Chamber and committees

We have a good track record, through Home Energy Scotland, of meeting the targets for grants. Some suppliers choose to count the entire customer journey from application rather than from the award of grant—the point at which an application has been accepted and processed. That takes a bit longer than the United Kingdom Government’s boiler upgrade scheme, for example, which does not include the direct individual bespoke advice and support that Home Energy Scotland provides. We provide more, and that whole customer journey takes a little bit longer. However, we have recently improved the Home Energy Scotland application process to further improve the time that it takes and the smoothness of the customer journey.

Both reports highlight the importance of long-term policy certainty for developing the supply chain. Our proposed heat in buildings bill will create a clear, long-term legislative framework that will give the supply chain confidence and enable investment in its growth. That approach was welcomed by stakeholders when I hosted a recent round-table discussion with members of the industry.

Along with our enterprise agencies, we continue to provide support to innovate and accelerate skills and capacity. That includes funding the development and adoption of innovative clean heating solutions as well as considering new approaches that are needed to develop supply capacity.

As I said, we have set out proposals to make it easier, simpler and cheaper for householders and businesses to reach the standards that are set out in the proposals that we have consulted on. We will take account of all responses to the consultation and, as Mr Mountain is aware, we will consider the option of a cost cap.

I am concerned that Mr Mountain and some of his colleagues do not seem to grasp the urgency of the challenge. There is simply no path to our net zero targets—which all political parties have committed to—without an ambitious programme on heat in buildings. The Government will continue taking the necessary action to meet the high aspirations of our heat in buildings programme and ensuring that a package of support is available to meet the scale of change that is necessary. That will be set out in the regulations.

As part of delivering the new deal for business, we asked the regulatory review group to examine the business and regulation impact of our proposals for a heat in buildings bill, which is central to our work to tackle climate change. We welcome the views of that independent group and all the submissions to our consultation, which closed on Friday. The group has highlighted the economic opportunity for Scotland in transitioning to clean heat and has identified the key issues of communication, the supply chain and phasing, on which we will continue to work as we develop the bill.

Mr Mountain knows that, in our consultation on energy efficiency standards, we have proposed taking a simpler approach to achieving those standards. That will be based on applying only those from a prescribed list of measures that are applicable in each building. We are confident that, for the majority of buildings that do not currently reach EPC band C, any measures that were required would be relatively minimal and cost effective.

As we move forward with the heat in buildings bill and the regulations that will follow that, we will keep our existing generous package of grants and loans under constant review, to ensure that the support that is available for householders, tenants, landlords and businesses matches the necessity to act and the scale of the action that is required to reduce our emissions from heat in buildings.

The Scottish Government-funded grant and loan schemes have a requirement with regard to the skills and qualifications of suppliers that people choose to use. We are also exploring the option of a supplier-led scheme instead of—or as well as—the consumer-led scheme that we have. However, the regulation of consumer protection rests with the UK Government. We continue to explore every option to discuss those issues.

I see Mr Lumsden shaking his head. He wishes those issues to continue to rest with the UK Government, so it does him no credit to suggest that we should not acknowledge that, as the UK Government has power over consumer protection, it needs to act. We stand ready to work in a constructive spirit to see improvements on consumer protection, but Mr Lumsden cannot expect us to exercise powers that he insists should remain at Westminster.

I am pleased that Parliament came together last year to pass the new-build heat standard regulations, which will come into force from 1 April this year and will prevent the installation in new buildings of polluting heating systems such as gas boilers. Obviously, building warrants last for up to three years so, at any point when such a change was made, that would have been the timescale for it. We are acting a year ahead of the United Kingdom Government; in fact, the UK Climate Change Committee has urged the UK Government to match our timescale.

The number of installations has been accelerating, but I am afraid that it would make no sense to project how long the process would take at the current rate. The whole point is to continue the acceleration of the installation of zero-emission heating systems. That is what we have been doing and we need to continue to do that. The heat in buildings proposals are absolutely central not only to increasing demand but to stimulating investment in the supply chain, skills and capacity to make sure that the work happens.

I recently took part in a round table with industry stakeholders across the supply chain, and they gave me the clear indication that what industry needs to be able to invest not only in skills and qualifications but in supply chain capacity is demand assurance—unlocking that demand—and that is very much what the heat in buildings proposals set out to achieve.

We do need to ensure that high standards are met. As I said, some of the regulation of consumer protection rests with the UK Government. Under our powers, we ensure that the grant and loan schemes require people to use qualified and trusted installers. We also work with UK-wide bodies, such as the microgeneration certification scheme, which will relaunch its criteria later this year, to reduce barriers to certification for small and independent contractors.

Mark Ruskell is absolutely right. The single most consistent message from industry and from experts such as the UK Climate Change Committee is that Government needs to give certainty and clarity. The heat in buildings programme and the proposals that we have consulted on will achieve that. By regulating—by passing legislation—the Parliament will give a clear signal that it is worth the while of businesses in the sector to invest, as many of them want to do. Many of them know that high-quality careers are to be had in Scotland, not only in installing but in innovating.

Businesses are ready to go. They need our clarity and support on the long-term direction of travel, which is what our legislation is intended to achieve. Any dilution, delay or deflection—which some Opposition members seem to wish for—would only undermine the opportunity to get from the heat transition the maximum economic benefit for Scotland as well as the carbon emission reductions.

Absolutely—I recently took part in a meeting that sought specifically to get the views of community stakeholders from rural, remote and island communities, who have made constructive proposals. Often, the benefits of the heat transition are even more significant in remote, rural and island communities, many of which, for example, are not on the gas grid and pay higher prices for energy. The transition to zero-emission heating can save them money as well as saving emissions.

I referred a few minutes ago to reducing the barriers to accreditation under the MCS, which is one of the things that we can do. That involves working with other organisations to ensure that, in such communities, small businesses and independent contractors that are active in the field can be accredited. That will increase the ability of businesses that have their roots in local communities and have a degree of local trust to undertake that work.