Chamber and committees

I do not dispute the need for compliance, although the member will understand that compliance without progress would be difficult, which is why we are making progress.

I will pick up on a number of other points that were made by other speakers, including some points about legal aid, which, as members have identified, is available for individuals but not for groups or NGOs. Regulation 15 of the Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Regulations 2002 is a necessary control mechanism for the proper and consistent use of the legal aid fund. There is, however, scope to look at a different funding model that is about pursuing strategic litigation and is about the issue rather than the individual. The legal aid reform discussion paper commits the Scottish Government to exploring and testing

“how the full range of currently available funding tools can help achieve emerging government and justice priorities, support different methods of delivery, and tackle evidenced problems effectively.”

It is important that, where the Scottish Government or another public authority fails to follow appropriate law and procedures, its decisions can be challenged in a judicial review. However, we do not accept that, as was perhaps suggested at points in today’s debate, people should be able to judicially challenge decisions on an issue simply because they did not like the outcome—or, to put it more formally, because they wanted to enter into issues of merit. Parliament has repeatedly considered third-party appeal for planning decisions and decided against introducing that change.

I accept that, in all of this, there is a difficult balance to be struck. There is an intuitive appeal to the idea that people should be able to challenge decisions that they do not like and that the costs to them of doing that should be low. However, those costs would be shouldered elsewhere through the costs of courts and lawyers, delays to development and uncertainty about investment. Siobhian Brown explained the complexity of the systems that interact to ensure that there is balanced decision making and that people’s rights are upheld.

I recognise that the term that is used in law is “third party”, but I absolutely accept the point that the member makes about treating communities with respect.

I conclude by pointing out that our planning system in Scotland is plan led, with a focus on involving all interests as early and as effectively as possible. Scotland remains committed to the principles of the Aarhus convention and we are working closely with the other devolved Administrations and the UK Government to consider the Aarhus convention compliance committee recommendations and all the potential solutions that are available.

I thank Ms Boyack for raising several questions, which I will try to address.

On her first point, Ms Boyack rightly said that we should do everything that we can, within our existing devolved powers, to address the twin problems of fuel poverty and the climate crisis. The Scottish Government is already putting £300 million a year into seeking to address those issues, and specifically to address the problem of houses that need better insulation.

Ms Boyack made a point—which I accept was rhetorical—about the Government hiding behind the division between powers that are reserved and those that are not. I realise the importance of her point, but I genuinely think that the two Governments can work together here. I hope that there would be an ambition at UK Government level to see a better balance being achieved between the prices of gas and electricity. We certainly make that argument and we wait for action on it. Such an outcome would dramatically transform the ability of people across the UK to electrify the systems in their homes and move away from using fossil fuels.

On community heating and district heat networks, we can learn from the example of Denmark. I have met people from that country to discuss various issues in that context. The authorities there are obviously a long way ahead of us, but we can learn a lot from them. I have been speaking to representatives of the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities about some of those aspects, too.

The member asks a number of questions. The first one was about the future of the gas grid. The Scottish Government makes no apology for saying that we will have to move people off gas heating and, indeed, oil heating by 2045 if we are to be able to say that we have reached our environmental targets.

The member also raises a point about air-source heat pumps. In my constituency, I have seen a new generation of air-source heat pumps being installed in people’s houses, to the great satisfaction of those people. The heat pumps are working in a much wider variety of houses than they did previously and they are proving very popular. However, the member is right that we will have to dramatically increase the number of such installations in the years and decades ahead.

I was glad to get the chance to meet Willie Rennie and industry representatives from his constituency—or people whom he has been working to represent—on some of these issues. I am keen to try to incorporate any possible improvements to the scheme to reduce bureaucracy and the wait that people experience. The indications are that we are getting through a powerful number of house retrofits in Scotland under the schemes that we run, but I am very happy to work with Willie Rennie and those whom he represents to find any possible improvements.

Local authorities are a trusted partner in that. As I said, I recently met COSLA about some of the issues that arise here. All 32 local authorities have recently completed their local heat and energy efficiency strategies, which are a useful tool for all of us, locally and nationally, in setting out how the building stock in each area of the country can be decarbonised. As numerous members have pointed out, housing stock is radically different in different parts of the country.

