| Modern Scot - 27/08/2026 · Issue 012 |
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 | | Heritage and Arts · 27 August 2026 Scottish Government Opens Consultation On National Performing Company For Traditional Music The Scottish Government has begun consultation work on a new National Performing Company for traditional music. The proposed body would become Scotland’s sixth National Performing Company, joining the National Theatre of Scotland, Scottish Opera, Scottish Ballet, the Royal Scottish National… |
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| | Environment · 27 August 2026 Third Just Transition Commission Established With Adaptation Remit Until 2031 The Scottish Government has established a third Just Transition Commission, running until 2031. The new Commission will focus on adaptation as well as net zero, with ministers linking its remit to wildfires, flooding, drought, workers, rural communities and vulnerable groups.… |
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| | Heritage and Arts · 27 August 2026 People’s Palace Refurbishment Moves Forward With Conditional Scottish Government Support The Scottish Government has announced up to £14 million in conditional support for the refurbishment of the People’s Palace and Winter Gardens in Glasgow. The museum closed to the public in 2024. Glasgow City Council and Glasgow Life are expected… |
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| | Economy · 27 August 2026 Scottish Household Survey Records Tourism Support And Lower Local Involvement In Decisions The Scottish Household Survey’s 2025 tourism sentiment results show that 48 per cent of adults agreed tourism was good for their local area, while 12 per cent disagreed. Island and rural areas recorded stronger agreement. The same survey found that… |
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| | Economy · 27 August 2026 Energy Prices Remain A Leading Concern For Scottish Businesses The latest Business Insights and Conditions Survey for Scotland records falling demand and energy prices as the top concerns for September 2026 among businesses with 10 or more employees. More than three quarters of businesses were very or somewhat concerned… |
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| | Economy · 27 August 2026 Scotland’s Onshore Economy Grew By 0.7 Per Cent In The Second Quarter Of 2026 Scotland’s onshore GDP grew by 0.7 per cent in real terms between April and June 2026, after growth of 0.1 per cent in the previous quarter. Services, production, construction and agriculture, forestry and fishing all grew during the quarter. The… |
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| | Policy and Government · 27 August 2026 Scotland Moves Toward Compulsory Purchase Reform After 2025 Consultation The Scottish Government has confirmed that it will bring forward legislation in this Parliament to reform compulsory purchase in Scotland. The proposed changes follow consultation in 2025 and a longer policy record stretching back to the Scottish Law Commission’s 2014… |
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| | Policy and Government · 27 August 2026 Scotland’s GP Walk-In Pilot Expands To Forty Planned Or Operational Services The Scottish Government has announced 24 further areas for GP-led walk-in services, bringing the number of centres planned or operational to 40. The pilot has been extended until April 2029. The programme began in February 2026 and is intended to… |
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| | Environment · 27 August 2026 Scotland’s Drinking Water Quality Fell Slightly In 2025 As Complaints Rose Regulatory testing found that 99.88 per cent of samples taken from consumers’ taps met required standards in 2025. The Drinking Water Quality Regulator also recorded more consumer complaints, a slight rise in water-quality incidents requiring detailed investigation, and continuing concern… |
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| | Infrastructure · 21 August 2026 60% of Scotland’s News Publications Controlled Outside Scotland and Only 8.5% of Scottish-Owned Titles in Google News Modern Scot's ownership census has identified 190 Scottish newspapers, magazines and digital news publications. Of the 179 for which ownership can presently be established, 108 are ultimately controlled outside Scotland and 71 are Scottish-owned or Scottish-controlled. A second divide is… |
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| | Heritage and Arts · 21 August 2026 Shortbread, Superstition And The Law: How Scots Married Before The Modern Wedding Long before Scottish weddings became affairs of hotel packages, photographers and carefully arranged seating plans, marriage could involve banns from the kirk, a loosened shoe against witchcraft, neighbours supplying the feast and, in some places, a piece of shortbread broken… |
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| | Policy and Government · 21 August 2026 Scotland’s Prisons Hold More Than 8,600 People as Ministers Consider Sentencing and Release Reform Scotland’s prison system has entered a new policy stage after consultation closed on proposals that could change the use of short custodial sentences, remand, community disposals and prisoner release arrangements. The Scottish Government consultation closed at 23:55 on 20 August… |
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| | Transport · 21 August 2026 Aviemore To Carrbridge Route Moves Closer To Planning Decision After Years Of Delay A long-promised walking, wheeling and cycling route between Aviemore and Carrbridge is moving closer to a formal planning decision after years of design work, consultation and uncertainty over whether the scheme would be delivered alongside the A9 dualling programme. VIEW… |
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| | Economy · 21 August 2026 More Than A Third Of Great British Energy Staff Live Outside Scotland Despite Aberdeen Headquarters More than a third of the people currently working for Great British Energy live outside Scotland, despite Aberdeen being designated as the headquarters of the publicly owned energy company. Figures reported this week show that Great British Energy employs 132… |
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| | Policy and Government · 21 August 2026 New 50MW Data Centre Rule Gives Ministers Sight of Scotland’s Biggest Projects, but Not the Whole Pipeline Scotland’s largest proposed data centres will now have to be brought quickly to the attention of ministers, after the Scottish Government introduced a new notification requirement for developments exceeding 50 megawatts of power capacity. The direction, issued on 17 August,… |
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| | Policy and Government · 21 August 2026 New Livestock Movement Laws Tighten As BSE And Bluetongue Hit Dumfries And Galloway Dumfries and Galloway is confronting two separate livestock disease problems at once, with a new case of classical BSE confirmed in cattle and Scotland’s first cluster of bluetongue virus serotype 3 concentrated around Newton Stewart. The two diseases are unrelated… |
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| | Tea With Gunns · 21 August 2026 Prince Harry and the Difficulty Of Coming Back After A Grand Exit I first heard that Prince Harry was coming back on the village WhatsApp group. At 7.36 on Thursday morning, Morag posted: PRINCE HARRY IS COMING HOME. There were no details. This was immediately a problem. Effie replied: To Scotland? Morag… |
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