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Over the past two years, we have made £200 million of capital funding available and allocated £100 million, leveraging up to £370 million of private investment, with the potential to support over 2,000 jobs. Delays to progress on key UK-level policy and system enablers – including Contracts for Difference, transmission charging, electricity grid connections and the Strategic Spatial Energy Plan – have affected short-term investor confidence. The fact that it was necessary to alter the spend profile clearly demonstrates the continued challenge posed by unfair and disproportionate transmission charges, which severely undermine a level playing field for Scottish projects. It is now more important than ever that the UK Government takes decisive action to ensure the Scottish project pipeline can be deployed quickly in order to deliver the thousands of offshore wind sector jobs that can support a just transition.

The responsibility and expertise for operational decisions rightly, sits with Serco NorthLink Ferries (SNF). As has been the case in previous years, SNF will forecast requirements in advance of the autumn livestock sales season based on feedback and engagement with relevant industry stakeholders.

The Scottish Government will take advice from SNF on how they intend to manage capacity and we remain committed to ensuring services are run effectively through the busy livestock season.

There is currently no specific funding allocated to the capital costs for a construction of railway station at Winchburgh. As co-promoters, West Lothian Council and Winchburgh Developments Ltd are responsible for developing a robust business case and securing the funding required for the construction of the station.

The Council’s funding application to the Scottish Government for capital construction costs has been submitted for 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.

The 2026-27 Budget is still at draft stage and has not yet been approved by Parliament. NHS Board planning for 2026-27 is underway, and dedicated funding will support the continuation of the progress delivered this year.

The 2026-27 Budget has not yet been passed by Parliament and is at draft stage. The level 4 breakdown provided in the budget tables is the most detailed breakdown currently available as spending plans are still being developed. However, the Budget shows total investment of £471 million for Social Care Support. This includes increased investment of £160 million to support an uplift for Adult Social Care (ASC) workers to the Real Living Wage, £7 million for the Care Inspectorate, £12.8 million for the Independent Living Fund (ILF),and £5.7 million to explore enhanced terms and conditions for ASC workers.

The 2026-27 budget has not yet been passed by Parliament and is at draft stage. Spending plans are still being developed by policy leads, therefore there we are not in a position at this point to provide a detailed breakdown of what the budget will deliver.

We recognise that concern about climate change can affect mental wellbeing.

Mental health support is available to anyone experiencing anxiety about any issue, by phone, online and in-person. Talking to others can help and in addition to support available through GPs, the Mental Health Hub via 111 and Breathing Space via 0800 83 85 87 also provide free mental health support.

Resources to support anxiety are also provided on our mental wellbeing websites - Mind to Mind for adults, Parent Club for parents and Aye Feel for children and young people, which includes steps that can be taken by anyone experiencing climate anxiety.

We are continuing to develop our understanding of the link and emerging evidence between climate change and mental health and what this means for the people of Scotland.

Practical advice on how people can protect themselves, their community or business from the impacts of climate change as well as action they can take in their home and local communities is available on Home - Adaptation Scotland..

The Scottish Government does not hold a centrally maintained dataset specifically identifying developments as data centres within the planning system.

Planning applications are submitted, assessed and determined by planning authorities, and information on the type, scale and energy demand of proposals is recorded through local authority planning registers and associated supporting documentation.

The Scottish Government engages with planning authorities, the energy sector and wider stakeholders to understand emerging development trends, including those associated with digital infrastructure and data centres.

Scotland House London is a unique collaboration between the Scottish Government, Scottish Development International, VisitScotland and Scotland Food & Drink, and provides a platform to showcase Scotland’s unique offer to key domestic and international audiences. The facility also provides a home in London for a range of Scottish businesses and organisations seeking to develop relationships, engage new markets and explore opportunities to succeed and grow.

Whilst the overall budget for SHL increases from £2.095m in 2025-26 to £4.111m in 2026-27 (a 96.2% rise), this increase is almost entirely due to a one-off capital charge of £2.019m required to extend the SHL office lease to November 2029. Importantly, the annual resource costs have not increased and remain at £1.660m. This is an accounting requirement. The cash lease payments will continue to be made over the 3 year period of the lease in the normal way.

Under International Financial Reporting Standard(IFRS) 16, long-term leases must be recognised as assets on the Scottish Government’s balance sheet. The total lease payments for the full three-year extension period amount to £2.019m. In accordance with IFRS 16, this full value must be recognised upfront as a right-of-use asset and corresponding lease liability in the Scottish Government’s Consolidated Accounts.

As required by HM Treasury rules, this results in £2.019m of capital budget cover being needed only in the year the lease is extended (2026-27). This is a single-year requirement only, covering the entire period to 2029, and therefore will not recur in future years’ budgets. This short-term extension to the current lease arrangements for SHL has been made to allow Ministers of the incoming administration, following the 2026 Scottish Parliament election, to take decisions on the Scottish Government's presence in London in the longer term.

The Scottish Government has published details of the publication costs for all the independence papers published during this parliamentary term, and they can be found at:

Building a New Scotland papers: costs - gov.scot

S6W-42127 on 25 November 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers.

A Fresh Start with Independence: publication costs - gov.scot