Scottish energy objections are now subject to a different examination route when a council maintains an objection to a major electricity consent application. A ministerial letter, updated on the Scottish Government website on 30th October 2026, explains which live cases retain the former public inquiry requirement and which move into the reporter-led process introduced in February.
The Scottish Government first published Ivan McKee’s letter on 30 January 2026. Its update log says the 30 October edit replaced the word ‘unless’ with ‘if’ in an existing sentence. It did not introduce a new procedure that day: the change took effect on 18 February. The letter concerns applications to Scottish Ministers under sections 36 and 37 of the Electricity Act 1989, rather than ordinary planning applications decided by councils.
I think the practical point for Scottish energy objections is the transition date. The change itself took effect on 18th February 2026, but an objection made before that date does not always keep a case in the former system. The Minister’s letter distinguishes objections made within the permitted or agreed period from those made outside it when explaining how live cases will be handled.
Scottish energy objections: what the letter clarifies
The Scottish Government ministerial letter explains the effect of section 19 and related provisions of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025. Those provisions changed the procedure applied when a relevant planning authority objects to an electricity consent application and the objection is not withdrawn or resolved through conditions or modifications. The letter’s later transition paragraphs use the wording ‘unless … cannot be resolved’, which appears inconsistent with the preceding explanation; the Act makes an objection that is not withdrawn the trigger for appointing a reporter, subject to the exception where ministers propose conditions or modifications giving effect to the objection.
Before the change, paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 8 to the Electricity Act 1989 generally required Scottish Ministers to cause a public inquiry to be held where a planning authority made a valid objection in time. Section 19 of the 2025 Act replaced that automatic route for applications made to Scottish Ministers under sections 36 and 37.
The replacement is a reporter-led examination under new paragraph 2(2A). A reporter can examine the application and the unresolved objection without the legislation automatically requiring the former public inquiry procedure in every case. The Scottish Government says further guidance will follow as necessary.
This is a procedural change, not a rule that an objected-to project must be approved or refused. The reporter’s task is to examine the matters in dispute so that Scottish Ministers can determine the consent application on its evidence and applicable policy.
Why 18th February 2026 matters
The 2025 Act received Royal Assent on 18th December 2025. The relevant electricity-consent provisions came into effect on 18th February 2026 and apply to live applications as well as new ones, subject to the transitional position set out by the Minister.
For Scottish energy objections made on or after 18th February, the new process applies. The letter says that, where an objection remains unresolved, “a reporter will be appointed to carry out an examination”. That is the clearest statement of the current route for new objections.
Earlier objections need a second question. The Minister says that, if the planning authority objected before 18th February within the period provided or agreed under regulation 8 of the Electricity (Applications for Consent) Regulations 1990, Scottish Ministers will cause a public inquiry to be held. The letter’s wording about withdrawal and resolution is internally inconsistent, so the position in an individual case should be checked.
The Minister says that, if the council objected before the transition date but outside that permitted or agreed period, a reporter will instead examine an application that remained undetermined on 18th February, subject to the same qualification about the wording of the letter. I would therefore check the objection date, the applicable deadline and any agreed extension before assuming which procedure governs a live case.
Which electricity projects are affected?
Section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 is the consent route used for generating stations above the relevant statutory threshold. In Scotland, that includes many substantial onshore wind, solar, battery and other electricity-generation proposals. Section 37 governs consent for overhead electric lines.
The change does not transfer these decisions from Scottish Ministers to local planning authorities. Nor does it alter the separate question of whether deemed planning permission should accompany an Electricity Act consent. It changes how unresolved council objections are examined within the ministerial consent process.
Planning Geek’s Planning in Scotland guide explains why Scottish procedures must be read separately from the English system. The English Planning Inspectorate appeal route, the General Permitted Development Order and English development-plan rules should not be used as substitutes for the Scottish statutory framework.
That territorial distinction is especially important here. The ministerial letter is addressed to industry and planning authorities dealing with applications to Scottish Ministers. It does not change the treatment of an ordinary application decided by a Scottish council, an English section 78 appeal or an energy consent process elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
A reporter examination is not necessarily a public inquiry
A reporter appointed by Scottish Ministers can choose procedures appropriate to the examination. The letter does not say that every reporter-led case will avoid oral evidence, hearings or inquiry-style sessions. It does mean that the previous statutory trigger for a mandatory public inquiry no longer controls new objections in the same way.
For communities and developers, the difference could affect how evidence is tested, the timetable and the resources needed to participate. A formal public inquiry normally involves oral evidence and can include cross-examination. A reporter-led examination can be managed more flexibly around the issues that remain disputed.
The exact procedure will depend on directions in the individual case. I would not assume that the new route makes an application quicker or less rigorous. The Scottish Government presents it as part of improving application processing, but the volume and complexity of the evidence, environmental assessment and unresolved policy issues will still matter.
Scottish energy objections also continue to matter substantively. The procedural reform does not reduce a council’s planning, landscape, environmental or infrastructure concerns to a formality. It changes the mechanism through which those concerns are examined when they cannot be resolved.
What happens when no council objection remains?
The letter also addresses cases where no planning authority objection requires an inquiry under the old or new provisions. Scottish Ministers will continue to consider whether it is appropriate to cause a public inquiry to be held. The absence or withdrawal of a council objection therefore does not remove every possibility of an inquiry.
Conditions and project modifications may still resolve an objection before either process is completed. That remains significant because the special examination provisions are directed at objections which have not been withdrawn and cannot be resolved in that way.
For Scottish energy objections on live applications, the procedural audit should therefore record the date and terms of each planning authority objection, the regulation 8 deadline, any agreed extension, subsequent negotiations and whether the objection remains outstanding. Those facts determine more than simply whether the council supports the scheme.
Further guidance and consultation are still expected
The Minister states: Further guidance will be provided as necessary and in due course on the application process changes brought about by the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025.
The Scottish Government also intends to consult on additional measures enabled by the 2025 Act, with the stated purpose of further improving the efficiency of application processing.
Beyond saying, when it was first published in January 2026, that the consultation would take place “later this year”, the letter gives no detailed consultation timetable and announces no final secondary measures. Scottish energy objections are therefore operating under the amended statutory process now, while further administrative guidance and wider reform remain to come.
The immediate lesson is narrower but useful. For applications under sections 36 and 37, the presence of an unresolved planning authority objection no longer answers the procedural question by itself. The Minister’s letter distinguishes cases by the timing and validity of the objection against 18th February 2026 and the regulation 8 period. Its inconsistent wording makes it important to check the applicable procedure for the individual case.
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