-strategy-part-one-update

The assessment does not indicate a particular date by which Good Environmental Status is expected to be achieved for sea floor integrity across UK waters. Progress towards Good Environmental Status is anticipated through continued implementation of the UK Marine Strategy Regulations 2010 which establish a cyclical process of assessment, target-setting, monitoring and programmes of measures.

The Scottish Government continues to work with the other governments of the UK, and internationally, to implement measures intended to improve the condition of benthic habitats and seafloor integrity and progress towards Good Environmental Status in UK waters.