THE Scottish Government will provide Transport Scotland with a further £2.7m to help alleviate the effect of the conflict in the Middle East which has led to increased fuel prices.
This support will continue until October 2026. It is aimed at small-to-medium sized businesses and community transport operators.
The financial support follows an initial £3.5m distributed through an uplift to Transport Scotland's Network Support Grant (NSG), running from April to June.
The NSG is a discretionary grant which has been in place since April 2022, being implemented initially to ease cost pressures from the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns.
The Scottish Government will now extend this uplift to October through a funding boost of £2.7m.
To be eligible for the scheme, operators must maintain existing service levels as well as implement a cap on fare increases.
Transport Secretary Stephen Flynn said the extra funding will ensure "critical" services continue to operate.
He said: “The services provided by bus operators and community transport operators are absolutely critical to keeping Scotland moving and allowing people to access essential goods and services.
“Fuel makes up a significant portion of bus operating costs, and this increase in costs poses real risk to services, fare increases and potential network collapse – particularly for quieter routes, rural and semi-rural areas and community transport organisations who operate on thin margins
“I’m pleased that the Scottish Government is able to offer additional support at this time and provide what I hope is some much needed assurance to transport operators and passengers alike.”
It has been reported that Scottish consumers will spend £25m in extra costs each week as the conflict in the Middle East continues, the bulk of this due to increased fuel prices.
The majority of these costs – an estimated £290m — will be shouldered by businesses and industry.
Since the US-Iran war began in February 2026, oil prices reached a peak of over 100 dollars a barrel, due to complications such as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Prices are currently at nearly 80 dollars a barrel.