We will continue to provide support through our delivery schemes. As I mentioned, we are investing £300 million in the heat in buildings programme this year. Local authorities have a key role to play, and we certainly want to maintain that dialogue with them.

The Scottish Parliament endorsed the legislation to which the member refers.

I think that the member would be justified in saying what he did if, despite the lengthy consultation and all the issues that had been raised on fuel poverty, I had come to the chamber today with a bill that was unchanged from what was initially consulted on and took no account of the question of how much burden could possibly be put on an individual householder.

Having said all that, I think that we all have to recognise—I am keen to point this out at every opportunity—that the task ahead of us of decarbonising housing in Scotland over the next 20 years is not one that can be borne by the Government alone or by all householders alone. It is a collective effort that we will all have to work towards, but we have to get started on it in a way that commands public support. I believe that the bill that we are proposing does that.

The judgments and issues in the energy strategy and just transition plan are informed and influenced by a range of recent developments in the United Kingdom Government’s energy policy and, indeed, by court decisions. Therefore, there remains a rapidly changing landscape—for example, the UK Government’s consultation on future oil and gas policy will be open for stakeholder input over the coming months. We are taking time to reflect on those on-going developments before drawing any conclusions and publishing any final strategy.

I am pleased to update Parliament on the next steps that the Scottish Government will be taking regarding a heat in buildings bill.

In 2019, the Parliament agreed that Scotland will end its contribution to global emissions as soon as possible and by no later than 2045. Our commitment to that ambition is unwavering.

As outlined to Parliament on Tuesday, the Government is also committed to reducing fuel poverty through the limited devolved powers that we hold. It is vital that we find the right balance to both reach net zero by 2045 and reduce fuel poverty.

We have already achieved a great deal when it comes to our transition to net zero. In 2023, 91.2 per cent of electricity generated in Scotland was from zero or low-carbon sources. Specifically, 70.3 per cent of electricity generated was from renewable sources. Our target for 6,000 public charge points was met two years ahead of schedule, and more than 2 million children, young people, disabled people and older people are now benefiting from free bus travel, making sustainable travel more accessible for everyone in Scotland. We have created almost 75 per cent of the United Kingdom’s new woodland since 2019, and an estimated 56 per cent of homes are now rated energy performance certificate band C or better, which is an increase of 11 percentage points since 2019.

Those are just a few of the many examples of tangible progress and Scottish Government actions that have taken us halfway to net zero. However, we all need to do more. We need to see climate action in all areas, by individuals, households and businesses, and by all parts of Government.

The way that we heat our buildings accounts for around 19 per cent of our country’s total emissions. Scotland depends greatly on gas and other fossil fuels for heat. Nearly 90 per cent of our homes use those fuels. In Europe, only the Netherlands has a similarly high dependence on gas as we do. Meanwhile, for communities that are off the gas grid, fuel poverty is even more prevalent—a subject that I will come to in a moment.

I raise all that to underline just how significant an impact decarbonising our buildings will have. That is why the heat in buildings bill is so important. As members know, we consulted on a range of proposals, and that consultation closed last year. It received more than 1,600 responses, and I thank everyone who engaged in that process. We received a diverse range of views. Many people supported the need for legislation requiring energy efficiency standards and prohibiting certain types of heating in buildings; others questioned that need.

Having carefully considered those views and having listened to a range of stakeholders since the consultation concluded, I am today charting a new course that is, I believe, consistent with our goal of removing emissions from buildings by 2045. Our plan to deliver a revised bill responds to the legitimate reservations and concerns that have been raised since our consultation was completed, including the risks of exacerbating fuel poverty and of burdening every individual householder with an overly onerous responsibility as we decarbonise.

Parliament is more than aware that many households, families and businesses across the United Kingdom are facing difficult circumstances. Despite promises from the new UK Government that energy bills would be lowered by £300 a year, since October last year they have risen by almost £300. A unit of electricity presently costs around four times more than a unit of gas, and up-front costs for installing clean heating systems remain higher than those for fossil fuel systems.

A combination of all those factors, combined with a severe cost of living crisis, makes it simply unaffordable for many building owners to make great changes in the near future. I believe that those challenges could be particularly pronounced for those in rural and island locations, whose needs and circumstances we must continue to consider carefully.

