A national public energy company that is involved in large-scale energy generation would only be possible in an independent Scotland where we had full powers over the energy market and full access to borrowing. The Green Industrial Strategy sets out how the people of Scotland will see maximum benefits from Scotland’s energy transition, including identifying Scotland’s wind economy as one of the five opportunity areas.

We are investing up to £500m over five years to anchor our offshore wind supply chain in Scotland and are almost tripling our capital funding to £150 million in 2025-26.

No one should have to compromise on food or other essentials. Food insecurity is driven by insufficient and insecure household income

State Pensions remain reserved to the UK Government, and it is crucial that they remain committed to retaining the Triple Lock, in its current form, to ensure that basic State Pensions keeps up with the cost of living and allows pensioners to live with dignity.

The Scottish Government knows that the cost-of-living crisis hits pensioners hard and that women, especially those who are divorced or single parents, people from BAME backgrounds, disabled people and carers are at greater risk of hardship during their retirement. The UK Government must take responsibility for this inequality, and do more to encourage people to take up benefits they are entitled to including Pension Credit which continues to have one of the lowest take-up rates of all UK benefits.

Our “Cash-First: Towards Ending the Need for Food Banks in Scotland” Plan sets out the nine actions we are taking to achieve our ambition to improve the response to financial hardship and to reduce the need for emergency food parcels. The actions include the Cash-First Programme, which provides ready access to emergency income when someone had no money for food delivered alongside welfare rights and income maximisation advice and support to prevent future hardship. This Cash-First approach enables people to choose the essentials they need whilst maintaining dignity.

For anyone struggling financially, support is available through a number of resources. This includes the Scottish Welfare Fund, which is administered by local authorities, and provides assistance to help meet people’s emergency and immediate short-term needs. The Scottish Government’s cost of living website also provides information on support available.

The Scottish Government will allocate at least £15 million in 2025-26, for the provision of free income maximisation support, welfare and debt advice. This includes expanding provision of advice within services that people already go to, such as community centres and hospitals, in order to increase the accessibility and awareness of advice.

Between April 2024-September 2024, investment from the Equalities and Human Rights Fund resulted in a total of 16,087 individuals helped directly with the provision of support, information and advice, with the Age Scotland Helpline providing £1,184,367 of income maximisation with a further 1,039 organisations have also been supported via capacity building and information sharing.

The Scottish Government is committed to ensuring that the system of Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (TTROs) remains effective and responsive to the needs of local communities and road users. A review of the TRO process was undertaken by Transport Scotland in 2021. While there are no immediate plans to undertake a formal review of the entire TTRO system, we continue to engage with local authorities and stakeholders to monitor its effectiveness.

Zero Waste Scotland is currently conducting research on soft plastic recycling to understand collection and processing opportunities. The outputs of this research are expected to be available in the summer of 2025.

Over the past five years, there have been four fires at a battery recycling centre, six at electronic recycling centres, and thirty nine at conventional recycling centres for a total of forty three fires overall.

The following table breaks down these incidents by centre type and year:

Yes, the Scottish Government is aware of recycling facilities that manage soft plastics in Scotland.

Transport Scotland doesn’t, as a matter of course, undertake assessments of traffic levels at Sheriffhall roundabout, or other locations on the strategic road network. Traffic data is captured on an ongoing basis for specific projects or studies.

Congestion and traffic levels were assessed as part of the transport appraisal that supported the first Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR), published in 2008, which led on to improvements to the junction being tabled under intervention 22.

Subsequently detailed consideration of traffic levels at this junction was undertaken in the SESplan A720 Cross Boundary Study, published in 2017, which recognised that the A720 Edinburgh City Bypass plays a fundamental role in providing strategic connectivity and supporting economic development within the region and noted that Sheriffhall roundabout is a well-known bottleneck for travellers using and crossing the A720.

Traffic counts were undertaken at the existing junction in 2014, 2017 and 2018 as part of the development of the A720 Sheriffhall Roundabout project. This information helped inform the projected traffic flows both with and without the proposed improvements as part of the scheme assessment process. In addition, traffic data from permanent automatic traffic counters maintained by Transport Scotland between 2008 and 2017 was also examined.

The Scottish Government’s Circular Economy & Waste Route Map and 2020 Climate Change Plan update included our commitment to consult on the separate collection of textile waste from households. A consultation was launched on 25 March 2025: Changes to waste management services - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space

The consultation will provide evidence and views on how we can prevent textiles becoming waste through more recycling and reuse, including through kerbside collection or measures at Household Waste Recycling Centres. The findings will inform the co-design of the new household recycling Code of Practice and be subject to further policy development with local government and other waste sector stakeholders.

Zero Waste Scotland began research on product stewardship considerations for textiles in Scotland in 2023. The final report will be published in 2025 and will provide a detailed view of textiles material flow across the Scottish value chain, stakeholder insights to required policy interventions and analysis of potential measures that take account of practicality, feasibility and impact.

WRAP is taking action to transform the way that textiles and clothing are bought, used and re-used. They are working with leaders in the UK and globally to develop, share and scale new processes.

MV Glen Sannox was transferred to CMAL on 20 November 2024.

During the build phase of MV Glen Sannox, certain specifications required amendment to ensure compliance with updated regulatory standards issued by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). This is standard practice within the shipbuilding industry, where ongoing engagement with the MCA is essential to ensure that vessels meet all necessary safety and operational requirements.