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The Scottish Government has not made its own assessment of the total future electricity demand resulting from expected AI and data centre developments in Scotland.

The National Energy System Operator (NESO) recognised in its 2025 Future Energy Scenarios, that up to a fifth of Great Britain’s future data centre demand could be based in Scotland.

While the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP) for Great Britain is still under development, NESO recognises that engaging with local stakeholders, including Scottish Local Authorities, is critical to the success of the plan. The Scottish Government is aware of NESO’s engagement with COSLA, and you may wish to contact NESO directly at box.SSEP@neso.energy for any further detail.

Following publication of the SSEP, it is anticipated that NESO’s Regional Energy Strategic Plan (RESP) for Scotland will provide further insight into the forecast future electricity demand from data centres.

The Scottish Government has not made an estimate of the number of jobs that could be created by a ferry service between Rosyth and Dunkirk. This is a commercial consideration for the prospective ferry operator and port authority.

Any new ferry service will be required to comply with UK employment laws, including the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023. Until such time as employment law is devolved, we will continue to do whatever we can with the levers we have to promote trade union recognition and collective bargaining, at both local and sectoral levels, to achieve improved conditions and enhance effective voice.

The Scottish Government recognises the important contribution the Iain Findlay Path Fund has made in supporting local path improvements across Scotland. While this fund comes to an end in 2025- 26, we will continue to support the delivery of paths and other active travel infrastructure through our tiered Active Travel Infrastructure Fund. This model enables local authorities, Regional Transport Partnerships and National Park Authorities to develop and deliver the infrastructure that best meets local and regional needs.

In addition to this there are a number of funds throughout Scotland that contribute to access and recreational use pathways, including the Forestry Grant Scheme, the Historic Environment Grants Programme, and funding managed through our National & Regional Park Authorities.

The Scottish Government does not collect or publish data on the total number of DFN Project Search internship places available in Scotland.

However, with the implementation of Specialist Employability Support in July 2025 as part of our devolved employability offer, the Scottish Government agreed amended reporting requirements with delivery partners. These requirements will provide information on different types of specialist support models, including DFN project search. This information will be published in our next statistics publication on 11th February.

The Scottish Government has not held discussions regarding the Fair Work Convention in relation to the crewing of vessels on the prospective Rosyth-Dunkirk ferry service. As employment law is reserved, any new ferry service will be required to comply with UK employment laws, including the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023.

The Scottish Government is aware of the issues with reliability of the fleet currently serving Fife routes and ScotRail is taking action within its available resources to make any necessary improvements to the existing fleet.

The ScotRail Fleet Improvement Plan continues to be in place, requiring ScotRail to make necessary improvements to the reliability of its existing diesel rolling stock within the available resources. ScotRail advises that it is investing nearly £900,000 in the rolling stock upgrades to remote monitoring, electrical systems, and heating systems, which investment includes trains serving Fife.

As set out in Rail Recharged: Scotland’s Fleet Transition Strategy, published in November 2025, ScotRail is currently progressing plans to replace its High-Speed Trains operating on Scotland’s intercity routes, alongside the procurement of a new Suburban fleet, which includes replacement fleet for Fife services. Work to deliver the electrification of the line is also underway.

Regional Transport Partnerships (RTPs)manage their own budgets and make funding decisions based on regional and local needs.

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) is not a Scottish Government scheme. The Scottish Government does not operate a general scheme providing remediation or compensation for damage caused to people’s homes by third parties.

Property owners should first raise any concerns with the installer and ask them to make good any defects, faults or damage. If they are not satisfied with the installer’s response, they can raise this with TrustMark. TrustMark is the UK Government’s trusted trader scheme and members must agree to participate in their complaints process.

All Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) and Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS) installers were required to be registered with TrustMark and part of industry based certification schemes. This was a requirement of eligibility for ECO4 or GBIS finance.

Consumer protection, product and business regulation are reserved matters. The UK Government has published advice for property owners about their key rights and protections under consumer law. Buying green heating and insulation products: consumer guide - GOV.UK

Home owners can contact their local Trading Standards Office or Citizens Advice Bureau for more advice about their rights, compensation and next steps if needed.

The Scottish Government funds both the Home Energy Scotland and Advice Direct Scotland service to provide free and impartial advice. Property owners who may be affected by the failure of this UK Government scheme can contact these services for advice.

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) scheme requires installers to reduce energy bills by installing energy efficiency improvements such as insulation. The UK Government are responsible for the design and regulation of the ECO4 scheme, this is administered by Ofgem on their behalf.

Installers delivering improvements as part of the ECO4 scheme were required to be registered with TrustMark, the UK Government’s trusted trader scheme. They were also required to be certified installers with a relevant industry body and ECO4 installations had to be covered by a guarantee. Where an installer has ceased trading, the UK Government advises property owners to contact the guarantee provider to arrange for remediation of any outstanding defects or damage.

Consumer protection, product and business regulation are reserved matters. The UK Government has published advice for property owners about their key rights and protections under consumer law. Buying green heating and insulation products: consumer guide - GOV.UK

The Scottish Government continues to believe that delivery of local authority duties should be delegated at a local level where possible. The majority of funding provided to local government is made available through a block grant. £8.1 million is included in that block grant in relation to Land Access measures, allocated based on proportions of population and path lengths. However, the funding is not ring-fenced. It is the responsibility of individual councils to manage their budgets and allocate the total financial resources available on the basis of local priorities, once they have met their statutory obligations. The Scottish Government provided record block grant funding of over £15 billion to local authorities in 2025-26, an increase of £1 billion or 4.7 per cent in real terms compared to last year’s budget.

There are many other areas of government funding which deliver benefits for access including health, tourism, active travel and the natural environment.