All those factors merit important changes in our approach—changes that demonstrate that we are listening and responding to the important concerns that people have raised. Our approach moves away from penalising individuals, and instead commits to collective action. Instead of placing prohibitions on every homeowner, we will establish targets for Government to reach. Rather than looking at action through the lens of decarbonising alone, we will also commit to doing everything within our power to reduce costs for people.

I am confirming today that we will introduce a heat in buildings bill, in this parliamentary session, that will create a target for decarbonising heating systems by 2045. It will send a strong signal to homeowners, landlords and other building owners about the need to prepare for change, while outlining collective actions to help do that, and that will give the supply chain confidence to invest. The bill will underpin our existing work to progress to net zero through the range of support measures and interventions that are already available to households seeking to transition their homes to non-polluting heating systems.

The most obvious way that the bill will do that is by boosting heat network development, by creating particular requirements for large, non-domestic premises and including powers to require public sector buildings to connect to district heating when it is available. We will, of course, work with those building owners to ensure that appropriate safeguards are developed. Those powers will help to make more heat network projects investible, which will lead to greater choice for households and businesses in how they reach net zero.

My intention is that our bill will enable and support flexibility. It will be technology neutral. Different properties and people will require different solutions; for example, the clean heating solutions in some remote and rural areas may vary from those in urban areas. Reaching our target is likely to need a range of technologies, including bioenergy.

Our bill will also include powers to set minimum energy efficiency standards for owner-occupier and non-domestic properties, as part of a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by heating systems.

In the meantime, to improve the standard of rental properties and to help to reduce fuel poverty, we will make regulations under existing powers to introduce a minimum energy-efficiency standard in the private rented sector. Those regulations would mean all privately rented properties, as far as possible, reaching the equivalent of EPC rating C. That would improve those homes, reduce energy costs for tenants and support the transition to clean heating.

My officials are working to prepare the bill for introduction in year 5 of this session of the Parliament. It will accompany our related work on a social housing net zero standard and EPC reform under existing powers. The bill will affect everyone, but it will differ markedly from earlier iterations in that it will not be a prohibition but a target and rather than placing all the onus on individual action it will emphasise a collective response. The opportunities that it will present for Scotland are significant.

The proposed legislation will build on the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019 that the Parliament came together to pass, so I am confident that we share its overall intent. Following its introduction, I will work with members from all parties on the points of detail that underpin it to ensure that it works for consumers, home owners, businesses and rural and island communities.

Progress towards decarbonisation in housing depends on action in reserved areas from the UK Government, too. The UK Government could take several vital actions that would accelerate buildings decarbonisation and support the legislation that I propose. That is why I hope that members will join me in calling for the UK Government urgently to clarify its intentions on phasing out gas boilers in existing homes and the future role of the gas grid in heating our buildings, on rebalancing policy costs from electricity to gas bills to incentivise the installation of clean heating in a way that alleviates fuel poverty and on reform of the Great Britain energy markets to support a reduction in the cost of electricity more generally. Without those and other changes, we are severely hampered as we attempt to deliver this societal and economic transformation.

I began by reflecting on the scale of the challenge that faces us. The framework of targets and regulation that I have described can provide certainty to building owners and confidence for investors and supply chains. We will, of course, continue to provide advice and financial support to those who need it most. We are investing a further £300 million in our heat in buildings programmes this year, including support to more than 20,000 Scottish households to save up to £500 a year on their energy bills. Therefore, I ask members to work with me when we introduce our heat in buildings bill to Parliament and to support our calls for the UK Government to take similar action. The actions that I have described can cut carbon and help to reduce fuel poverty at source. They are essential to achieving the goal of net zero, for which the Parliament voted.

A number of members have, rightly, made the point about the different situations that pertain in many rural areas, where there are distinctive housing types—poured concrete is one that is prevalent in my part of the world. Unless we take account of that, we will not succeed. We must have a scheme, and a piece of legislation, that will work for all of Scotland. I agree that striking the right balance between meeting our net zero obligations and ensuring energy affordability will mean that we must take account of those crucial differences across the country.