Meeting of the Parliament 27 November 2025
Critical national infrastructure refers to assets that are assessed to be critical to the functioning and security of the country. That process enables the Government and its partners to prioritise, better understand and mitigate the risks that threaten those critical sites.
There are currently 13 officially designated CNI sectors, and responsibility for them is split between relevant devolved Governments and the United Kingdom Government. Scottish devolved CNI sectors include Government; transport, including roads and bridges; emergency services; health; water; food; and chemicals. UK Government reserved CNI sectors in Scotland include energy; transport, including aviation, rail and ports; emergency services, including HM Coastguard; communications; finance; civil nuclear; defence; and space.
Due to their criticality, the details and locations of CNI assets are classified and not publicly available. As CNI assessments are carried out on existing infrastructure, all building, environmental, planning or related regulations or legislation should be adhered to during the planning and build phase. CNI owners and operators are given extra support for that.