Communities Committee,

Meeting date: Wednesday, May 12, 2004

Official Report 390KB pdf

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Subordinate Legislation

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Home Energy Efficiency Scheme Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (SSI 2004/188)

Agenda item 2 is consideration of the Home Energy Efficiency Scheme Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2004. Members have been provided with copies of the regulations and the accompanying documentation. Does anyone have comments?

It is appropriate to welcome the extension of the scheme to people aged over 80 who have partial or inefficient central heating systems; that has been an issue for a number of my constituents. However, the regulations could be a missed opportunity. In areas of Scotland where social inequality is greatest, people tend to die earlier and although I am delighted that, in rural areas such as that which I represent, many people will benefit from the change, it would be appropriate to find a way of including in the regulations people under the age of 80 in areas of significant social inequality who have partial or inefficient central heating. I hope that the Executive will consider extending the scheme further to cover such people in the future. I am happy to support the changes.

I have absolutely no problem with the content of the Scottish statutory instrument. Appendix 1 to the note on the regulations, which contains excerpts from the Subordinate Legislation Committee's report, raises the issue of the need for consolidation of the regulations. The Executive's response states:

"The Executive has no information on the consolidation exercise for England and Wales and so cannot comment on the comparative position."

I wonder whether there has been further investigation of the position in England and Wales, where the regulations appear to have been consolidated, and whether it is the Executive's intention to consolidate regulations here.

We can perhaps pursue that later, but there is no opportunity for us to question the Deputy Minister for Communities on it just now.

I welcome the extension of the scheme. My point is similar to Stewart Stevenson's: many people throughout the country have benefited from the scheme and now have central heating and cosy, energy-efficient homes, but many others have partial systems that are certainly not energy efficient.

I raised that matter with Jackie Baillie, who was the Minister for Social Justice when the scheme was introduced. We should be conscious that we are talking about an energy efficiency scheme and we should start to include in the scheme people with partial and old systems. Will the minister comment—

The minister cannot comment.

Will the minister take note of my point? I have written to the Scottish Executive Development Department to raise the point that some councils have been unable to take advantage of the scheme because their housing stock already has central heating and to ask whether a trade-off could be made to channel funds into the private sector.

The Deputy Minister for Communities is here only in relation to agenda item 3—that is why she cannot answer questions on this item. The procedure is that we must deal with this item without discussion with the minister. However, the points that members have raised will be in the Official Report and the minister and officials will reflect on them.

Members have the report on the instrument and they might want to reflect on paragraph 6, which makes the point that Scott Barrie made, on the importance of consolidating the regulations. If members have no further comments, is the committee content with the order?

Members indicated agreement.

Is the committee therefore content to make no recommendation on the order in its report to the Parliament, but to make the point about consolidation, as the report indicates?

Members indicated agreement.